With Time Magazine having just selected Pope Francis as its Person of the Year, it’s intriguing to think about choosing someone a bit differently. For better or worse, you can become Time’s poster person.
That means you could fall into a Hitler or Idi Amin category – humans who have done horrible things. Or, you could be a Ghandi or Steve Jobs – someone who has affected millions of people in a way that improved their lives.
If you looked at the list this year, it included people like Miley Cyrus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Edward Snowden, the American fugitive who leaked thousands of classified documents to the press. Time makes their choice based on the “impact” the person has on the world and news in the past year. That word can mean many things.
Last year around this time, our family took an interesting poll, asking everyone the question: “If you got the chance to punch someone in the face with no repercussions, who would it be and why?” The answers came quickly and were fascinating, because almost everyone has some hot button issue that gets them raging.
This year, we turned that question on its head. Instead, we asked everyone to name someone who has positively impacted you the most in the past year (personally or in the world at large).
There were seven of us sitting around when we asked the question, and only two could answer quickly and definitively: Our older daughter Reilly and our son Kirby. They both chose someone personal.
Reilly selected a college friend – someone who has overcome significant obstacles to get where she is today. Kirby chose one of his high school teachers who is also one of his coaches.
I suppose the fact that they had names come up quickly shouldn’t be surprising because they are at a stage of life where positive models affect you more deeply. If I was 18 or 22 again, I think my answer would have come more quickly.
Still, most of us found it strange that we struggled to name someone who shined. Perhaps we are jaded. Perhaps it is just something that builds over the years, and we are less willing to throw the “s/he’s great” label on someone when we know there are demons somewhere. I’m not sure.
Regardless, there was a lot of indecision around the table. Take a few minutes and think deeply about this and see if someone immediately comes to mind.
PAUSE.
I selected my wife Debbie. She does amazing things every day to keep our family organized, prepared and on top of things, and we don’t salute her nearly often enough for the goodness she imparts. Here’s to her.
The first thing that swirled around my head though was how hard it is to create a long-lasting positive impact. On a world scale, it’s mind-boggling how difficult it is. When you go through this type of exercise, you start thinking of names, then discarding them.
Is there a diplomat who’s spearheaded a peace treaty? Has a scientist invented something that cuts our need for fossil fuels? Is there a business leader whose company created thousands of jobs to transform a depressed area into a thriving hub? It’s hard to immediately capture names for any of these.
On a personal level, once you go beyond family members, your choices come down to friends, neighbors, coworkers or someone you associate with at your place of worship or socially. You enjoy these relationships but typically don’t think of them as transformative.
Hence, the difficulty in coming up with the positive person of the year. Spend some time and come up with your choice. Then let that person know, and explain why you gave him or her the award. Maybe next year it will come back your way.
That means you could fall into a Hitler or Idi Amin category – humans who have done horrible things. Or, you could be a Ghandi or Steve Jobs – someone who has affected millions of people in a way that improved their lives.
If you looked at the list this year, it included people like Miley Cyrus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Edward Snowden, the American fugitive who leaked thousands of classified documents to the press. Time makes their choice based on the “impact” the person has on the world and news in the past year. That word can mean many things.
Last year around this time, our family took an interesting poll, asking everyone the question: “If you got the chance to punch someone in the face with no repercussions, who would it be and why?” The answers came quickly and were fascinating, because almost everyone has some hot button issue that gets them raging.
This year, we turned that question on its head. Instead, we asked everyone to name someone who has positively impacted you the most in the past year (personally or in the world at large).
There were seven of us sitting around when we asked the question, and only two could answer quickly and definitively: Our older daughter Reilly and our son Kirby. They both chose someone personal.
Reilly selected a college friend – someone who has overcome significant obstacles to get where she is today. Kirby chose one of his high school teachers who is also one of his coaches.
I suppose the fact that they had names come up quickly shouldn’t be surprising because they are at a stage of life where positive models affect you more deeply. If I was 18 or 22 again, I think my answer would have come more quickly.
Still, most of us found it strange that we struggled to name someone who shined. Perhaps we are jaded. Perhaps it is just something that builds over the years, and we are less willing to throw the “s/he’s great” label on someone when we know there are demons somewhere. I’m not sure.
Regardless, there was a lot of indecision around the table. Take a few minutes and think deeply about this and see if someone immediately comes to mind.
PAUSE.
I selected my wife Debbie. She does amazing things every day to keep our family organized, prepared and on top of things, and we don’t salute her nearly often enough for the goodness she imparts. Here’s to her.
The first thing that swirled around my head though was how hard it is to create a long-lasting positive impact. On a world scale, it’s mind-boggling how difficult it is. When you go through this type of exercise, you start thinking of names, then discarding them.
Is there a diplomat who’s spearheaded a peace treaty? Has a scientist invented something that cuts our need for fossil fuels? Is there a business leader whose company created thousands of jobs to transform a depressed area into a thriving hub? It’s hard to immediately capture names for any of these.
On a personal level, once you go beyond family members, your choices come down to friends, neighbors, coworkers or someone you associate with at your place of worship or socially. You enjoy these relationships but typically don’t think of them as transformative.
Hence, the difficulty in coming up with the positive person of the year. Spend some time and come up with your choice. Then let that person know, and explain why you gave him or her the award. Maybe next year it will come back your way.