Prologue

One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone's task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.

—Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

THREE THOUGHTS CROSSED MY MIND WHEN I FIRST STARTED TO think about writing this book. One was I wish I had had the courage to have done this earlier in life. That thought opened up a line of introspection that led to my second thought: Would I be able to do justice to the innovation, the ingenuity, the bravery of the people I chose to represent the five approaches to system change that I discuss within? And that brought me to my third thought, contemplating the concept of the word insecurity and its ugly stepsister, embarrassment. How many times have I stopped short of doing something that would have changed my life due to them? Embarrassment as a behavioral modifier may have some redeeming value—but honestly, ask yourself, how many things have you not done in your life because of your fear of embarrassment, or because your deep-seated insecurities about the limits of your capabilities diminished your desire to take a risk? The dictionary defines risk as a situation involving exposure to danger or the possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen. So where is the (your) danger? What will turn out badly (for you) and who is really being threatened by what?

If insecurity and embarrassment are socially learned behaviors, what part of them can we unlearn? Can we grow out of them, consciously or unconsciously? What part of each is missing in someone who steps out of line to follow their passion and more completely blend it into their daily life? Why do some people take personal and professional risks and place themselves in alternative realities rather consistently, and others do it so rarely?

I was thinking about that question one day when I visited an exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings at the National Museum of Art in Washington D.C. I stopped in front of “Boy on a High Dive,” which as the title states portrays a boy crouched at the edge of a diving board high in the sky looking into what seems to be a rather far-away swimming pool.1 What a metaphor for life! The painting brought back memories of the absolute fear I had as I had stood on what felt like that same board in the same place looking into that same swimming pool many times before in my own life. Haven't we all, at one time or another, been faced with the challenge of a new and untested action? Aren't we all standing there on the high board at some time in our life contemplating taking a plunge that others may not? I believe that anyone reading this will remember and understand the exact moment that I am describing.

I've often thought about all the things I could have done and how my path would have been different if I had jumped off the board a little sooner and even more frequently. Maybe traveled down one of Robert Frost's roads not taken. I, perhaps like you, have certainly not lived without acting in socially conscious ways—but unlike the social entrepreneurs profiled in this book, I have not given up my life as I knew it after witnessing or being part of an injustice that cried out for a solution. I have come to realize that maybe, like Frankl, my own “mission in life and concrete assignment that demands fulfillment” is to make people aware that jumping into a pool of social solutions and rippling contributions along to others is deeply fulfilling. And it is astonishingly significant to all who want to shape the world into the place where we can successfully, happily, and fairly coexist with others.

The idea for this book began with the feeling of awe and amazement that I felt for the overwhelming majority of Ashoka Fellows I have met over the years. But even then, I was caught off guard by the sheer sense of joy and unbridled incredulity that enveloped me in the middle of each interview I conducted. I walked away almost floating on air. With the conclusion of every interview, I became more optimistic about people, society, the future. And I became more and more determined to jump off my high board and write this book. The examples I profile reconnected me with the words of Buddha: “An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” This book is my idea put into action. It is my Nietzsche's “why,” my Frankl's “opportunity to implement,” my Frost's road not taken. It is another of my social dreams that I will wait no longer to act upon. While you read this, I invite you to jump off the high board with me.

In its first run printing, Rippling became available in North America during the springtime. This was not a coincidence but a determination to have the book read at the time of the year most associated with the cycle of renewal and new growth. New life cyclically unfolds in spring, from tree branches budding to flowers opening to the warmth of the sun. So too it is a time for humankind to expand and flourish and open to a new cycle of growth that has laid dormant in our souls.

We are, now more than ever, all part of an ever-evolving cycle of change. Each one of us already committed to taking social actions, and those who are closer to doing so, have a rather spectacular and important role to play in creating a world of justice, equality, peace, and prosperity, while spreading happiness, hope, and inspiration to millions of people around the world. We face no shortage of opportunities, only a shortage of bold actions.

I am a huge proponent of engaged and participatory learning. Conversely, life has so often taught us, there is a time to give and a time to receive. So forgive me when I ask that as you read this book, you put yourself in the “receive mode.” As you move through each section, get lost in it—marvel at the way society is changing—and give yourself the space to feel fully engaged, inspired, and hopeful. As you breathe this book in, make your breath the bridge between your inner self and the external world. Breathe in this book and breathe out the changemaker within your soul.