Gulf News: Unless changes take place on a bigger scale, small efforts won’t matter.
Riyad Mahmoud: I am against the statement because anything that leads to something big, does matter. The person who is willing to take a small step, leads to a collective bigger stand.
Rayan El Moghrabi: I work at a charity organisation and most people think that small efforts don’t matter because what I do will not make any difference on the larger scale. The government does not make the entire community, we do and we influence each other more than the government influences us. When several people take a stand, there is a domino effect and in turn, small efforts make a big difference.
John Katsos: Small efforts do make a difference over time, but they only do if they spark something bigger. During the civil rights movement in the US, lots of people did what Rosa Parks eventually did, those people went to prison and no one cared. However, when Rosa Parks did it, it was just at the exact right moment, and it sparked something bigger.
Masooma Bilgrami: Talia Leman was just ten years old when she helped the victims of hurricane Katrina, and today she is the founder and CEO of her own company. At the time, she was just a young, innocent girl who wanted to help out of genorosity, and seven years later she is making a difference and helping children all over the world.
Sterlin Sebastian: Success is the sum of all small efforts. If one person makes a small effort, it may not make a difference, but if thousands of people do the same, it will make a difference. For example, at 211º Farenheit the water is hot, but at 212º Farenheit the water boils and that makes all the difference.
Tanzina Sharmin: The government makes the rules, but if there is no effort by the people, the impact of the rule will be insignificant. Rules don’t grow out of nowhere, they come from small steps.
Pranita Masand: Small efforts definitely do matter. For example, if a child decides to arrange his bed before his mother comes home from work, this is something that the mother will remember 10 years later and make her happy. In case of war or flooding in any country, people helping each other are very important and at such times, small efforts really count. Small efforts add up to something big and even just helping someone cross the road will boost your self esteem.
Gulf News: If nobody does anything, nothing will change.
John Katsos: It depends on the issue, for example, global warming, and let’s assume for the argument’s sake that it exists. If we take that as being true, we don’t have to do anything about it and things will change. There will be more weather changes, polar vortexes, typhoons and tsunamis. If there’s not something that people do, if we don’t reduce the amount of carbon output whether it is through our factories or animals, then things will change and it will be very bad. It depends on what the issue is. There are some issues where if you do nothing, the status quo remains the same, but there are plenty of issues where the status quo will change and that is the problem.
Masooma Bilgrami: I believe that nobody has to do everything, but everyone can do something. Everyone doesn’t think the same way and everyone will not have one idea in their mind, nonetheless, every contribution matters. Every time that an effort is made by another individual, the impact increases to the point where it actually makes a difference. No big change comes just like that, just as no one would donate 10 million dollars out of the blue nor will a big company set up just like that, there is always someone who started from scratch.
Rayan El Moghrabi: That is true as there is always that one person in class who when you ask him or her “What do you want to be when you graduate?” they would reply “I want to be a CEO.” The truth is that, you have to start as an intern being paid nothing, then move on to a minimum wage, and after that it will take you years and several steps before you might become a CEO. No one starts at the top, you have to take small steps and that is why they matter.
Riyad Mahmoud: For example, if you are making tea and one of the ingredients is missing, you won’t get the tea. So, if an individual from this part of the region, another one from the US, Germany collaborate to do something for the sake of peace ... it is about how these individuals from different parts of the world join together in order to form something bigger. It is the effort that counts at the end of the day. We are citizens of the world.
John Katsos: This is what we refer to as the ‘golden rule’ so if you got the gold, you can make the rules. That is true to a certain extent, and in this world, if you have money and guns, you can do whatever you want and unfortunately, you can make peoples lives very difficult. However, the money and guns people are not the majority of people; they are the vast minority. So, the only way for us to do something is to do something small and be idealistic, or you can just sit there quietly and do nothing. Idealism is the only way forward for those who don’t have the gold.
Masooma Bilgrami: The girl who is running the successful organization and helping children all over the world did not have the gold either, but she has made a difference.
Gulf News: The only things small efforts achieve is to make you feel good about yourself.
Riyad Mahmoud: To a certain extent it does, it depends on the perception of what you are planning to do with your effort and dedication. You can see yourself go there, and as you are taking small steps, your level of happiness increases.
John Katsos: It seems like this is more about efforts by small people, it’s the little ones, and it’s us that are doing things that are big for us. If I decide to recycle all of my plastics, for me, that is a big deal. If I decide to buy a car that is more energy efficient, again, this is a big deal for me but for everybody else that will not matter. At an individual level, it is not just to make you feel good about yourself, there has to be something else that makes a difference. There has to be some recognition or at least some hope that this is going to help on a larger scale, even if it’s delusional.
Sterlin Sebastian: The fact that it makes you feel better, is just a bonus. In any small effort that you do, even if it is just walking on the street and returning a smile, it makes a great difference.
Pranita Masand: Small efforts do matter because it makes you the bigger person. We, as human beings like being a little better and higher up than we already are. For example, at work, if you manage to do something that your manager couldn’t, you would automatically think “Hey, I’m better than you.” If people around you see you do well, this will inspire them to excel because they want to feel the way you feel.
Tanzina Sharmin: An effort is not about being small or big. For example, government policies don’t always work, so, it’s more about the effort that people make in order to make them work.
Rayan El Moghrabi: What is more dangerous is people who discourage or criticise those who try to make an effort.
