Let me borrow an expression from the environmental movement and adapt it to how many people should relate to today's world events.

Think Globally - Act Locally

On any given day, there are hundreds of reasons to be negative, but often they are events or circumstances that you have virtually no control over. For example: you cannot end the Iraq war, solve the problems of Darfur, eliminate the political polarization in our country, end the terrorist threats, dramatically improve the urban education system or solve the immigration issues.

Those are global issues that you should know about, inform others about, tell your elected representatives your concerns about, and vote your conscience about. Absolutely you should be concerned about these and other important issues, but my point is that you should not to let these global issues dominate your thinking.

If you let them, these global negative issues will overwhelm you. They have the power to ominously impact how you relate to others, and how they relate to you. You should think globally, but act locally.

I'm not suggesting that any of us should simply have a Pollyanna approach to life. Far from it. What I am saying is that if you cannot materially change a global issue, then why let it be a reason (excuse) for your negative attitude?

Act locally means working to improve your day for yourself and those around you. Ben Franklin's concept for starting a day was to simply ask one question of himself - What good will I do today?

Each of us has the power, or should I say duty, to work to make this world a better place. We can do that in a number of ways: with a smile, a friendly greeting, working in a relief shelter, building a profitable business, running for an elected office, making that extra sales call after a long day, helping a child or telling someone you love them.

Your positive actions can help many or just a few; they can be big events or small. Your positive actions can be easily seen or little noticed. They can be outwardly rewarded or simply an internal acknowledgement that you did something positive for someone else.

The important thing is that you worked locally to make your day better for yourself and for those around you.

By acting locally, you make the world a better place.

Questions for discussion:
1. What does act locally mean to you?
2. How can you and your friends work on this concept together?

Please visit www.goalsettingforstudents.com for more life skills ideas to help children succeed.