What you do matters.
Think about that for a minute. Have you ever sat down and thought about what effect you have on your own life? On those around you? On the world itself? Do you act as if what you do matters? Probably not all the time. Maybe hardly ever.
Now, you may be thinking that nothing you do matters. Just leave me alone, I’m not hurting anyone. Why bother with anything? Why bother improving? Why bother pursuing excellence? Why be virtuous? I’ll just play video games.
Those are all good questions. Why not just play video games? Maybe a bunch of stuff happens and then you die. The Nihilistic view is quite compelling, but it really doesn’t help anything. Maybe nothing you do will matter in a million years, but it will matter in the next year. And not just in your own life, but also those around you. Can you concede that what you do matters in a smaller time frame? That you might actually be able to make things better? Or that your current mindset might be making things worse?
I have a story to share. About the time I was drastically making changes in my life, I had an effect on someone I didn’t expect. I was learning how to dance during this time and my mother was talking to her neighbor about it. This neighbor had known me before I moved out on my own and was surprised I was doing that, since I had been a pretty anxious kid. Apparently, this neighbor’s son overheard their conversation and was inspired by what I had done. This kid was about 13 and had always wanted to join the drama club at his school, but up to that point, he was too anxious. But because he heard about me doing something that scared me, he found the courage within himself to go after something he wanted. He joined the drama club. I did nothing to help this kid, he found the strength within himself by just seeing that it could be done. I thought that was incredibly cool, especially for doing such a thing at his age. He’s well on his way to getting the life he wants.
I was blown away when I heard that. It was the first time that it hit home that I could indirectly help people. I had no idea that could happen, let alone that it would happen. When you make yourself better, it ripples out.
You don’t know what impact your actions will have, but I do know this: the better you make yourself, the better you end up making those around you. The inverse is also true: the worse you are, the worse you make those around you. There’s a saying you may have heard: one rotten apple spoils the bunch. What you choose to do in your life doesn’t just affect you. Your influence reaches farther than you can ever know.
You are the sum of the choices you’ve made. Being better or being worse is a choice you have to make, every day, and by doing so, you make the world a little better or a little worse.
What will you choose today?