Tag: change (Page 1 of 4)

Bubble Wrap Won’t Save You

February 11, 2026 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I’ve been slowly working through The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, and it’s one of those books that makes you stop mid-page and think, Yep… that explains a lot.

The authors argue that well-intended efforts to protect people, especially young people, from discomfort, offense, or risk have reshaped American culture in ways we didn’t anticipate. They call this mindset “safetyism.” It’s the belief that emotional and psychological safety should be prioritized above nearly everything else, and that exposure to difficult ideas or experiences is inherently harmful.

Lukianoff and Haidt trace how this mentality shows up on college campuses and in public discourse: speech codes, trigger warnings, growing intolerance for disagreement, and a tendency to see conflict not as something to navigate but as something to eliminate. They connect these trends to changes in parenting styles, social media dynamics, and a decline in unstructured play. They argue that many kids have grown up physically protected but emotionally fragile, unused to taking risks or handling friction.

One of the book’s most helpful contributions is its exploration of what they call the “three great untruths” shaping modern thinking:

What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker.
Always trust your feelings.
Life is a battle between good people and evil people.

The authors counter that adversity often builds strength, feelings can mislead us, and the world is usually more complicated than simple moral categories. They lean on psychological research about resilience and cognitive behavioral therapy, emphasizing that growth often comes through facing discomfort rather than avoiding it.

You don’t have to agree with every conclusion in the book to find its diagnosis compelling. It’s a cultural X-ray that reveals how quickly protection can turn into paralysis.

My Reaction

What keeps echoing in my mind is that: we cannot protect ourselves from every concern in the world.

And maybe more importantly that trying to do so might be doing us real harm.

There is something deeply human about struggle. About learning to carry weight. About discovering, often the hard way, that you can endure more than you thought possible. When every rough edge is sanded down and every hard conversation is avoided, we don’t become safer. We become smaller.

I see this not just culturally, but also spiritually.

A life aimed at eliminating all discomfort will eventually avoid truth. Growth, and I mean real growth, almost always involves friction. Confession is uncomfortable. Repentance is uncomfortable. Forgiveness is uncomfortable. Loving people who disagree with you is uncomfortable. Yet those are precisely the places where transformation tends to happen.

The Christian story has never been about insulation from pain. It’s about redemption through it.

That doesn’t mean we should be reckless or cruel or dismissive of real trauma. Care matters. Compassion matters. Protection has its place. But there’s a difference between guarding someone and building a padded cell around their life.

If we teach ourselves and our kids that fragility is normal and avoidance is wisdom, we shouldn’t be surprised when courage becomes scarce.

Perhaps one of the most loving things we can do for one another is not to remove every obstacle, but to walk together through the hard things and remind each other: You’re stronger than you think. And you’re not alone.

That feels like a truth worth recovering.

How to Course-Correct Without Shame

January 15, 2026 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

You don’t wake up one day and decide to drift.

You wake up one day, pause long enough to be honest, and realize…
I’m not where I meant to be.

That realization can hit hard. Spiritually. Relationally. Personally.
And for a lot of people, that moment becomes dangerous. It’s dangerous not because of the drift itself, but because of what they tell themselves next.

“I’ve blown it.”
“I should be further along.”
“I need to fix this before God wants anything to do with me.”

That voice doesn’t lead to repentance.
It leads to hiding.

Let’s get something straight: drift is not failure it’s feedback.

Drift Reveals, It Doesn’t Condemn

Drift exposes where attention slipped.
Where boundaries softened.
Where urgency faded.

And Scripture is clear: God does not respond to drift with disgust. He responds with invitation.

“Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” (Joel 2:13, ESV)

Grace doesn’t excuse drift.
But grace does make correction possible.

Three Lies That Keep People Stuck

If drift is common, why don’t more people correct course? Because they believe lies.

Lie #1: “I’ve drifted too far.”
Distance feels longer than it is. Pride exaggerates the gap.

Lie #2: “I need a full restart.”
No, you need a realignment, not a reinvention.

Lie #3: “I’ll get serious when life settles down.”
Life doesn’t settle down. Direction is chosen in chaos or not at all.

These lies keep people stalled when God is inviting movement.

How to Course-Correct (Without Overhauling Your Life)

Correction doesn’t require drama. It requires honesty and obedience. Here’s how real course correction actually works:

1. Stop and Name the Drift
Be specific. Where did you lose focus? Prayer? Scripture? Community? Integrity? Say it out loud. Drift loses power when it’s named.

