If changing the world were easy, everyone would be doing it. To note a flaw in how the society around you is functioning, and to dedicate your life to addressing it requires a great deal of persistence, knowledge, and hard work. For this reason, many people are more comfortable roaming throughout a world that was previously drawn by eyes that came before them and colored in shades they did not choose for themselves. It’s easier for them to not question, to meander blindly along paths that were already cut away for their convenience, so they do not have to fear what will happen if they dare to venture off to where the dirt is free of footprints. However, not everyone is satisfied with a reality that someone else chose for them, and aim to see it changed for the better. Here are some of the doubts an individual has when trying to change the world, while being stuck in the current one.

1. That they will never be judged for their character or their hard work. That, instead, they will be judged solely upon their gender, race, sexuality, appearance, among others, and that the message they are attempting to deliver with be lost among these trivialities.

2. That the effects of combatting what is popular or what their peers believe will come with negative consequences; that they may, in some fashion, be socially punished for expressing opposing opinions.

3. That people will never understand how much responsibility they have to do something meaningful with their lives (something beyond just watching monotonous TV shows, something beyond just tweeting about every misfortune in their life, and something beyond just their selfish desires and greed) and that they will never grasp how truly capable of this they are.

4. That people will never truly understand how dangerous media can be and that they will never truly understand how dangerous power in general can be.

5. That people will never come to terms with how prevalent racism, sexism, homophobia, and overall prejudice are (unless they experience or witness it firsthand). And that as long as they continue to deny or ignore, the issues cannot ever properly be addressed.

6. That people do not care for knowledge as much as they care for entertainment, and that they will prefer instant gratification over work, ultimately choosing the most attractive option over the most meaningful option. That immediate pleasure, which doesn’t require much effort or thought, will always hold the upper hand in the hearts of humans, causing popularity to forever reign over quality.

7. That people are inherently selfish and incapable of reasoning or understanding beyond what affects their own lives or those within their social spheres.

8. That they will never be able to make a difference in the world, because of who they are. Fear that their existence means nothing and will have no impact.

9. Fear that they will never be deemed worthy of listening to or taken seriously for their efforts. That regardless of what they do, they will always be inadequate in some way whether it be physically, mentally, or intellectually.

11. Fear that they are in the wrong place or wrong time for making a change ( wrong generation, wrong town, wrong school, wrong country, wrong world, wrong universe, you name it). They are left with a persistent feeling of being out of place, that others do not understand them and what they are hoping to accomplish or do not also hope to make a difference as they do.

12. Fear that they are fighting a losing battle, and that they will spend their entire life working towards a goal that will not ever be reached.

People who never dare to make their own fresh footprints in the world will not know the feeling of their stride sinking into earth that has never before been grazed, looking upon something that only their eyes have seen, and appreciating, encounter at that at that moment, something only their mind can fathom. People who never make it their aim to change the world for the better will never learn what it means to make their own mark in the drawing that they did not originally create but are the current illustrator of, to understand that shades of the past may have been suitable for people of a different time or pace, but new shades need to be introduced, because the world is an ever-changing place.