You Can't Change the World With Cynicism

We had a guest speaker this week from WaterCan, a Canadian organization which has this vision: "Improving people's access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education, can make a huge difference in the lives of millions in the developing world."

The speaker was the Executive Director, Gary Pluim. Through his many years in banking, Gary found himself looking for a change of scenery in the area of development nearly 20 years ago. Through working with World Vision he ended up at WaterCan where he has been for a number of years. An intelligent, and talented speaker, I found myself laughing and learning at the same time.

At the end of his prepared address, he opened it up for questions from us. One of the last questions from one of my classmates was, "Do you find yourself being cynical after seeing some dire situations and the lack of answering them by the general public?" His answer was one I think we forget, or fall prey to. His answer was, "You can't change the world with cynicism." While he said he may have brief periods of not understanding, he has not fallen into the trap of being a cynic. He has hope because he believes that things can change and require that we believe they can.

His message is one I share and have tried to pass on through this blog. If you let yourself slip into the trap of being hopeless, and give up, then you make it that much more difficult for those of us who haven't given up and who continue to fight to turn the world around for the better. Cynicism is a disease and it is highly communicable. When it infects you you breath it, and emanate it from your very being. It is written on your face, you wear it like a badge. Everyone around you becomes stunted, they lose a little hope themselves. You have the ability to be hope or be hopeless, and whatever you choose to be is what others will feel around you. You have more influence on the world then you dare to realize, but when you do decide to use it, choose to use it to pass along positivity and hope. You can change the world with that.

Check out WaterCan here.