2. Re-Center on Direction, Not Guilt
Go back to the theme or Word that was meant to guide you. Guilt focuses backward. Direction focuses forward.

3. Restart One Daily Rhythm
Not ten. One.
Five minutes of prayer.
One chapter of Scripture.
One protected boundary.
Consistency beats intensity every time.

4. Bring One Person Into It
Isolation accelerates drift. Accountability corrects it. Tell someone you trust not for shame, but for alignment.

That’s it. No dramatic reset. No public apology tour. Just obedience.

Grace Is the Power Source

Correction without grace leads to burnout.
Grace without correction leads to drift.

Jesus offers both.

He doesn’t say, “Try harder.”
He says, “Follow me.”

And following always involves movement sometimes back toward center.

Let me coach you straight for a moment.

First:
You don’t need to punish yourself to prove sincerity. You need to obey quickly.

Second:
The longer you delay correction, the farther drift takes you. Course-correct early. Pride makes the walk back longer than it needs to be.

Here’s the truth most people miss:

The moment you realize you’ve drifted is not a moment of failure. It’s a moment of clarity.

Don’t waste it.

You don’t need a perfect restart.
You need a humble realignment.

And grace is already waiting at the center.

Drift Is The Enemy

January 7, 2026 / Derrick Hurst / 1 Comment

Most people don’t fail their New Year goals because they quit.

They fail because they drift.

They start January with energy, motivation, and good intentions. They don’t abandon the plan outright. They just slowly stop paying attention. Days blur together. Priorities soften. What once felt urgent becomes optional. And before they know it, they’re moving… just not anywhere that actually matters.

Drift is far more dangerous than quitting.

When you quit, you know it. When you drift, you convince yourself you’re still “basically fine.”

Spiritually, relationally, physically no one drifts toward health, depth, or faithfulness. Drift always moves you somewhere unintended.

“Pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1)

That verse exists for a reason.

Motion Is Not Direction

Busyness is not faithfulness. Activity is not obedience. Motion is not direction.

You can fill your calendar, crush tasks, and still slowly drift away from who God is calling you to be. You can stay “productive” while losing clarity, purpose, and conviction.

Drift happens when:

You stop deciding and start reacting
You stop praying and start assuming
You stop leading your life and start letting it happen

The reality is: If you don’t choose a direction, your life will choose one for you.

You Don’t Need 12 Goals. You Need a Compass

This is why I’m convinced most people don’t need more resolutions. They need more focus.

Not a to-do list.
Not a productivity hack.
A directional anchor.

Ask yourself this uncomfortable question:

If I keep living exactly the way I am right now, where will I end up?

Not where you hope to end up.
Where your current habits are actually taking you.

That answer doesn’t lie.

This is where a Word or Theme for the Year becomes powerful. It’s not just trendy, not cute, but clarifying. One word that acts like a compass. A filter. A line you refuse to cross.

Words like:

Faithful
Courage
Rooted
Undivided
Obedient

Not aspirational fluff directional clarity.

Drift Is Subtle. Direction Is Chosen Daily.

You don’t drift all at once. You drift a little at a time:

One skipped prayer
One unguarded yes
One “I’ll deal with that later”

That’s why direction has to be chosen daily, not annually.

Daily rhythms beat big intentions every time.

If you don’t decide:

when you’ll pray
how you’ll be in the Word
what you’ll say no to
who speaks into your life

Then friend, you are already drifting.

Hard Question Time

Let’s be honest:

Where have you been drifting spiritually?
What conviction have you softened?
What discipline have you rationalized away?
What decision are you avoiding because clarity would require courage?

Drift feels harmless until one day you look up and don’t recognize where you are.

Let me leave you with two coaching challenges.

1. Name the Drift.
You can’t correct what you won’t confront. Write it down. Say it out loud. Bring it into the light. Drift loses its power when it’s named.

2. Decide One Non-Negotiable.
Just one. A daily practice, boundary, or rhythm that anchors you to direction. Small. Clear. Unbreakable. This is how momentum becomes faithfulness.

You don’t need a perfect plan for the year.

You need clarity, conviction, and the courage to refuse drift.

Don’t just avoid quitting this year.

Choose direction and walk it on purpose.

A Few Changes Are Coming

October 22, 2025 / Derrick Hurst / 2 Comments

There’s a shift coming to the blog next month. Don’t worry! I’m not selling essential oils or becoming one of those skinny jeans wearing worship pastors. No offense to my essential oil (aka voodoo oil friends) or you skinny jean wearing peeps! Those have their place but it isn’t likely on this blog. I’m just tired of pretending that “pastor” is the only hat I wear.

