You Can Have a Dream, Too

Today in the U.S. is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

There are scads and gobs of sites, articles, reports, and shows who've all done a far better job than I could ever hope to do in celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his dedication, achievements, excellent qualities, and legacy. If you don't know about him, I urge you to seek out some sources. Learn about who he was, what he believed in, what he did, and be sure to listen to some of his speeches. He was a humbling, inspiring, charismatic, committed leader who worked fearlessly and tirelessly for the good of all people. The world is better for him having been in it, and I can only hope to learn from him and to begin to emulate some of his admirable characteristics. And that's exactly what this post is about.

We can't all be Dr. Kings. We're not all visionaries and moving orators; we won't all have a sweeping impact on an entire nation. But we can all have an effect on the world around us.

You may choose to dedicate yourself to a specific cause, something about which you feel passionate, and focus intensely on that. You may choose to focus on one area for a bit, switch to another, etc. You may just simply choose to do whatever you can in the moment to make the world a better place without honing in on any one specific cause. Whichever way you choose to go about it, any approach is great. Doing something is what's important; how you choose to go about it is entirely up to you.

However you choose to go about it, play to your strengths. Any skill or talent can be used to make things better. Help build/renovate/repair houses for the homeless or low-income families. Volunteer to be a teacher's aide, a tutor, or to help with after-school programs. Make food, and give it to the folks living on the street. Clean up a park. Visit a hospital or a nursing home. Sometimes just acknowledging someone's existence and smiling at them can have a significant impact. Or maybe the best thing you can do is focus on you for a while, such as admitting alcoholism and seeking help or learning how to manage stress better so you're able to treat yourself and others better.  Being responsible for ourselves is one of the most important things we can do to make the world a better place.

Whoever we are, whatever we know how to do, from whatever point we're starting, there's something we can do to improve the world around us; there's some way we can work in service for the good of all people. Our efforts don't have to be grand; they just have to be sincere. I think that's a legacy of which Dr. King would approve...at least, I hope it is.