A Zen Master visiting New York City goes up to a hot dog vendor and says, “Please, make me one with everything.” The hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to the Zen Master, who then pays a $20 bill.

The Vendor puts the bill in the cash box and closes it. “Excuse me, but where is my change?” asks the Zen Master.

The Vendor responds, “Zen Master, you of all people should know…Change must come from within.”

It is an understatement to say that our Country is in dire need of positive change. The way our country has been governed and the way many individuals have lived their lives have lead us to an economic crisis. Many are feeling the results of our economic situation and want to do something to make a difference. Yet, the scale of the issues at hand makes it seem difficult for us. You may be asking, how can I make a difference? What can I do? Or you may be thinking, Nothing I do will make a difference anyway.

Surely the question now is not what we can do alone but what we can achieve together!

When President Harry Truman was headed home to Missouri after finishing his term in the White House, a reporter asked him what it was like to be leaving the highest office in the land. Without missing a beat, Truman replied: “I am not leaving the highest office. I am assuming the highest office, that of a citizen.”

By working shoulder to shoulder with one another, by being the change we want to see and fully assuming the “highest office of citizenship” and devoting ourselves to a common destiny, then perhaps we collectively can create huge improvements across our nation.

We cannot wait for change. If we want change, we must be the change. It was Mahatma Gandhi who said, “We must be the change we want to see in the world”.

I have a very simple but powerful suggestion on how to be that change!

Be the Change by focusing on Small Acts with Great Love

It was Mother Theresa who said, “We can do no great things –only small things with great love.” Here is a true story example:

An old woman walked with a ramble as she pushed her shopping cart full of worldly possession. She was dirty, her hair unkempt, her cloths torn, she reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. Most of her teeth were missing. She was the image of a miserable wretch.

She stopped and asked Jill for some change. Jill wanting to display a small act of kindness invited her to lunch and she agreed. So, they went across the street to an outdoor café so she could watch over her shopping cart while they ate. The waitress was taken back by the presence of this woman and did not want to serve them, but forced herself. They ate their lunches – the old woman was ravenous and the food disappeared almost as soon as it arrived.

When they were ready to leave, Jill felt good about herself but then the old woman asked her for a hug. It was then that Jill had to face herself and all the hidden repulsion and bias that she had for this woman. She gave her a passing type of hug and instantly felt shame. The old woman thanked Jill for lunch and began to ramble off.

Jill stood there for a moment and realized that she had failed to give this woman the one thing that cost nothing, Love – her house of cards fell. She called to the woman and caught up with her and asked her if she could give her a real hug and she agreed. She got past, and I quote “her own stench and gave that woman the best hug she has ever given anyone.” This was a small act with great Love.

Writing this article has heightened my awareness of small acts so yesterday while I was at the grocery store, there was a young woman behind me with many items in her cart and a screaming baby. I had already loaded all of my things up on the conveyor belt so I asked if she would like some help with her groceries. She stood there speechless for a second and then agreed. She had the biggest smile on her face & jokingly asked if I would follow her home to unload her car as well. At the same time her baby quit screaming! I’m convinced because he sensed the small act with great love.

Dale Carnegie said, “You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime. Be the change by surprising someone with an appreciative note or phone call.

This would be a small act with great love.

Listen intently without interrupting or daydreaming, allow someone who looks anxious to step in front of you in line, smile at a stranger, or waive to a neighbor. These are all small acts with great love.

Quoting Mother Teresa again she said, “Do not worry about why problems exist in the world – just respond to people’s needs. We feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be less without that drop”

It is time NOW for everyday people to stop feeling powerless about doing some grand things in the world and be empowered to see the impact of their small actions, all adding up collectively.

Be the Change Now!

-Denna J. Shelton