Agent Garbo was a double agent spy during World War II, posing as an agent for the German forces while in fact working secretly for the British and Allied forces. His story is amazing foremost because he had no training in the field of espionage, but was still utilized as a top secret agent that would have a direct impact on the outcome of the day known best as D-Day. Agent Garbo created a network of fictional characters and events that he channeled back to German officials culminating in a completely fabricated alternate attack point for the Allied forces in the effort to free France and save England. The redirection of attention included artificial blow up tanks, fake armored vehicles, and a countless number of tents which were housed by no soldiers. From an aerial view it appeared that the Allies were placing their focus on an alternate attack area. The attention to a completely false front provided time and decreased Axis forces enough for the joint Allied forces to successfully carry out the attack at Normandy. Agent Garbo gets very little recognition for his role in the victory at D-Day, yet countless numbers of lives were spared because this one man changed the focus of attention away from the actual target of attack which divided the German ranks and allowed the Allied powers to succeed in France. This was a turning point in the war from which the Germans and Hitler would never recover momentum. Agent Garbo, spy, husband, father, but not a soldier changed the course of the entire war, turning him into a hero that could not be recognized due to his top secret identity and for the safety of his friends and family.
In reality we are all top secret agents, so secret that we ourselves do not even grasp the level of change we create each day. Our words, our actions, our reactions, our decisions, and our choices all impact countless numbers of people each day and in most cases we do not even realize it is happening. The power to change lives happens with a smile or a frown, a positive word or a negative comment, a look of belief or a look of discontent, or with the simple gesture to help someone else less fortunate than we are ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as having said "Be the change you want to see in the world", but in reality his quote sounded more like this, "We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change."
What an amazing mindset, if we change ourselves our world will also change. I guess it all starts at home huh? Earlier I stated that we are all agents of change in the world we live. Every day we can make a difference in the lives of others that we come in contact with. How you ask?? Well we'll start real easy, change the look on your face. It takes 43 facial muscles to frown and only 17 of those same facial muscles to smile. Don't work so hard, put a smile on your face and make a difference in somebody's day! Just a simple smile can be encouragement to a child, friend, coworker, or even a stranger you pass on your way down the street. Add a positive comment or compliment and all of a sudden you have brightened a room, uplifted someone's spirit, or turned a bad morning into one that has potential for someone else. It is a real bummer to welcome someone to the room with a "Good Morning!" and the first words from their mouth are "What's so good about it?" Change our outlook on life, instead of complaining about what you don't have start being grateful for what you do have. Over 100 million people around the world are literally homeless. No roof over their head homeless. Change your perspective on life, put the focus on others and not on yourself. You may have it bad, you may not feel good, you may even have serious health issues that could even be chronic, but I bet you can look within five miles of where you live and find someone that has it worse than you. Look around it isn't about you! It's all about what you can do to change the life of someone else.
Once we take the focus off of ourselves and we begin to look for ways to change the world for the benefit of others is when we will begin to see what our top secret mission in life is. The apostle Paul challenged us to look beyond what we do that impacts our life by focusing on doing all we do with a higher focus in mind. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if you are doing it for God and not for man".
The next time you get the chance to change a life don't keep it a secret, smile and make the world a better place!
No comments:
Post a Comment