The course of history can be changed by anyone, including HEADLINE

NAVIGATOR BRANDON POULTER @brandopinione

Every single word that every person will ever say matters.

My columnists all have heard from me. I tell them that every single word they write matters, but the implications of this sentence reach far beyond the creative spaces of the world.

In the grand scheme of reality, it may not seem that singular events matter, but of course, once you amalgamate them all into the grand structure that is reality itself, it’s easy to see how this is true.

After all, a butterfly in Brazil flapping it’s wings the wrong way causes a hurricane in Florida, right?

What if Donald Trump’s parents had not decided to get intimate one night? What if that one soldier on that one Soviet submarine had decided to launch the nuclear missile in the Cuban missile crisis? What if George Washington hadn’t decided to cross the Delaware? What if you had decided not to go to college? What if you hadn’t decided to go to that bar where you met your significant other?

The chains of events that expand from singular decisions are often longer-reaching than one might think. The bigger decision points make the difference more starkly, but smaller decision points are just as important.

You might be walking into your apartment late at night and see someone drop their groceries and help them pick them up. That person may have been suicidal, and you may convince them that there is still hope. They may go on to be the next Elon Musk or Martin Luther King.

Events like these have many parallels in history. Often singular events, singular words, and singular actions have monument effects on history.

The grand scheme of humanity is nothing more than an amalgamation of the billions of experiences we create each and every day, and we have direct influence over it whether we know it or not.

Your life may be short in the grand scheme, but the legacy you leave, the experiences you create and the love you spread can change the entire history of the human race.

You don’t have to build rockets. You don’t have to found a country. You don’t have to die for Civil Rights. You don’t have to stop a nuclear war.

All you must do is spread love unconditionally. All you must do is take responsibility for the legacy you leave on this earth and choose to be good. If you choose to do these things, you can leave something behind that is bigger than life.

The life of this world is informed by experience, and while you may not have direct control over the experiences of every person on earth, you have control over your own actions, and you can choose to do something good with those actions. You can choose to change the world. Piece by piece.