Making a Difference

Some people want to make a difference in some way, big or small. They really don't understand the great philosophies or theories that rule our social and natural worlds. They do not intellectualize every problem they encounter, nor do they wait in patient consideration. They have been groomed and even chosen to react quickly to their perceptions of inner truths. In transit, their speech and their actions usually mix as they encounter various obstacles.

To some, these people are hasty, loud fools because they move into situations as they adjust their understandings. True, these people can barely control their nervous emotions without this shift of involvement. Even then, they shake and stammer through unfamiliar territory but they do accept the walk. The weight of anticipation and the pent-up energy of frustration rival that of a football player used to losing but waiting to slam into the first body of opposition in a new, hopeful season. Their direct action reduces the pain of waiting.

Most of these people have accepted the dead eyes of others around them as self-imposed burdens of their responsibility. They aren't always happy individuals; some never much so. They are often serious and overtly animate in their sober nature. Many have learned that others they know are less proactive and more intelligent but, at the same time, more dependent than they. They learn to push and to manipulate and so they often appear to be domineering. Their methods may even lack common understanding.

Without question, these people draw fire, both friendly and enemy. They step into places where they are not welcomed. At times, they can hardly avoid pressing tremendous weight upon the feet of friends. Others sometimes want them just to stop their actions, turn around, and forget about jousting with windmills. They have a penchant for making people feel sick as well as making people feel revived. They draw mixed reactions of hatred and love. Yet, like lightning rods, they attract forces much more powerful than they.

Blunder, mistake as well as success is always at hand for these people. On rapid detail, they swerve and overlook but also stubbornly perceive their singular goal. When their heads fail from exhaustion, their soul takes the wheel. Even then, their nature is prone to error and to achievement. Walking contradictions they may be. To them, perfection is never an option. Instead, best effort must suffice.

They are not happy to fit into boxes that conceal their identity. Their egos, by nature, are usually larger than should be as they struggle to explain their understanding of a problem. Others may call them zealots and reactionaries, often deservedly so. Poking their noses into foreign territory, they ask God for forgiveness of their daily trespasses.

Some people want to make a difference. Many do not; some make a positive statement; and some make a negative statement. A fine line of distinction between the degrees of effectual change exists during the life they live. Only with proper perspective after the passage of time will others see any true indifference, advancement, or decline made by the difference maker. People seeking to make a difference must be satisfied with the attainment of an unfinished product. That is the best they can do. In essence, that is their true life work.