It's Ironic on Purpose

I love the title of my blog, so let me explain why. The One Man Difference totes the ability of one person to do extraordinary things. It believes in changing the world right now with the efforts of one person. The paradox is that there is no way to change the world without working with others.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredible man who inspired change that is still felt today, but he wasn't alone. The March on Washington had roughly 250,000 people in attendance. Although he was one man, and he had the ability to create change, it was those around him that made that change stick.

Gandhi advocated for freedom for India and was a lawyer, a leader of the Indian National Congress, and led countless peasants, farmers, leaders, and urban laborers against the injustices imposed on them. He was an advocate of "Self-rule," but the change that he made in the world depended on the choices of others as well.

For lasting change to happen in any group of people, those people have to willingly change what they want. Anything else creates rebellion, distrust, contention, hatred, grudges. No man can shout loud enough to make the world listen. But a community that sings the same chorus will be able to reach every heart.

The One Man Difference is all about your personal efforts, your personal struggles, your personal viewpoints, you as a person. It is not about anything else. There will not be a list of how to be in 3 places at once here, there will not be a "how to make them change" here. This is a blog that will touch on the difference one person can make, but it is one person who has support from others. It is the story of what one person did and why people followed them.

Now comes the danger. We begin to see people as ways to get what we want, not as the people we want to help. If you want to see one reason why this is a bad idea, feel free to visit my previous post. A great book that talks about seeing people as vehicles is "The Anatomy of Peace" by The Arbinger Institute.  If you use someone as a vehicle, you begin to devalue them as a person. Again, this goes back to are you helping someone, or are you using them. I'll talk more about that point soon.

Don't get me wrong, this will focus on the individual, but this post is meant to illustrate that no man is an island. Do not forget what can be done with the power and support from others.