How to change the world with a word
I have always wondered how we can give our unique mark to the world. How every single individual on the planet can make the difference. The common thought is that we do not make the difference as individuals. How many times have you heard sentences like “it won’t make a difference if I do not buy single use plastic” or “it doesn’t matter if I cycle or use my car since I am the only one doing it”?
But, with time, I have learnt that we can make all the difference as individuals. Each and every one of us can change the world with a single word. We can make the difference by taking the right action that can inspire others. We can all work as an example for others, and even when people do not want to follow our actions we have breached the Great Wall of Indifference by doing so. A single breach in a defence wall can make it fall.
For this reason every time someone does something good for you, you can say “thank you”. Every time someone attacks you with a bad attitude and a bad word, you can act with kindness. It is not a way of acting that a pacifist would use, it is a real strategy. People are bewildered by kindness as it is easier to respond to an act of rage rather than an act of kindness.
We can individually change the world by just being kind, and we can change the world by taking care of someone we do not know. We can teach something we know to a friend; something that they can use in their career or within their family. We can all change other people’s life by saying the right word in a sad moment.
In some occasions, a pat on the shoulder and a hot drink, like a simple hot tea, can show empathy. It takes 5 minutes of your precious time and few cents of you possessions to cheer up a friend or a colleague who is not currently having a good time.
The most important thing we must always remember, especially at work, is that we are dealing with human beings. You have to see the person in front of you before you see the manager, professional, employee or specialist. This is the reason why we always ask “how are you? ”. Even if you are in a rush and you desperately need that piece of information from that professional so that you can go ahead with your day to day. It takes 2 seconds to ask how people are, it takes 5 seconds to hear the response, and it might take a whole minute to discuss about it. You will not solve any issue with that action, but you will have shown empathy and interest in the person. This person is not just a box from which you pick up a piece of information that you desperately need before you aridly go away. One minute of your time will not change your day, but it will make the difference for the person tho whom you are relating.
Why is that? That person will feel like a person and you are interested in the person before you are interested in their professionalism or knowledge they can offer at the specific moment. How is this going to change the world? That person may learn from you and repeat that behaviour with another person, and ten people will repeat it after, and every one of them will repeat it with ten more people until the whole world will do it.
You can change the world as an individual with a single word, you can be kind whenever you want. It works, even if you Work From Home!
