What Supporting A Cause Actually Looks Like

I was riding on the Dart (Dallas' public train system) one day, heading to work.

It was a day that felt like any other - I felt tired and was mostly going through the motions (I've never been a morning person).

The train came to my stop, and I got off as normal.

I waited for the train to continue past me so that I could cross the tracks to get to the office.

When the final train car passed, I looked across the street to see two people standing, holding a sign up.

It was election season - and we all know how people get during election season.

Their signs were directed at a certain candidate - I honestly don't remember who.

But the sign essentially said, "X person put $Y toward education - smells like corruption to me."

I can't recall the actual dollar amount, but it was a hefty sum of money.

Three thoughts went through my mind that day.

The first was - Wow! $Y is a LOT of money! That candidate must really care about education a LOT to put that amount toward it!

The second thought, directed toward the people holding up the signs - How much money have you ever spent on improving our (admittedly broken) education system?

If not money, how much time have you spent trying to improve it?

Have you only spent the $10ish dollars to throw that (kinda sad) sign together, and only waved that sign that one day?

How much do you really care about improving education?

For the entire rest of that election cycle, I never saw those two people again.

The third thought was how strange it was that two people only had that one sign between them.

This is what I'm getting at.

We all "care" about things - but... do we "really" care?

What evidence do you have that you actually care?

Do you support the cause with your own money?

Do you invest in solutions to help that cause?

Do you donate money to non-profits that work to improve that cause?

Do you help raise money for that cause?

Do you spend time helping others understand that cause?

Are you in the trenches with whoever, or whatever, the cause is directed at?

Are you actively coming up with solutions for the causes and working with others to make it a reality?

The truth is, most people only pay lip service to causes.

We ALL think global warming is bad.

We ALL think we need to save all the animals.

We ALL think that we need to help the homeless.

We ALL think these things, and for many more causes which would be too long to list, but do we DO anything?

Often, when push comes to shove, people refuse to actively do anything to support the causes they claim to believe in.

I recently wrote about how Target did exactly this with their claims about being LGBTQIA+ supporters.

Target showed that when push came to shove, they didn't really care about that cause.

So many people say "This cause is important!"

But then won't budge to do anything about it.

Or worse, they backtrack (like Target did) and end up hurting that cause.

Maybe they will "repost" something they saw on social media one time.

Maybe they will spend $10 on materials to make a sign and spend an hour outside before thinking, "Wow, I must be so great".

However, they wouldn't go out of their way to continually bring awareness to the cause.

They wouldn't spend their nights or weekends continuing to stand outside to make people aware of the cause.

They wouldn't put even a single dollar - not $1 - toward a non-profit doing the work to make a difference.

If you want to be a Leader for a cause, PROVE it.

Put work into it.

Put money into it.

Put resources into it.

Recruit people to help you.

Write about what you want to fix.

Talk about what needs to be fixed.

Work with others who believe in the same cause.

Create solutions to the vast problems we face.

I'm tired of people who "say" they believe in things.

I want to SEE people DO something to fix the problems!

That is the call of a Legendary Leader - to DO something to fix the problems that exist.

Anything that is within your power is better than nothing.

It may "feel" small, or like it isn't enough - but you're wrong.

ALL action helps create momentum toward change.

It may begin slowly sometimes, but slow progress is better than no progress.

Consistency is key - keep going, keep contributing.

Whether it's time, money, resources, ideas, teamwork, or simply your voice - it all adds together.

I challenge you - start ACTUALLY supporting whatever you believe in.

Start ACTUALLY improving the world.