Somewhere between the pulpit and my zero turn mower, God’s been reminding me that faith isn’t meant to live only in the sanctuary. It’s also in the sweat, the soil, and the sips around a backyard firepit.

For years, derrickhurst.org has been mostly ministry-focused. Like sermons, church leadership, discipleship, the usual “pastor stuff.” And I love that. I’ll keep writing about faith and leadership because that’s who I am. But it’s not all that I am.

I’m also a guy who loves lifting weights and the way it preaches discipline louder than most devotionals.

I’m a guy who likes a good bourbon not for escape, but because slowing down long enough to actually taste something is a spiritual act these days.

I’m a guy who finds God in dirt under the fingernails, broken tools, and the slow redemption of a half-dead garden.

And maybe that’s the point, God is just as present in the mundane as He is in the miraculous. So, you’re going to start seeing a bit more of those mundane moments here. Posts about working out, working the land, coaching pastors, and wrestling with what discipleship actually looks like when the Bible closes and Monday shows up.

If that sounds too “earthy” for you, there are more blogs out there. But I’d love to have you hang around anyway. You might find that Jesus was far more earthy than we like to admit.

If that sounds like your kind of thing, then good. Grab your coffee (or whatever’s in that cup, depending on the hour), and let’s dig into what a full life of faith really looks like.

Because following Jesus was never meant to fit neatly in a church bulletin. It’s meant to invade everything from the gym to the garden to the glass in your hand.

So we’ll see you in a week or so with a little different focus and a better rhythm. Until then meet someone new. Share your name and one thing unique about yourself. Then see where the conversation goes. You might be surprised how who you are actually is interesting to someone new.

Hey Thanks!

January 17, 2024 / Derrick Hurst / 1 Comment

A simple thought. An easy word really. But do we say it enough? Why is it so hard at times to say thanks?

Ok so it’s not that it’s hard to say, it’s that sometimes we forget to say it. At least that’s my biggest problem with today’s word. But did you know the more you say thanks, the harder it is to complain?

It’s a fact. You can’t be disgruntled about something and thankful at the same time. It’s like being blinded by light and in total darkness simultaneously. It just can’t happen!

Gratitude should probably be the word for today, but thanks is so much shorter of a word. A simple thank you can totally change someone’s day. And no I don’t just mean the person to whom you’re speaking either. I mean you. It can change your day.

Saying thank you over and over again for things will condition your brain to look for things for which you can be thankful. The more thankful you are the more you’ll say thank you and the more you’ll see things for which to be thankful. It’s like this crazy cycle of goodness!

Here’s a little secret as you try to implement this one in your life. You don’t always have to be overwhelmed with thanks to just say thank you. I’ve said thank you at times when I wasn’t really even sure that I was thankful. I did it because it felt like the right thing to do. I did it because I knew if I said thank you eventually my heart and head would catch up to my mouth. I don’t mean to be disingenuous by any means. But sometimes you have to say it out loud before you can feel it deep inside.

Today’s word comes with a challenge. What are some simple things that people do for you consistently that you could slow down long enough to thank them for today? Maybe it’s your spouse always making sure there’s food in the house – that should probably be one of mine. You know I can’t remember a time when I went to the pantry or the fridge and it was totally empty! And honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever said thanks to my wife for doing the whole people thing and going to the grocery. So here it is, in public for anyone who cares enough to read this, Thanks Dear for always making sure there’s food in the house!

Who will you thank today?

Change

January 10, 2024 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

There are two kinds of people in the world, and the title of this post revealed both sides. When you think of changes to something about which you’re passionate, you either get super excited or fight it with all your might. Which are you?

Admittedly, there are some gradients here. Some are like I’m in! Let’s change it all! Others are willing to change even though they know it will hurt. Still others who are not resistant to change will tiptoe into it knowing it needs to happen but not be super excited about it.

What I think everyone needs to understand is that change is essential and it is everywhere. Change doesn’t really care of you want to do it or not. Change doesn’t mind if you hate it or love it. Change is just change.

We change our clothes everyday, some of us more than once a day. The seasons change, unless you live in Ohio and it’s pretty much always gray and gloomy this time of year. Trees change from bare in the winter to buds in spring to leaves in summer. Grass changes from lush and green in the spring to dormant in the summer to back to dormant again in the winter months again.

Change is everywhere!

