All around us, as we grow and move from one level to another, we experience change of every kind. One sure thing is that even though certain changes can be delayed or hampered, change is an inevitable aspect of every living change. There is change that we can personally initiate, yet there is change that simply happens like growth. It is necessary for a person to master the environment they are living in and motivate change or simply adjust to it when it happens. Change can be negative or positive depending on the attitude we develop towards the situations that surround us. Knowing how inevitable change is, it is paramount to aspire to be the positive change that the environment around us requires. In this paper, we shall focus on the different ways that people motivate change around us with the focus on the book, the blind side together with other study materials we have read this semester.
The book the blind side is a story about a young African American man, Michael Oher who is taken in by a white mother, Leigh Anne to live with her family. This homeless boy had no idea about his father while his mother was a drug addict. Homeless and desperate, Michael finds solace in this white woman’s family who do not only take good care of him but also helps him to pursue his dreams. Leigh does not impose anything on Michael but instead helps him follow his football passion. She ensures that Michael gets a coach and a tutor to help him both in his schoolwork as well as in his football ambitions (Lewis 92). The man grows up to be a famous footballer player.
We are living in a rather selfish world where most people are obsessed with making their own lives better at the expense of others. Some people will go to lengths of inflicting pain on others as long as the action will ultimately grant them the satisfaction they need. The story of Michael is a perfect example of a woman who looked beyond colour and class just to motivate positive change in the life of a hopeless young man. She sacrificed what she had just to ensure Michael had a new lease of hope. Even though many people would wish to be like Leigh Anne, they are usually driven by fear of the unknown. There are many negative thoughts rather than positive that runs through the mind of a human being whenever they think of motivating change. The most common ones are criticisms, resistance, fear of not being to sustain it, not getting enough support or appreciation or being termed as a crusader.
A study that was carried out on what motivates children to perform better basing on their brain reveals an important aspect of motivation. We realise that children respond to stimuli differently and therefore need to be treated as individuals. While some children showed improved, performance when they were praised for good grades, others felt inadequate especially when they met higher challenges. For instance, in the story of Michael, even though homeless, he would have still chosen to resist being hosted by Anne most probably because he would be enslaved. He however took up the opportunity, which led to his breakthrough. Anne, the white woman may have also chosen not to educate Michael and instead turn him into a houseboy. All this are just examples of the fears and decisions we may encounter and take simply for our convenience.
The article, perils of obedience yet again takes us through another challenging experiment that tests the value of human empathy. We realise through this article that some people are so much engrossed into rules and regulations that they will follow them even if it means somebody being hurt. This will be more so especially if they are not directly feeling the pain or somebody else takes responsibility for the pain. This is not only a taste of individual common sense working on another person but also how much people are willing to perform better just to ovoid pain (Milgram 8). The fact however is that in as much as people want to succeed in what they do especially if the consequences of the contrary are pain, being threatened may not motivate. The thought of the punishment simply because of their poor performance is likely to make a person defiant. The more punishment is inflicted on them the more defiant they become.
When Leigh Anne took in Michael as his son, she did not place any demands on him on what to do or what not to do. She simply played her part and allowed the young boy to make his decisions. I tend to believe that had Anne imposed a harsh parental care upon Michael, he would probably never realise his dream. Harshness and imposing punishment on an individual with the hope of making them perform better may only serve to scare them and changing their attitude towards life (Lewis 67). This hence implies that parents ought to observe their children and give them the treatment according to how their brain responds. There are those who will perform best in a relaxed environment yet there are those who require some pressure and pushing. All this depends on individuals.
There are different forms of changes that individuals go through and the ability to adopt and appreciate them comes through experience and age. For instance, children generally grow faster as their brains mature to grasp and understand some of the things that surround them. The fact that they have little experience mostly gives them no alternative but to accept and appreciate change. However, as they start going to school and interact with other people, they start experiences some challenges that will determine how well they adopt to changes around them (Lewis 80). The ability to adopt to change especially among children mostly depends on the adults around them and their motivation on them to succeed. This is usually a critical stage where children tend to observe more than they listen. Even though children at a tender age may not be able to communicate effectively, they have amazing observation skills.
Parents, teachers and caregivers have a big role of motivating positive change by what they show and teach their children. At times, it is not about how much we can invest financially in our children’s education but rather the love we show them. Leigh may not have been the richest woman at that moment to accommodate Michael. She was however moved by compassion to help a homeless boy. This she did with no idea of what she would become. She must have ignored many voices and even fears from within. The fear of Michael turning out to be a rebellious boy considering his poor background and turning against her and the family could have been one of them. It was also unimaginable especially during that time for a white to adopt a child and keep him or her as her own. Such motives were mostly considered cases of slavery, which must have definitely been a major concern for the whites and blacks.
Leigh’s act was therefore a big risk that she chose to take without bothering herself with what may transpire. From this story, we learn that the future is quite unpredictable and even the efforts we may put could turn to be vain. The only thing that is required for us is to do our best without necessarily having to worry about what people may say of us or whether things may turn out against us. There is a common saying, ‘it is better to try and fail rather than never to try’. Whether we like it or not, life will always expose its positive and negative side towards us. Living without fear but rather letting our hearts to lead us on what we believe is right is the best way to live a fulfilled life (Dweck 53). In most cases, the little sacrifices we make with love go a long way in transforming the life of a person around us.
Many people live with the average mindset where they do not want to be so much involved with certain issues. This implies that a person will only concern themselves with their family, work hard to ensure they live good lives and not think of stretching their hand to an ‘outsider’. No matter how much a person acquires in terms of wealth, there is that feeling that they only have enough or even less to take care of their families (Rose 170). Even those who are ranked among the richest are still overwhelmed with responsibilities due to their standards of living that they do not have an extra coin to extend their hand to a needy person. This average mentality has widened the gap between the richest and the poorest and hence hindering positive change in the society. What people fail to realise that in as much as a poor person’s conditions do not bother them, they will affect them as they live in the same society.
A needy person who is denied a chance to positively impact on the society may ultimately affect in the negative. This is simply because their needs continue to increase by age just like their rich counterpart. They will therefore become a nuisance to them by either borrowing from them or even robbing them. This means that as long as we love in the same society, whether we are considered of different class, race and cultural believes, we are encountered by similar circumstances that mostly require similar solutions. You can only imagine what would have become of Michael if Anne failed to consider a need that was in him and ultimately motivating change in his life. He would have turned into a drug addict and probably a robber who may have caused more harm than good to the society. However, a simple act of mercy ignited hope in a boy who is now motivating positive change, not only to his family but also to the society at large.
Works cited
Dweck, Carol S. "Transforming students’ motivation to learn." National, 2008.
Lewis, Michael. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. London: W. W. Norton, 2007.
Milgram, Stanley. "The perils of obedience." Harper’s 247 (1973).
Rose, Mike. "I just wanna be average." Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing (1990): 161-172.
