The Power of 10
by Nia Peeples
I have not been a huge fan of Facebook. To me it’s just another place to have to log in to in order to be in touch with the people I care about. Why add another step to communication when I can just push speed dial on my phone and hear the comforting tones of my mothers voice or the smile inducing cackle of a high school girlfriend? But the other day, as I sat watching CNN, I was moved to tears largely because of Facebook. There on the TV were thousands of Libyans marching against their tyrannical leader, Momar Gadhafi; thousands in several different regions rising up simultaneously.
The expert on all things Libyan was explaining that they are not organized in effort in any way for there is not one directing force or governing body giving orders or coordinating action. No one person or group of people made a plan, organized an effort and coordinated an event. As the expert said, “They are not organized.” But clearly, they are one; one in purpose, one in desire, one in action. This is the power of Facebook. And within this power lies it’s greatest importance: Taking people and their deepest driving desires and plugging them into the energy and flow of that very desire across the globe: Libya, before that Egypt, before that, Tunesia.
The miracle of this is that although real change, or transformation must come from within, within a person, within a people, within a nation, one systemic desire together with another does not add to it, but rather multiplies or squares it to its self. 10 people with a common desire together with 10 more with that same desire does not equal 20 but rather, 100; 100 in power, energy and momentum of that desire. It grows exponentially. When I contemplate the possibilities of that concept, I’m astounded, astounded at the infinite possibilities.
If 100 of us in our little towns throughout our little day choose to smile and 100 people smile back, that’s the energy of 10,000 smiling people. If 10,000 smiling people encourage 10,000 people in need that’s 1,000,000 encouraged people. If those million encouraged people share their new-found faith with a million other people, that’s a revolution. That’s real change. That’s transformation. It all begins with a single thought, a single desire…and low and behold a country is free and Nia Peeples is a Facebook fan. Infinite possibilities indeed…
