The King of Pop Knew What He was Talking About

I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right...

As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
A Summer's Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya' Know
'Cause They Got Nowhere
To Go
That's Why I Want You To
Know

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The
World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change
(Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change)
(Na Na Na, Na Na Na, Na Na,
Na Nah)

I've Been A Victim Of A Selfish
Kind Of Love
It's Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With No
Home, Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me,
Pretending That They're Not
Alone?

Those are just some of the lyrics to this song that I find very powerful. The other day, I went on a pretty late jog. It felt nice out, even though it was about 8:00 pm. It wasn't quite dark yet, and was still fairly warm. As I ran, my ipod was on shuffle. This song came on, and although I had heard the song before, I didn't truly "hear it" until then. Listening to it and realizing what the song was saying suddenly made me see how it's completely true. There's so many problems in the world around us that we choose to be oblivious to. We choose to move on with our lives and disregard the problems of those who we may not know. We all know the issues exist, but even those of us who want to help don't do so, because it's too difficult to change the whole world. There are too many problems to fix. But the reality is, changing ourselves is the first step. To see the problems around us and want to help. You have to "start with the man in the mirror" and change your own actions. If you be the best you can be, the others around you are influenced to do the same. And even if it's just you, atleast you have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried. You lived up to your potential. If you change yourself to see things from the perspectives of those around you, you're slowly improving the lives of the people around you. You'll make subconscious changes within yourself to accommodate the benefits of others as well. And truth be told, changing the life of one person changes their world. You're changing the world, one person at a time. Even if you don't directly change the whole world, the important thing to remember is that you're still making a difference. Don't put yourself down by shooting for the goal of changing the world. Encourage yourself by shooting for the goal of making a difference.