Watching changes happen from one season to another or changing your clothes are super easy. But what about when, after you get married, your new spouse changes the way the budget has always been worked? Or what happens when she makes chili in a different way than your mom used to make it? Or what about someone proposing a change in how your church does worship? (you know the whole hymnal vs band debate that seems to be never ending)

The point is some changes are easier to manage than others. While change doesn’t always have to be bad but it is always disruptive to comfort. And therein lies the problem. We love our comforts in life. We love to have our set routines. And when someone disrupts our routine, all hell breaks loose. We don’t want anyone to mess with the way it’s always been done!

Change can sometimes feel like that whole ice bucket challenge that was social media popular. Except it’s like someone doing that to you when you’re enjoying a nice steaming hot shower. It is awful! It shocks the system because it takes you out of your comfort zone.

Since this week’s word is change, consider how you handle change. Consider what types of changes are hardest for you to manage.

The Church And The Monkey Trap

August 10, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 1 Comment

Have you ever seen a video of a monkey trap? I was going to put a video on here but some of you might be offended by the content so I’ll just describe it to you. You’re welcome to go search for a video online, they’re pretty easy to find.

The idea is simple. The monkey gets trapped because it sees something it wants and won’t let go. Therefore trapping its hand in a jar. Historically there are cultures that have trapped monkeys in the wild. They would take a jar or a coconut and put a hole in it large enough for the monkey to put its hand inside. Inside the jar is something the monkey wants, often rice or another food substance they just simply can’t ignore.

The monkey puts his hand into the coconut and grasps the rice only to realize that he can’t get his hand out again. Mind you, the hole did not change size. The opening is the same size it was when the monkey put his hand in. The only difference is, now the monkey’s hand is closed around the rice. The hole is just large enough for the open hand to enter but too small for the closed fist to pull out.

I really think this is what we’re seeing in the institutional, denominational churches in North America. We are the monkey in the story. We live our lives and things are going well. As we look around, we see the values of society and culture shifting around us. Sometimes shifting faster than we can even define.

Add to the scenario that we see our numbers shrinking as churches are closing, pastors retiring, men not going into the ministry – it’s a situation that causes great fear and anxiety for some people. Enter church as monkey.

If we were to define the parts of this analogy to meet our current situation, we’d see the church is represented by the monkey. The rice inside is the way we’ve always done it. Really it’s anything that has become something we just can’t loosen our grip on (aside from the proper teaching of the Bible – really that’s the only non negotiable in the mix). And the jar is the culture war surrounding the church, the crisis of leadership in the church at large.

The church has its hand in the jar because that’s where we live. We have our churches embedded in communities and neighborhoods. Our hand is in the jar. It’s hidden in that jar and somewhat safe inside there. But we’re not called to hide in that place. We are to stand out and live differently, but how do we do that when culture shifts so fast?

When we feel threatened by the cultural shift around us, we clench our fist. In this case, we grasp whatever is known and comfortable. These things are actually, in and of themselves good and historically proven. For the church body to which I belong, that thing we are grasping is historicity, traditionalism, and structure. These are the rice in the coconut that we don’t know what to do with so we just cling to it more tightly.

The problem is the church is supposed to love God and love our neighbors, but we are not able to love our neighbor if our hand is stuck in the jar. The longer we hold so tightly to the things we have in the jar, the farther away from serving the culture we move. Now before you get all honked off here don’t hear what’s not being said. I’m not saying throw out the tradition and history. That’s absurd and will actually do more harm than good!

Know when the structures of the past will work and when they won’t. Understand that structures in the life of the church can’t be a one size fits all kind of deal. Every congregation is unique in its expression of faith because every community that it serves is unique. Forcing an historic structure, no matter how good and worthwhile in its day, to a thriving modern environment at best won’t always work. And at worst will hinder the expansion of the gospel in that context.

The solution? Let go a little.

If the monkey would loosen the grip on the rice, it would be able to get its hand out of the jar. When it releases the rice, it’s still a monkey. Letting go did not change the fact that it was a monkey. It just allowed that monkey to be free. Likewise if the church would loosen its grip on some of the things to which it clings, we could be released to do more ministry in our individual contexts. It won’t stop us from being the church anymore than releasing the rice changed the monkey from being a monkey. It won’t change us from being Lutheran either. It will simply make the church more able to pivot to meet the needs of the people in and outside of the church.

