#56: Making a difference

I have the hardest time trying to decide what I want to do with my life.  Things keep popping up that intrigue me.  There are so many people I want to help, so many causes I want to put my energy behind. 

For example, every time I sit through a Master of Social Work information session I decide I want my MSW.  We have a special track for those interested in working with immigrants and refugees which I really am right now.  I also want to get a dual degree with a Master in Theology and focus on a recent study that came out stating children who grew up in religious households are less altruistic than those who did not.  Personally I think the study was shit and needs to be redone. 

Then there is Humans of New York on Instagram and Facebook- one guy who started taking pictures of people on the streets of NY and writing a bit about their lives is now traveling the world, shedding light onto people in other countries who have stories to tell but no one to talk to who will listen. 

Black Lives Matter is a huge movement in Minneapolis and I feel the need to do what I can to support them.  I just don't know what I can do.

I just read a headline to an article about the only grocery store in the Iron Range closing soon.  That will turn the already struggling range into a food desert. 

I work at an all female undergraduate school.  I can only imagine the kind of angst and anxiety that must be felt by these girls on campus from social media to bullying to trying to be perfect.  I want to help them.  I want to make sure every girl on this campus knows they're special and wonderful in their own way and they don't need to conform to society's idea of the perfect woman.  

And the best candidate for president, Bernie Sanders.  He is everything.  And I'm nervous for what the next year will bring.  #feelthebern

Right now I'm just too busy.  I'm working 3 jobs (which will hopefully be knocked down to two after January).  I make time to volunteer with the Adapted Recreation and Learning Exchange group (adults with special needs) but I wish I could do more.  I haven't been to Feed My Starving Children in who knows how long.  

I want to make a difference in this world, I just don't know how or where to start.  I know I have the power to do something great!  

I guess I should start small and work my way up and out.  My friend Jackie from elementary school has become a recent highlight of my life with her motivational quotes and all around awesome ideas for how to live your life- healthy, happy and with no negativity.  She recently suggested that if you have 365 friends on Facebook to spend every day telling one person why you're thankful for them.  I don't have 365 FB friends but my goal is to get through the 322 that I do have over the next year.  Thanks, Jackie.  I'll probably start with you.  :)

What is one thing you want to do to make the world a better place?  I'm curious what other people's passions are.