Where you stand makes all the difference

So much has been written about the leadership qualities of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, but what strikes me most is his stand for the future of democracy. His country faces an existential threat, but he is lifting his aspirations much higher than just survival of his own country. From his stand, he’s challenging Western leaders to examine what they really believe in. World opinion has shifted from impotence to determination to do what it takes to win. He is not going to stop, and in the face of tragedy and evil, has lifted us from despair to inspiration.

‘I could never be like that,’ many of us respond. But that’s not true. He is challenging all of us to realise we have everything we need to make a positive difference in our environments.

I think of Professor Bruce Robinson, a Perth-based physician, and West Australian of the Year, who spent years caring for men dying of mesothelioma.

All were full of regrets about being absent fathers. So he founded The Fathering Project to encourage dads of primary school-age children that their engagement matters.

I think of Grace Tame, Australian of the Year, who turned her suffering into a stand for a future free of sexual abuse of children. She’s been met with resistance and criticism but her stand has kept her going.

I think of Marcus Rashford, a 25-year-old English football star who turned his years of childhood hunger into a national campaign to end childhood poverty, shaming the British government into reinstating free school lunches. Unlike other celebrities, he is generous with his own money as well as his time and name. And he has a demanding day job!

What can we ordinary folk learn from them?

Taking a stand:

-?????Begins with a vision for how the world could be. We can see, hear, and even taste it!

-?????Inspires ownership and responsibility rather than blame.

-?????Originates from our most deeply values, not our opinions.

-?????Articulates what we are for, rather than what we are against.

-?????Is about all of us, not just ourselves or our 'tribe'. ?

-?????Transforms our thinking beyond what we already know, encouraging new ideas we previously didn’t think possible.

-?????Calls us into action. We can’t help ourselves.

-?????Inspires others to participate when we share it.

There are countless local heroes leading environmental, academic, educational, business, health, developmental, and social movements who began by taking a stand despite their doubts and unbelief. They now find themselves in action, engaging in ways they never imagined themselves capable of, sometimes lifting people’s aspirations and other times fighting resistance from systems and people who don’t want to change.?

Where do you long to make a difference but have been holding back? This could be your moment to take a stand and let it transport you to a new world of action and possibility. You won’t know yourself.

I made a video about this, you may check it here.