My 2026 Plan: Save the World

It's ambitious but doable.

Okay, here’s the deal: I’m going to save the world.

No, I’m not a superhero. I’m not a biologist who’ll cure disease. I’m not a politician who can set policy or change history.

But my 2026 plan is to save the world anyway.

I know, it’s tough to believe, but just so ya know, it’s already in motion.

For example, two days before Christmas, I had a package to mail. If you’ve been in this situation, you know that the post office looks like a lot like the first fifteen minutes of Saving Private Ryan. It was utter bedlam.

When I reached the front of the line, the woman behind the counter managed a yawn and I made some comment about her needing a nap.

She laughed ruefully and said, “I’ve been here all day by myself. I’m wiped.”

I finished my business, thanked her, and drove to the closest coffee shop. I bought a peppermint mocha, a strawberry lemon refresher, and a box of cookies. Then I went right back to the post office.

I waited until she finished helping someone, then briefly cut in line with profuse apologies to the young woman in Christmas socks about delaying her shipment.

I told the postal worker I didn’t know if she liked coffee, so I got her both drinks and the cookies. I thanked her for working so hard and said she was like Santa Claus, only better, because Santa only works once a year and I see her here all the time.

She stared at me in shock. (So did Christmas Socks.)

As I left, I heard her shout, “Thank you!”

While I sat in my car checking my messages I saw the young woman I’d cut in front of come out eating a cookie. Apparently the postal worker had shared. Also Christmas Socks stopped to drop a few dollars into the bowl of the homeless vet sitting out front. His name is David. His dog’s name is Pearl.

I left the post office and bought David two tacos and two waters. We chatted about the cold weather, hard times, and better days ahead.

See what I mean? Saving the world.

I’m not telling you this so you’ll think I’m super nice. I’m really not. I’m just on a mission.

So this week, let's talk about why small acts beat grand gestures, whether the world actually needs saving, and how you can start today.

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
- Mother Teresa

It's All About the Little Things

Ever see the movie The Paper directed by Ron Howard? Great film.

There’s a scene where Martha (played by an always brilliant Marisa Tomei), Henry’s pregnant wife, confronts him about his obsession with work. She poses a hypothetical:

A guy breaks into the apartment with a gun. He says he’ll blow her brains out or blow up the newspaper building. Choose. Now.

An incredulous Henry (played by an also brilliant Michael Keaton) stammers. What do you think I’d say!?!?

And Martha says:

“It is never one big dramatic choice. It is little, vague situations every day, and you’re either there or you’re not. If you keep waiting for the guy with the gun to show up, it will be too late.”

Again, great film, you really should see it. And I think about this scene all the time. Because Martha is right. We’re so conditioned to believe that saving the world requires the one, big moment.

But think about the times someone did something for you. When you thanked them, they probably said, “Oh, it was nothing.” But for you? It was everything.

Shortly after I lost my job and while my wife was recovering from knee surgery, we found a bag on our porch. Inside was a full meal from Whole Foods and a bottle of whiskey. Our lovely, wonderful neighbor had dropped it off without knocking, without waiting for thanks, without making a fuss. She just left it and went home.

That meal wasn’t nothing. That was someone noticing we were struggling and doing something about it.

Most people are waiting for the guy with the gun. The moment that demands heroism or a situation so clear that choosing good becomes obvious.

But again that moment almost never comes.

What comes instead are little, vague situations. A tired worker. A long line. A person sitting outside in the cold. And you are either there or you’re not.

Does the World Need Saving?

Okay, so does the world actually need saving? Yes. It absolutely does.
It always needs saving.

Every generation thinks they're living through the worst of it. Do you think people on the Oregon Trail were like, “Well isn’t this a lovely little trip we’re taking”?

No. It was awful…I assume it was awful. It was a long time ago, and every time I go to Oregon it really is quite a lovely trip. But the point is the world has always been difficult. Life is pain, as someone once said. But that doesn't mean we can't show up for each other anyway.

Time and time again, it feels like the world is falling apart. And that’s partly because we’re wired to notice the negative stuff. I wrote about this before (good stuff go back and read it). But in a nutshell, our brains evolved to spot threats. The news knows this as does social media and your doom-scrolling habit at 11 PM.

Bad news spreads faster than good news. Tragedy gets more clicks than kindness. And somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that caring means being constantly aware of every awful thing happening everywhere all at once.

And you can’t fix everything. But you’re not supposed to fix everything.

Little acts of kindness don’t solve systemic problems. I get that. Buying tacos doesn’t end poverty and something like this won’t show up in any dataset proving I made any measurable progress toward a better world.

But I believe it matters.

Because the world isn’t just systems and statistics. It’s people. Actual people just trying to get through their days. And sometimes the thing that saves someone’s day is remarkably tiny.

So yes, the world needs saving. But perhaps not the way we usually think.

Alright, Now What?

Good question.

It’s not like you should put “save the world” on your calendar between 2 and 3 PM on Thursdays.

Honestly the main thing to do is to just pay attention. To heighten your awareness.

Because the opportunities are there. Everywhere. If you just take a moment and pause you will see them. I bet you walk past a dozen chances every single day. All you need to do is to notice.

Most people don’t see them because they’re moving too fast or thinking too hard or convinced that helping requires more than they have to give.

But it doesn’t. It really doesn’t.

Just start stupid small:

• Hold the door for someone.

• Buy an extra coffee.

• Carry someone’s bag.

• Let someone go ahead of you in line.

• Ask the checkout person how their day is going and actually, truly, really, earnestly, wait for the answer.

When you do this, you begin to build a muscle of sorts. You are building a practice. And practices get stronger the more you do them.

Cause what I have found is that the more you look for these moments, the more you can see them. And the more you act on them, the easier it gets. You kinda wire your brain to notice. Oh, that person could use help. Oh, I could do something about that. Oh, this would only take me thirty seconds.

And then…you just do it.

Because remember that scene from The Paper with Martha: it’s never one big dramatic choice. It’s little, vague situations every day, and you’re either there or you’re not.

The guy with the gun isn’t coming.

But the person who needs coffee? The person who could use five minutes of conversation? The person who just needs someone to notice they exist? The person in the cold?

They’re right there in front of you.

Conclusion

So there ya have it. I’m gonna save the world.

Which brings me back to what I wrote about last week. This book I’ve been working on: A Daily Kindness: One Small Act of Goodness for Each Day of the Year.

My thought is that if I can provide one daily act of kindness, of goodness, of generosity for myself and for everyone, maybe we can create a movement. Maybe we can look past our ideological differences and just act. Feed children. Clothe those in need. Take a few minutes to see those who feel invisible and help them feel seen.

It’s just a theory.

But it’s one I’m ready to commit to and to write about for months. It’s one I’m ready to act on in those stolen, quiet, almost wasted moments of life that mean very little to me but could be everything to someone else.

So like I said, I am releasing Chapter 1. The one about awareness and learning to notice these kind of moments.

Cause you don’t save the world by planning to save the world. You save it by showing up for one person. By doing one little thing.

Every single time you show up, you’re making a choice and you’re proving to yourself that you’re the kind of person who notices and who acts. And if enough of us do that. If enough of us can manage one small act of goodness every day.

Well, perhaps that’s how you actually save the world. One person. One act. One day at a time.

Wanna join me?

Ever forward,
— Derek (aka Chief Rabbit)

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