Look I get it. There’s comfort in the known things. There’s something cool about the liturgy and the formal structures of things. But to say that it’s the only way it can be done is bordering on being a pharisee, you know the very people that Jesus told were white washed tombs! I surely don’t want to be considered a pretty coffin – fancy on the outside and dead on the inside.

The church is a people gathered and on mission to make disciples. How, where, when we gather are not really things the Bible addresses. More than anything I want the message of the gospel to be spread to the ends of the earth. I want to see my friends and neighbors come to know and believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven, but I also believe that this one structure of how we do church life isn’t the only way to Jesus. It’s good and meaningful but it isn’t the only way. If we loosen up a little while clinging tightly to the truths of the Bible, we just might see the gates of hell start to fall like Jesus promises to Peter.

In short monkeys, it’s time to let go of the rice so we can get our hand out of the jar.

Changing Times

August 1, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

The times we’re living right now are times many of us never thought we’d see. The speed of cultural shift is so drastic it’s almost dizzying! Look at how fast things have morphed in the past 3-5 years. Some blame the pandemic others blow the thing off like it never happened. I think a better assessment is that it happened, whether we like it or not, and that it accelerated our lives to a speed many of us are not comfortable with. It’s even been said that our society jumped forward about 10 years in the span of 2 years time.

Changing times are terrifying. We don’t like change often because we can’t control it. Something being out of control is not fun. I’m often branded a control freak. But that’s not totally accurate. I tend to embrace change pretty easily and change is out of control. I would say I have a need to be informed about what’s happening so I can be prepared to address challenges that arise. That’s not control it’s desiring information.

Recently the national version of the church body to which I belong made some pretty bold moves. And not bold in a good way necessarily. Honestly I think they’re bold in a way that shows some lack of faith and a bit of cowardice.

I know this is going to probably push someone’s buttons. While that is not the intent, if it does get people having a dialogue instead of unilaterally legislating how we handle change in the world then so be it. I’ll push away!

There are two matters that have really stood out to me as I’ve participated virtually in this conference: as a church body we really have a trust issue and control is pretty important.

There are a couple topics that make this super evident to me. One of which is the desire to focus on one method for raising up pastors in the church body. While I admittedly did not hear anyone say that only pastors going through a residential seminary training process are real and everyone else is fake or lesser, that sure seems to be the tenor of the conversation. I am willing to be wrong here.

The matter from my perspective is one of control. While I do believe it is important that anyone who is rightly called as a pastor within this church body know what we believe, teach and confess. And while I also know that it is important to have diligent study of the Bible and our confessional structure, I also believe wholeheartedly that there is more than one way to get that same result.

Just like I was able to participate in the conference virtually and virtual education methods are numerous and getting more user friendly, having a strong virtual element to the raising up of pastors would be fantastic. I have men in the congregation I serve who would make phenomenal pastors but they just can’t uproot their families or quit their jobs. So alas that’s one less pastoral candidate our church body has in circulation.

The unwillingness to release a little control over the structure of how things are taught (not what is taught but how and where) is really disheartening. I honestly am shocked when I see how the apostles led the churches in the book of Acts. They were uneducated men. They didn’t uproot their families to go off to an institution for a 4 year stint to learn something. They were able to learn while they lived their daily lives.

Are there some trade offs? Yes there are but doing the same thing the same way will not yield a higher result. It just won’t work that way. We should still cherish the traditional route to ministry that has served us well for many years! But releasing a little control back to the parish pastors and working alongside them to raise up and train men for works of ministry sounds kind of Book of Acts to me. Keep high standards. Work on curriculum or teaching points/methods. But leave the how and where to the local guys with regular checkins from the structures that already exist.

But then there’s the whole trust issue. Do we trust that the men in the field are going to steward their gifts properly? I think this is a huge struggle as well. I mean most of them were trained in the residential program that is being held up as the only way to do it. And yet we don’t seem to trust them to be able to teach other men to do the same job? Seems to show a lack of trust in our own teaching! One of the signs of a great teaching is that the student is able to teach the material to someone else.

Look I get it. None of this is going to be easy. But it doesn’t have to be impossible either. The tighter we hold to this method as the only method, the more we’re going to lose. But why is it so hard for us to let go a little?

Change is hard because it leaves things out of control for a period of time. I’m not one of those change everything just because we can kind of guys but we need to know what can change and what can’t change. Changing nothing is not an option. It just isn’t possible. If we can manage change well, we can better manage the chaos that’s so often associated with change.

