It Only Takes A Mouth To Criticise

A few days ago I was walking my dog along one of the stunning beaches that are a stone’s throw from my house on the County Down coast in Northern Ireland.

As I made my way along the nearly 2km stretch, I came across a young guy taking photos of a pile of rubbish somebody had left on the beach. The images were evidence of the problem so he could he could post his disgust on social media. I wonder what the opening line was… “someone needs to do something about this!” Perhaps.

Someone is usually shorthand for anyone but me.

He could have used his initiative and gone ahead and tidied the mess up; the bins were 5 minutes away from him. Some would say that it’s not his job, the council should do it, or we should shame the perpetrators into doing it… fat chance of that happening.

I sometimes walk along the coastal path in the other direction very early in the morning. I often come across a guy with a black bag and litter picker. He’s not paid to do it, but at some point, he saw the litter and decided to be the answer to the problem.

One guy took pictures, the other picked up the litter. It only takes a mouth (or phone) to criticise.

We often shy away from fixing problems for various reasons; lack of interest, time, pay, or courage. But when one person decides to put things right irrespective of the reasons to avoid trying, amazing things can happen.

It wasn’t Greta Thunberg’s job to try and fix the climate. It wasn’t Martin Luther King’s job to improve civil rights.

For me, it was a blog. I saw a group of people who needed help and decided to try. Over a decade later, my life has been transformed by something that I started for altruistic reasons, but that become far bigger than I ever imagined.

Next time you see a problem, consider it might be an opportunity and who knows where it may lead.