Five Inspirational Examples of How One Person Can Make a Difference

So often over my life I have heard individuals say, and yes I have even been guilty myself of saying the words “What difference can I make, I’m only one person?”  History is full of courageous, remarkable and inspirational individuals who have paid extreme prices to make a difference in the world. Without these individuals, it is hard to imagine how different our world would be today. Truly inspirational individuals who have proven that when your hopes and dreams out weigh your fears one person can truly make a difference.

Here are five inspirational examples:

Nelson Mandela – Born is South Africa in 1918 he fought a lifelong battle to end apartheid (a system of complete racial separation) in South Africa. This amazing man spent 18 years in the most horrible prison conditions imaginable, twice refusing release if he would be willing to renounce the attack on apartheid. After release from prison Mandela would go on to become the first black president of South Africa, winning South Africa’s first all –race election, he would share the Nobel Pease Prize in 1993 with the South African President F.W. deKlerk.

Ronald Reagan – “Tear down this wall!” on June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan, against the advice of many of his advisors and at a time of heightened tensions between East and West gave a historic speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall. The speech challenged Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the wall. The thought, although absurd, was part of the Reagan ideology that there could be a Communist free government in the East. Twenty –nine months later, on November 9, 1989, East Germany would in fact open the Berlin Wall. This action would be the start of the dismantlement of the Communist governments of Eastern Europe and eventually the Soviet Union.

Mahatma Gandhi – Albert Einstein said of Gandhi “Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.” A quiet unassuming man led a revolution against the Colonialism of India professing and living a life of peace and nonviolence. His commitment to change through peace was truly inspirational to the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rosa Parks – Born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama this one women’s courage to stand up to the establishment in refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus would spur a city wide boycott. The city would eventually be forced to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. This one action by one individual would help launch the civil rights movement.

Mother Teresa – The Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, MC also known as Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 had 4500 sisters actively running hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis in over 130 countries. The peace and comfort that she has brought to the world is nothing short of phenomenal and inspirational for everyone.

These short writings about these great people can certainly not do justice to their lives and the amazing, inspirational impacts that they have had on the world. They are great examples of what one person with a dream can do to impact history and inspire generations

What can you or I do to impact our families, our communities our companies and yes the world if we dream big and give of ourselves?

One person can make a difference, you can make a difference.

 

Good Selling

Bob

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