Difference

Many good people see the art of making a difference in grandiose terms. This is unfortunate. The media aggrandize the image of the change agent even further. We are led to believe that the only way to make a difference entails spending millions on exotic horrors of poverty and misery in the developing world. This is very unfortunate for the species. 

The choice to make a small difference in the quality of life of the person next to you in a sluggish grocery line takes the same compassion and initiative that powers grander schemes. And it is applicable in the moment at no monetary expense.  How many times have you seen a grumpy customer shed her rage on a cashier? I have seen that same grouch drop change with a pious lift of the chin into the cup of a drug addict as she leaves the store. Enable the drug addict; bully the hard worker on minimum wage. How does this make a difference?

Part of the confusion about making a difference is the confusion between quantity and quality. Humans in the developed world equate happiness with abundance. Many in the impoverished parts of the planet manage to experience happiness in scarcity. The entranced rich tourist finds this quaintly charming. It is not. It is a stunning example of what really makes human beings human. Learning to live happily and unselfishly in an unjust world is the core struggle of becoming a more mindful and more compassionate human being. 

A cursory look around my house or my neighborhood or any retail store floods my mind with potential for making a difference in the quality of life within my own environment. This used to be perceived as civic duty or simply the right way to behave. The antisocial nature of today's life in the world of personal devices, "me" media and "me" politics has eroded the routine individual process of trying to make a positive difference in society. Giving over taking is now considered socialist or simply stupid in much of our popular culture.