Do you ever fall victim to complacency?
Then I would like to introduce you to my friend, Gandalf.
I’m currently watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. As I’m enjoying this epic piece in film history, I can’t help but notice the stagnant rut that King Theoden has fallen in. The man just sits around entranced all day while his kingdom runs itself right into the ground. I suppose you can let him off the hook since he’s under an evil spell and all, but the man banishes Karl Urban and his legion of bamf horsemen right out of the kingdom of Rohan! Who does that?! I mean really.
Anyway, it isn’t until ole Gandalf the White meanders his way into Rohan and mystically bashes him right in his dumb skull that Theoden springs free from this evil spell. This magical head-shot transforms the king from
to
in a matter of moments. This new rejuvenated king goes on to rally his men to win the battle of Helm’s Deep, which springboards them to their ferocious cavalry charge in Return of the King. If you haven’t seen this uber cavalry scene, rent Return of the King and watch it. You’ll thank yourself.
I feel like from time to time we all fall into these periods of complacency where we just dilly dally around, not changing anything. Wouldn’t it be nice if a big white wizard would come along and bash us back into reality? Well, the sad fact is that most of us don’t have a “Gandalf” to go around motivating you to reach for your dreams. We have to find our own causes and harness our motivation, which is typically not an easy task when we’re used to just coasting through the day.
In summary, I want to challenge everyone to find a cause you care about and find out how you can help. Some people can give their cash, but I want to encourage you to go give your time and talents. Get hands on. Hop into the field and see what it’s all about. Don’t worry about changing the world. Just do the little things, and the big things will handle themselves.
If you don’t, then Gandalf may pop in and go all medieval on you. And does anyone really want that?
