One of the greatest truths I’ve ever learned came from a caveman.
It’s a powerful bit of dialogue from the film “10,000 B.C.” that tells the story of two prehistoric friends growing up together.
After becoming the leader of his tribe, one of the young men faces an almost impossible challenge when a more highly advanced civilization kidnaps and enslaves many of his people.
As he wrestles with his doubts about being able to lead his remaining tribesmen to free the captives, his best friend describes the choice that is before him.
He reminds him that:
“A good man draws a circle around himself and cares for those within. His woman, his children. Other men draw a larger circle and bring within their brothers and sisters.
But some men have a great destiny. They must draw around themselves a circle that includes many, many more. Your father was one of those men. You must decide for yourself whether you are, as well.”
I’ve thought about this quote as I increasingly hear from people beginning to awaken to the reality of our seemingly impossible challenges.
The question they are asking is, “How can I make a difference?”
A good start would be to evaluate how wide we are willing to draw our own circle of influence.
We don’t always recognize the impact of our efforts because we don’t always know who is paying attention.
But our influence is real and we may want to widen our circle accordingly.
Our Circle of Influence