Tim O’Reilly’s interview in 99U’s Make Your Mark series is sticking with me. He talks of a conference he attended on the future of the US economy where the focus was on the decline of the middle class. Too many conversations are about “How are we going to preserve our place in the ecosystem?” . . . Stop. “Nobody cares about that. That’s the wrong question. The right question is, ‘What does the world need? What do my customers need? What can I do?’” O’Reilly says preserving the middle class will be a byproduct of doing something that the world needs.
What does the world need? What can I do?
This morning I thought of the three futile strategies: “attacking, indulging and ignoring;” how we suffer these habits mindlessly. We’re divided against each other; pointing fingers – I’m right, you’re wrong. Society says buy, buy, buy – when our cupboards are already stuffed. We look the other way because “whatever” is not my problem. The world needs less suffering; more peace, more space.
But what can I do? When I’m still enough I can hear the intuitive knowing about my personal “next right step.” This I can do, and be a part of the change the world needs.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi