August 30, 2023
There’s an old saying “big doors swing on small hinges”, referring to outcomes in history that are often predicated on seemingly inconsequential decisions by unknown or even anonymous people. There are any number of examples, perhaps one of the most extreme being the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by one bullet shot from the gun of a disgruntled unknown Serb precipitating WW1. Closer to home would be the unknown arsonist(s) who has plunged present day Greece into the worst wildfires in EU history.
It’s a serious truth that a single individual can literally impact the world for bad, but also for good. Take the Canadian Dr. Frederick Banting (with co-worker Charles Best) for example. His (their) pioneering efforts in the early 1920’s have changed the world for diabetes sufferers forever. Then there’re the Wright brothers who gave us flight, Alexander Graham Bell who gave us the phone, Steve Jobs who did one better with the iPhone etc, etc.
When reading the histories of “small hinge-big door” people you see how most of them laboured in obscurity but faithfully kept pursuing their dreams even in the face of short term failures and the derision of those aware of their efforts. And often they were surprised by unexpected outcomes. Their leaps in the dark produced light.
Faithfulness is the key. It provides the building blocks for sure and sustainable outcomes. So one should persevere. As Winston Churchill famously put it,” Never, never, NEVER give up!”
