Dear Avaaz movement,
I have a crazy confession to make. I started Avaaz,
and I don't sign many petitions.
I always think,
"yeah, but what difference is my one extra signature going to
make?" I feel like I have more important things to do, like
making sure our petitions are powerfully delivered.
But wow, am I glad the rest of us don't think this
way. Because while it's true that the 1,137,540th signature
doesn't by itself change the game, the whole million of them
absolutely
can. And the whole million is just a million individual
people hoping, believing and acting. Doing *their* part,
however small, to make a better world. Without people who
make that individual choice, our movement would not exist.
So much of life is like this. Any one of us could be
the one person to skip the line, or not vote, or lie on our
taxes, or turn away from a neighbour in need. But we don't.
Why?
Because it's who we are. Because it's the right
thing to do. Because we were raised to love and serve. Because
we know what a dark world it would be if everyone failed to do
their part.
I've always been awed by the decency of
the people in this movement. You teach me again and again. And
in reflecting on this question of why we sign, I come back to
my own behaviour. And I pledge to sign more. To be part of
that simple act of connection to others, in hope, service, and
that precious kind of strength that we can only find together.
Click below to see and join a global, multilingual
live chat of our movement about why each of us sign (and
message, share, call, lobby, donate, march). These times call
for all of us to step up to the needs of our communities and
our world - let's inspire each other to service:
Why
we sign
I know many of us are moved by
seeing the list of names of others who have signed scroll by
on the petition page. I am too. Look for my name there.
With gratitude for this stunningly beautiful
movement, Ricken and the team
PS - Of course, our
petitions are just the beginning of our campaigns -- and Avaaz
runs some of the most effective, strategic, don't take no for
an answer, never say die campaigns in the world! I know many
of us only see a campaign at its beginning. See our
victories page to see what it looks like at the end.
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