Changing the World one Starfish at a Time.

Our Unsung World Heroes. Like many, I wish that it was easy to change the world, but it is not. Even though it is not easy, that does not mean it’s not possible or important to do so!

It takes effort, tenacity, empathy, hope and a wiliness to go against the current and ruffle a few feathers along the way. Often when reflecting on people who have changed the world, iconic figures come to mind like civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., or physicist Albert Einstein.

Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, who became a freedom fighter and activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate is a young woman risking her life by speaking up under oppressive conditions in regard to educational privileges for girls/woman where it would have been much safer and easier to remain quiet and in the shadows.

“I am studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford. And every day I fight to ensure all girls receive 12 years of free, safe, quality education. – Malala Yousafzai”.

Changing the world.

Many of these extraordinary human spirits who changed the world felt driven to take a step forward outside of the box and take a risk that was not for fame, internet likes or global recognition. Take this little story below – – it is one of my all-time favorites adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)

We forget that these people once blended into society and were not considered iconic until they made a choice to use their voice, mind, passions to influence the world. These are the kind of people that the world admires, but I often wonder more about the forgotten or overlooked humans that are making huge impacts on the world and the lives of others like the little boy in the story above. Those are the people I strive to find.

George Wertheim, a British humanitarian would have remained in the shadows and never recognized for his work organizing the rescue (known as the Czech Kindertransport) of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. Watch this video of him meeting some of those survivors as adults. Remember if you watch it, I am not crying – you’re crying. So touching!

Know that there are numerous people reading this that are unsung heroes and I want to take a moment to say “I see you” and “Thank You”!

• Thank you for picking up that starfish.
• Thank you for opening and holding that door.
• Thank you for being authentic and vulnerable.
• Thank you for standing up for others and injustice.
• Thank you for helping strangers, friends and neighbors that are struggling.
• Thank you for caring for human beings, animals/creatures and the world.