Hello folks,
I borrowed this from Jeff Goins Blog,
A couple years ago, when I was still working
for a nonprofit organization, I shared on this blog a story
about an orphanage in Haiti that had a dire need. Action
was required, and people responded.
In fact, so many people raised their voices in
a week that the Haitian government had to do something. 10,000
people banned
together via social media, with no other tools to work with
than their words — and they made a difference.
A virtual mob of people who wouldn’t keep
quiet about injustice shut down a corrupt orphanage that was trafficking little
children, selling them into slavery. It made national and international news.
And it made me believe in the power of words
again.
Friends who worked for aid groups in the
developing world all told me the same thing: “This doesn’t happen.” Not in
a week. Not even in a month. What made the difference was the fact that so
many spoke up, saying this was not okay.
The conclusion we all
should make
Words make a difference. Talk isn’t cheap.
Your message matters. And something terrible happens when you don’t speak
up. That’s what I’m trying to say here.
Many of us have heard this quote by Edmund
Burke:
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is
for good men to do nothing.
So if you want evil to continue in the world,
if you want to see the status quo spread, shut up. Don’t say a word. And
don’t give your writing the significance it deserves.
Continue apologizing for your work and
downplaying your gifts, but whatever you do, don’t speak. Because when you
do, things change. And who wants, or needs, that?
May you, in spite of your fears and
apprehensions, believe that your words do matter. And that someone, somewhere,
needs to hear them.
