So you want to make a difference?
I’m a bit early for New Year’s resolutions, but I’m thinking about them already. I mean, come on - 2021 can’t get here fast enough, and I want to be prepared. (ha!)
There’s one phrase always on my list. Year after year, I write it down, knowing it should be done, and that I should do more of it. Maybe it's on your list too?
Make a difference.
When I wrote that (again) this week, I stared at it for awhile. So long in fact, that it I experienced what psychologists call "semantic satiation" where staring at a word or phrase for a lengthy period of time causes that word or phrase to lose its meaning. (Seriously, you can google it, it’s a thing!)
Make a difference. What does that really mean anyway? When we say we want to "make a difference," what are we actually talking about?
So I decided to deconstruct the phrase itself, and for me, in the process of doing so, the parts became more inspiring than their sum.
In my head it went like this:
Make a difference. It’s an action phrase, right? Synonyms for make: construct, build, assemble, produce, create, form, mold, shape. It’s an invitation to action. But more than that, an action that requires imagination. It would be impossible to construct or build or shape something without imagination and creativity.
Make a difference. Difference = not the same, the condition of being dissimilar or unlike. Therefore, we should attempt to create something that is not the same as what has come before. Like that old saying about having to do things differently if we want a different outcome. Again, creative thinking required, no?
But honestly, the word that struck me most was not make or difference, but the teeny tiny article in-between the two: a.
Make a difference. We could’ve said make THE difference but we don’t (not in this context anyway). We say make A difference. Yes, I’m splitting hairs here, getting excited that we’ve chosen the indefinite article.
Why?
Because this small but mighty little article means that the possibilities are limitless. There is not just ONE difference to make, there are millions. Billions. Gazillions even?
We don’t have to surrender to THE one difference, and constantly wonder whether we've succeeded at making it. We can wake up each day and choose a new difference to make. We can choose WHICH difference today.
Of course there are huge and worthy differences we can choose (looking at you poverty, racial injustice, human rights, climate change, etc). But AND there are also, smaller, more local changes that are also important and worthy of our attention.
In a nutshell, to make a difference, we have endless opportunity to jump into creative and inspired action that leaves someone (or something) feeling different (hopefully better) than they did before.
💨 I seriously let out a sigh yesterday when this deconstructed A-HA moment revealed itself. 💨
In this year that has spiraled out of control, where at times it’s felt like there isn’t a damn thing I can do … I’ve decided I’m going to spend less time fretting about THE difference and focus more on making A difference. This feels so much easier, and so much more doable.
#2020 #dowhatyoucan
Won’t you join me in making A difference? Is there one teeny tiny but mighty difference you can make today? I’d love to hear about it. Hit reply and let me know (all messages come straight to my inbox and bring me so much joy, heck, THAT makes a difference to me!)
(and psst ... did you know I send these posts out to my newsletter subscribers first? Sign up so you never miss a post! Click here!)
