Garsh, isn’t this the question all the Miss America contestants dread getting. Some with the answer, I want to bring peace to the world, and make it so no one ever hungers or experiences not being able to drink clean water again. Of course, I would love to make those differences in the world. But, if I were to think about my world and the things I see right now where I might be able to make a difference on a smaller scale, it would be to help people be inspired to greatness. Then I ask myself what does greatness mean? I don’t think there is one answer for this, because I think every person with their unique fingerprints, has their unique path to greatness which I can’t give them, but I might be able to inspire something in them, give them that spark to help them want to discover their true potential.
We wonder why young kids are joining gangs and bullying each other, I can’t help but think it’s because our news sources only show stories about these things in their headlines. There is something to be said for if that is all you see then it becomes the norm and an acceptable reality.
What if headlines were different. Maybe they included information about a committee in congress working on a bill to help wetlands by creating stiff penalties for developers so they think twice about breaking a law to develop over them. That story followed by a story about a group of researchers working on a better way to purify water. Then a story about a girl scout troop that grew a garden full of flowers that they picked and made into bouquets to take to people in a nursing home. Then a survey that showed 20,000 graduates from The Ohio State University are volunteering their time in some capacity over the next year and a list of how and where they are doing this.
With stories like those people would hear that their government is working on things to better our world, America is reaching out to help other countries in the form of better living conditions, and how even as a kid you can make a difference in a big way in someone’s life. Not to mention the college graduates are making a difference one volunteer position at a time.
Why aren’t we demanding to hear what the other 97% of work being done in congress and by our governments are? We just keep allowing hatred, and greed and ignorance to become our norm. I would love to see reporters work to find the stories of the good things that happened in the city, country and world that day. I’m up on a soap box I can tell, but wouldn’t it be nice if the news didn’t glorify the criminals and con artists by saying their names and instead the news told us the names of the innovative, risk takers trying to make this world better and how they are doing it. I love Ted talks for these kind of stories and Pecha Kucha events. Wow, I went on a tangent that started with how do I want to make a difference. I guess I want to tell stories that inspire.
