I like to tell people that I don’t make New Year’s resolutions and I haven’t in several years. Why? I just give up on them, like many others. I got tired of failing and instead of figuring out how to live up to another rule, I just stopped making them. This year was supposed to be no different, but I failed in that attempt. I had one hit me the other week like a freight train. I call it a freight train, because it is both massive and simple. It’s weighty, yet attainable. I invite you to join me this year, because I know you can do it as well and it’s this: change the world.

Our world is in need of change. I think we can all agree that this world could use some drastic improvement as we see poverty, hunger, killing plastered across the news everyday. However, we don’t need to change the globe simultaneously to have affected the world. Actually, the world is a collection of locales. It is a summation of microcosms and that is within our grasps. It is our own small worlds (however big or small they may actually be) that need us the most. That, in turn, will leave the world a different place. Especially if those affected for the better repeat the effects in their own worlds. You see what I’m getting at here?

Even raindrops wear away granite. Change is most lasting when enacted through relationships. But, it’s imperative for us, like Jesus (whether you look at Him as God, prophet or teacher, alike), to focus on one relationship at a time. And within that relationship, be intentional and present in every interaction, every conversation. That, my friend, is our raindrop. And you’ll find that most people aren’t as tough as granite. In fact, most people are very soft, however it’s the crusty exterior we must gently break through. It’s the insulation against a world grown cold that we must patiently wait for the raindrops to erode. It’s not just a matter of time, but of a growing trust that our intentions are not to leave them broken, exposed.

We don’t need a platform. I don’t know about you, but I feel I need a platform, a set of principles that people respect me for, to be able to enact change. That credibility comes through one thing. If I, if we wait, we’ll never start. That “platform” is built through interactions and relationships. It’s built through purposefully with the muck of life (whether yours or theirs) with loved ones. Don’t have anyone close enough? Relationships have to start somewhere. Why not dive right in? What have you to lose?

Who’s to say that what starts out a New Year’s resolution can’t become a lifetime? Again, we have to start somewhere. And if we have nothing to guide us, then where can we derive purpose? Call it an experiment, call it a stunt, call it what you will, I think I’m on to something here and I’m going to see this through. You have a choice today, like we all do every day; what will you stand for? What will today be lived for? Remember, with anything worthwhile, there will be highs and lows, joys and trials. It’s up to us to commit and, in time, if we are faithful we will see the benefits. So, the ball’s in your court, friend.