Make the World a Better Place

I walk into the venue and, “What? No chairs?”.  I keep thinking, “The chair crew better get busy! it’s just a few minutes before the concert starts!”.  Apparently, it’d been a long time since I had attended a concert because, well, they don’t do chairs anymore! =)  But the inconvenience and discomfort of not having a chair didn’t matter at all and if I’d had one I probably wouldn’t have used it because this was my son’s concert! 

Have you ever noticed the difference in those who choose to sit and those who choose to stand at a concert? Those sitting are more passive and doing what’s most natural, to sit. They don’t put forth the physical energy it takes to stand and most likely do not have a good view of the stage for all the standers in front of them nor can they hear as well.

Those standing are much more engaged, active, and energetic and they have a better perspective visually and acoustically.  The band is ignited by their engaged audience and delivers one of their best performances and the whole place is electrified by these active participants  The energy in the room is measured by the ratio of sitters and standers!

Doing what comes most natural is passive, and results in a stagnant or declining state. Rising above what comes natural is proactive, forward motion towards something better.  Rising above the norm takes a little more effort and intention on our part but the effects it can have on the world around us is electrifying. And what is the catalyst for these two options in life? Our will.

Choosing between what’s right and what’s wrong.  I suppose there’s nothing more basic to human nature than this, and making the right choice doesn’t always seem to be so easy and certainly doesn’t come natural. We definitely tend to gravitate to what comes natural, like choosing to sit when we could be standing. We see this fleshed out in our children on a daily basis.

But let’s not be too quick to point our fingers at them. We adults struggle to make the right choices too and many times fail miserably.  The happy or sad commentary on this scenario is that our kids are watching when we choose to stand or sit in whatever circumstances come our way. We can be sure that they are noticing when we are determined to exercise our will against what comes natural and when we don’t.  I know it’s not easy to always do what’s right but maybe with  some effort we could move a little more in that direction for our kids’ sake and for the sake of the world.

If you think about it, the morale in our world for doing what is right seems to be very low, or at least the bad in the world screams louder than the good.   I could begin listing all the effects of poor choices in our world, but we would all get so depressed I would have to apologize for writing it. Admit it or not, this current state of affairs affects us. It’s like gravity pulling us down and causing us to “sit” and lower the bar of our standards if not a lot, at least a little. So wouldn’t you agree that “doing the wrong thing” might be tipping the scale in our world and maybe in us too? How do you think you would score on a questionnaire that asks questions like:

“Are you most often kind to people or rude? ”
“Are you honest or more often dishonest?”
“How many times have you let your eyes fall on that sleazy billboard on your way to work?”
“Do you talk bad about people when they are not around?”
“Are you tireless or lazy at work?”
“Have you been a little too friendly with that handsome coworker before heading home to kiss your husband?”
“Are you always looking out for “number one” or do you most often seek to serve others?”

If we could just decide that we are going to have an overarching theme for our lives that says “I am going to choose to do the right thing in any given situation.”  we could begin tipping the scale in the other direction and ignite our world for a better tomorrow.

And no, I don’t mean going around being a goody-goody and shoving it in everyone’s face; that would be a selfish motive which is our problem to start with. But do it for the greater good.   Every single effort would make a difference in our world. Really, the way I see it, it’s just something we can make up our minds to do. Not that we will always do it but, perhaps the more we practice it the better we get at it.

Whether we are a christian or not, we all have a will. For the christian it is his will fueled by the power of the life of Jesus Christ in him making him stronger to say no to what’s wrong and yes to what’s right. We learn to daily surrender our will to His.  I am ashamed to say,  I have seen a stronger will in a non christian than in myself at times. This happens when I am denying the power of Christ in me. It shouldn’t be.

So where’s that will?  Oh, It’s right there, because you are probably already bored with this blog but your will is making you finish it! =)  We use our wills when we make ourselves get out of bed instead of choosing to sleep in and be late for work.  We use it when we say no to that decadent, “loaded with calories” piece of chocolate cake (Shoot!  Now I’m wanting one!). We use it when we come to a full stop at a stop sign at 9:30 AM with full visibility and no cars in sight (like I didn’t do recently and paid $120 fine).

The will is like a muscle.  The more we exercise it the stronger it gets. If you have given in to what comes natural a lot lately then your will is probably looking more like Steve Urkel than Dwayne Johnson!

So why not take time to think through some of the choices we struggle with the most and decide what is the right choice and set our minds against the current of “normal” with fierce determination and JUST DO IT! Maybe Nike had the right idea! Have you ever thought about what that little slogan implies?  What do you think? The implication to me seems to be, IF YOU WANT TO MOVE FROM POINT A TO POINT B, THEN GET OVER HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT IT AND ACT ON IT!!  Athletes have to exercise this way of thinking all the time! Choosing the right thing to do may take a little more effort and a conscious decision not to give in to what comes natural but the rewards are great!

So is your will sitting or standing?  Maybe you should ask your kids! =)  If it’s standing, your kids will learn by your example how to be standers as well and do their part in tipping the scale in the right direction.  So let’s challenge ourselves and our kids to rise above the norm, go against the flow, and just do it because we make the world a better place one choice at a time.

Thanks so much for reading and sharing! =)

You can find Atlas Rhoads’ video and first album here. Thanks for checking them out!