Because You Matter

I have wanted to blog for ages, but every time I open my laptop something more important (like studying) will come up. Or  I'm too tired to think of something to write about after doing other thing (like studying). Besides, I don’t really have much to write about because all my time is taken up by other things (like studying).

But while randomly playing songs on my laptop, I hit this song.

Fame

I'm gonna live forever 

I'm gonna learn how to fly 

High 

I feel it coming together 

People will see me and cry 

Fame 

I'm gonna make it to heaven 

Light up the sky like a flame 

Fame 

I'm gonna live forever 

Baby remember my name 

We have been brought up with the whole ‘rat race’ mentality. That if you do not exert ourselves and make our presence felt, we are nothing.  We want a huge neon flashing light above us which goes, I AM AWESOME AND YOU KNOW IT. It’s a competition of the bests, where second place is never noticed. We step on each other to reach the top. Because the ultimate aim of the rat race is this– PROMINANCE.

There is just one problem though.

The thing about rat races is, even if you win the race, you’re still a rat.

In our chase to be known, we forget what it is we want to be known for. What legacy will you leave behind? How will you be remembered in the end? Mother Theresa was prominent, but so was Hitler.

For me, I think what we should aim for isn’t prominence – it’s SIGNIFICANCE.

And to be that, you need to have a dream. Because anything that is real began with a dream. A passion for some change that you wish to see. That becomes your driving force, it’s not just the goal of succeeding on personal terms, it’s the vision that something can be done about the status quo. Remember, evil triumphs only when good people do nothing.

One of the most inspirational speeches ever given in history would be that of Martin Luther King Jr.

‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." ‘

‘I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.’

‘I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of 

injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.’

‘I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’

‘I have a dream today.’

‘I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.’

‘I have a dream today.’

‘I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.’

‘This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.’

‘This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." '

Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and he never got to see the first black President of USA. But this was a man who changed history, who got off the rat race onto a higher calling. Who wasn’t afraid to dream.

I may be only one, but I am still one. And because I am one, I will not refuse to do the one thing I can do.

Because not everyone is prominent, but everyone is significant.

Will your life count for something today?