“It’s not like you have to or can do everything, but do something. Do anything other than nothing.”How often have we thought about giving up the fight?
Maybe we have already done so.
At various stages of my professionally and personal life, I have had to fight battles. Maybe it's because of the naive belief that I can somehow change the world, combined with the childlike confidence that with God on my side, I can make this world a better place.
I want to make a difference. I want people to pay more attention to human rights issues, to the environment, to poverty, to...stuff. But more often than not, my cries fall on deaf ears and I just want to give up.
But should I? Should I just put everything aside and not do anything?
Wouldn't that make life just a little meaningless?
Besides, just because I've got a passion doesn't mean I'll actually win the race right?
As a friend once told me during my moments of "I just want to curl up into a ball and rot in a corner", and as veteran muck-raker I F Stone explained it:
The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins.Ben Harper quote from Relevant Magazine's Ideas that changed the world.
In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing - for the sheer fun and joy of it - to go right ahead and fight, knowing you're going to lose.
You mustn't feel like a martyr. You've got to enjoy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment