My husband worked at U-haul about 5 years ago for about a year. He was a customer service rep for scheduling trucks to rent for moving. Periodically he would receive calls from customers who would be very upset about their rental not being available for one reason or another. One particular phone call my husband received was from a very angry and irate man somewhere in Georgia. As my husband answered the call all he could hear at first was a woman screaming. Then he heard a man start to talk. He was incredibly upset that he couldn't get the words out right because his U-haul that he scheduled to use wasn't available to rent. Which is completely understandable. Did you know that on the Holmes and Rahe stress scale, moving is in the top thirty stressors in a persons life?
The man from Georgia was trying to express to my husband how frustrated he was with the situation, but his words kept flowing out wrong. He finally stated to my husband, "this is a injustamaction!" and at that moment my husband had to mute the line (which he was taught in
training, mind you) to keep the man from hearing any laughter on the other end of the phone call.
Do you ever wish you could do just that?
Mute injustices you hear in your life?
Mute injustices you see in your life?
I was chatting with a friend the other day about this particular subject and how we have this innate ability to see things that are "just ain't right" and wish and pray that we could have a bigger impact on social injustices than we we were having. Right then and there as we were chatting I began to wish I had these super human powers: indestructible gold bangles, a gold lasso that whips the forces of evil into submission, and of course a rad red, white and blue cape. Just like Wonder Woman. Fighting off the forces of evil encouraging the injustices in this world.
It really got me thinking about what I could do with my life to have an impact outside of my circle of influence.
It got me thinking of some ways to really be purposeful and mindful of this in my life and gathered a few ideas:
share your thoughts with others.
Don't be afraid to share what you see as an injustice. Martin Luther King Jr said it perfectly,
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” When we are silent, injustice stays in the darkness. When we voice the injustice and become apart of it of the change; it brings it into the light. Others may have the same passion as you. It brings people together for a common cause. Purposeful things can happen out of you sharing your thoughts about what matter, what you want to see change in this world. Change can happen. It starts with you. It starts with me.
choose something to be apart of.
What gets you passionate enough to want to make a change in this world? Is it human trafficking? Is it girl against girl bullying/guy against guy bullying? Is it giving woman in foreign countries the opportunity to make money on their own and support their family just as Proverbs 31 empowers women to go and do? I truly believe that fighting injustice means getting angry about the things that matter, righteously. Think about the injustices that get you to the point of "wanting to overturn the tables" What is it? Be apart of it.
be purposeful in giving gifts.
I love giving gifts with a purpose. Think of it like this: buy once, give twice. You may have heard of these wonderful companies, TOM Shoes, founded by Blake Mycoskie to give a pair of shoes to someone in need from every shoe purchased through the company, adding up to 35,000 shoes a year to people in third world countries. Another great one is Warby Parker, an online eye wear company with three flagship stores in L.A, New York and Boston. With each pair of glasses purchased from Warby Parker, all only $95, the company totals the amount and donates to their non-profit partners. The company also uses the donations to train people in third world countries to give basic eye exams and resources to sell eye wear at affordable prices. There are thousands and thousands of more companies (I've listed some of my favorites below and the links) that offer the concept of "buy one give one" . Find one that fits what your passion is. Embrace it and give freely.
do SOMETHING.
By this I mean do something with purpose. Go on a trip locally, regionally or globally to support an organization you see fighting injustice. Get involved with a non-profit. Heck, start your own non-profit. Raise money with a Kickstarter campaign for a cause you are passionate about. Don't stand on the sidelines waiting for someone else to start something. Don't wait for someone else to inspire you. Be the one who inspires.
What social injustice programs do you support?
What causes are you passionate about?
Here are a few of mine~
Kind Campaign kindcampaign.com (bringing awareness and healing of girl against girl bullying)
31 Bits 31bits.com (using fashion and design to empower women to rise against poverty)
A21 Campaign A21.com (fighting the injustice of human trafficking of women)
TheBraveCollection.com (handmade jewelry from Cambodia to empower women across the globe)
TheDaveThomasFoundation.com (finding forever families for children in foster care)