I think a long and hard conversation needs to be had about where God wants his church to go. Not where we want it to stay. It’s time to make some bold moves for the sake of the kingdom. Repent where we’ve made mistakes. But keep moving and advancing the kingdom. It’s only then that we will see how weak hell’s gates truly are (as long as we’re sitting here those gates hold up pretty darn well).

The times are changing and while the message can’t change – the methods are going to have to change.

Mindset

May 17, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

There has been a lot of ink spilled in books and articles on the idea of changing your mindset. Some call it self help. Others call it mind over matter. Some think it’s the best advice ever while others think it’s all a bunch of hocus pocus superstition. But if you really take time to think about it, what you think about and how you think about it affects how you approach something.

There’s a quote attributed to Henry Ford that says whether you believe you can or you can’t, either way you’re right.

The idea here is that of a self promoting or defeating mindset. Yeah I know, sounds kind of wizardish at first. It sounds like saying if we think about something one way then it’s sure to happen that way? Kind of but not really.

Think about the last time you didn’t feel well. There are two ways to react when you’re not feeling 100%. No I’m not talking about death bed feeling bad. I’m referring to the crummy, I have a cold and don’t want to do anything kind of feeling. If you’ve ever had one of those feverish, tired, achy kind of moments, did you realize that the more you just laid around and thought about feeling crummy the worse you actually felt? Then when you had something to distract you and take your mind off of the crummy feeling, you almost felt normal for a moment? Yep that’s what Ford was getting at I think.

There is a really powerful thing that happens in our brain. When we don’t think we can do something and when that’s the focus of our attention, then we pretty much set ourselves up for failure.

I love to workout. I like to throw heavy weight around. So I’m not a big dude by any stretch and I’m not a powerlifter or anything like that. But once upon a time I maxed out my benchpress at 350lbs. And I remember the first time I tried it. I got all settled and grabbed the barbell then told myself there is no way you’re going to lift this. It is way too heavy. You weigh less than half this amount.

Guess what…I didn’t lift it. It was too heavy. The moral here is that we can convince ourselves that something is impossible or too much or too hard or whatever the case may be.

So what’s holding you back? What are you wanting to do that you just can’t accomplish? What is it that you have been dreading? If we follow the mindset shift analogy, then we can approach things a bit differently and actually make a real effort to get the job done. Be honest with yourself but don’t sell yourself short. Change your mindset and watch as the possibilities open up!

Change The World

November 2, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

That sounds like a huge task doesn’t it? I mean there’s no way we can possibly change the world. And if you’re thinking this way then you’re pretty much right. There’s no way that one person can change the entire course of life for everyone in their lifetime. I know that I can’t do it that’s for sure! But what if we tried this from a different angle?

I remember going with my mom to get her hair done when I was growing up. We had a friend who ran her own shop and mom would take me whenever she went. I would generally sit around and read the joke book she had. And yes she only had one. And yes I read the same jokes over and over every time I was there.

One of these jokes kind of speaks to this matter. It’s the old how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I know it’s lame. I get it! But think about it. If you try to eat an elephant, you’ll be so overwhelmed that you’ll quickly realize this is not possible to do. But if you take your time and over a long period of time slowly tackle the big project then it is possible. Small disclaimer – no elephants were harmed in the making of this blog post. So you animal rights activists out there it was just an illustration. Now back to our regularly scheduled post.

Take that imagery of slowly tackling a project over a long period of time and apply that to changing the world. It’s actually not as impossible as one might think. I know the world is far bigger than an elephant. And I know impacting every human on the planet still is an impossible task for a single person, but we’re still looking too big. Try this idea on for size.

A long time ago I heard someone say do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. I can’t remember where I was when I heard it but I know it’s not my phrase. The concept is pretty cool. I mean think about it. If I want to make the world a better place for all of humanity, that’s an impossible task. But I can make a difference impacting one person’s life for the better!

If we would just change our focus from the whole world to the ones in front of us daily, we might realize that by changing the world for one person we might actually be making a much larger difference. If you can positively impact one person’s life, and that person is changed by the difference you made to the point that they change someone else’s life then you’ve created a small wave. Then if you and the other person do the same for yet another, this small wave can turn into a tidal wave that can have implications that could drastically change the entire world.

So maybe you can’t bring about world peace or economic stability across the globe or anything like that. But you can bring peace into one person’s life. You might be able to help one person this Christmas be able to celebrate with their family. You might be able to do something for someone that will change the entire trajectory of their life and have the potential to impact more than just that one person.

Go ahead and try it. Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. Don’t try to change everything for everyone in the world. But what about changing the world for one person and see where that gets you.

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