Something Greater
Have you ever felt tiny, I mean really aware of your place in the universe? The kind of tiny you feel when standing on the top of a mountain looking across the mountain range and realizing that all of those tiny specks in the distance are trees that tower over you? Or perhaps you feel it while staring out the vast ocean unable to see any scrap of land besides the one you are standing on? How about laying in the grass on a clear night looking at the pinpricks of light in the sky and realizing that those tiny specks are bigger than our own sun?
How do you make a difference in the world when you're this tiny?
You connect to something larger than yourself. Your efforts alone may not change the world but the efforts of hundreds, thousands, or millions who are working for the same things you are will. This is how political, social, humanitarian, and ecological changes have always been made for better or worse.
I'd guess that you want to change the status quo in some way. You're likely successful among many measurements but you feel something is missing. The missing something may be your work, your world-changing work, your connection to something bigger.
I [found] myself trying to find my value in my job. What I didn't understand was I needed to find my value in my work. And there is a difference. Because a job was my occupation. My work was when my greatest passions began to start overlapping with the world's greatest needs, and I chose to do something about it. I chose to start going through the process of finding my work.
- Wes Moore
Everyone has something they can do to contribute to the betterment of the world and humanity. Everyone.
What do you want to change for the better? What's your work to do? How do you pick from all of the worthy causes in the world?
Start with this question:
What's the one thing that keeps you up at night and just breaks your heart to think about? Where do you really want to see change? I mean real, honest to goodness change that protects people and the planet.
Once you figure out the change you seek, do some research to understand the causes of the issue. They are likely deeper and more widely spread than you initially realize. Research organizations that are already doing the work well. Find existing organizations that address pitfalls that you may not have known existed. A lot of well-meaning people do more harm than good in the name of "helping". Don't assume you have all the answers. Observe, learn, form relationships, and then you can help in ways that are actually helpful. The process may take a while but this is your work and it's worth it. It may not be your work to start something new but to join people already in action.
While considering what larger cause or issue you wish to align yourself with, I ask that you ponder these words that Wes Moore* shared, "When it's time for you to leave here… whether it's time for you to leave this school, whether it's time for you to leave your job, whether it's time for you to leave your neighborhood, or when it's time for you to leave this planet...make sure that it mattered that you were ever even here. Make sure that it mattered that you were ever even here because none of us are promised anything."
Whatever it is that you connect to will have lasting effects on the world, but doing so will change you too. Connecting to something larger than yourself is a fundamental part of building a happy life and it will keep you healthier longer. The more connected you feel to the people and the world around you, the more you understand yourself, your power, and your ability to love. Connecting to something bigger than yourself is how you make it matter that you were here.
*Please gift yourself 20 minutes to watch Wes Moore in this video. He says it beautifully and through a lens that I'll never have. He is brilliant, but more importantly, he's right.
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