Just do it!

We live in a world where we want change but constantly just accept the status quo. We don't really try to change things because we say to ourselves, 'what can I do, I'm just one person?'

I was listening to Freakonomics and they were talking to Nancy Wexler about Huntington's disease. She said, on her mothers struggle to cope with being diagnosed (and the onset of the disease) "I think the only thing that really saved our entire family is that my father, being totally brilliant and optimistic, said, “Well, you know, let’s just find a cure.” So in 1967, our family started the Hereditary Disease Foundation. Curing Huntington’s has turned out to be vastly more difficult than we thought. But I’ve been working on it ever since 1967." (Full podcast transcript here).

I love this attitude - that when faced with adversity, a person can just say, 'well, let's change it." At a time when people didn't know much about Huntington's, he didn't see it as an impossible feat, just something that needed to be done, and he set about doing it. Both daughters have carried that flame on, and more can be read here, for those interested. However, my purpose is purely the attitude, not the remarkable work done by this family.

What holds us back, in many situations, is our decision to not do something about it. We want to be a writer, but we don't bother to write the novel. We want to change the political situation but we don't take to the streets. We want to help the poor, but we don't volunteer our time. We have a hundred reasons not to do something, when we really only need to do ONE thing.

So next time you hear yourself holding yourself back, limiting your potential or throwing an idea in the 'too hard basket', just think of the Wexlers or Aki Ra. There are people that make a difference, they just aren't people like us.

But there is absolutely no reason we can't be people like them.

(Image from FB but I can't remember where - if you tell me I'll add appropriate credit)

Linking up with EssentiallyJess for IBOT.