Have you noticed how many people stay on the sidelines, wanting and expecting “someone,” (the government, perhaps?) to solve the problems for us—meanwhile carping and complaining that things aren’t right? Citizenship in this country is in danger of becoming a spectator sport. From the inner cities to the suburbs, too many people don’t speak up at public meetings, join community associations, call their politicians to account, or set to work to solve public problems. The more numbingly commercial our culture becomes, the more people focus on stuff and pleasures they can buy rather than on contributions they can make.

"One of the great liabilities of history,” said Dr. Martin Luther King, “is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change." That was true in 1963 and it’s sure true now. And Americans, including you, need to stay awake and get active, not just in response to new challenges since 9/11, but to make a difference on all the old challenges—hunger, homelessness, pollution. … I’ll let you fill in the blanks. Your community, country needs your help.I understand how easy it is to be cynical about politics and government today. I understand how easy it is to see other people behaving badly and to fill your life with blame instead of positive action. I understand how easy it is to see people making fortunes at others’ expense and think that, yeah, you too you are entitled to your share— that society or life or “somebody” owes you a good life.

Get past this. It’s the path toward the living dead.

Instead—find models you believe in who are people of hope and courage and learn from them. Help them. Then create your own path of hope and courage. Gandhi said: you must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Few of us will ever be asked to risk our lives or even our physical safety, but all of us will see opportunities to make a difference.What are the issues you care most about—the problems you most want to see solved in your community, your country, or farther afield?Pick the issue at the top of your list. Go on the Web to learn more about it. Think of the opportunities now in front of you to make a difference on that issue, using your talents, your experience, your resources — whatever they may be at your stage in life. If you haven’t already, join a group working on that issue you care about. Or start a group of your own.But meaning is not just about the here and now. As I said when we started, it’s also about the future. Your future. In preparing for your careers, remember, if all you get from a job is a paycheck—no matter how many zeroes on it—you’re badly underpaid. No amount of money is enough.Prepare yourself to do something with your life that you know matters and don’t worry about the zeroes. Find and do what makes your heart sing. You deserve nothing less.And don’t be afraid to try different things. In my life I’ve been a vagabond, a foreign correspondent, a geologist, a Foreign Service Officer and now the Giraffe Heroes Project, where I get to keep reinventing myself every day. I’m not trying to impress you with my path. But I am saying that the key was finding a beacon, something that made my life meaningful, and I found that in service.

There are a million different ways to serve. I’m by no means saying join the nonprofit world. It’s possible to serve, and to find meaning, in the worlds of business and government and in the professions and the arts and anyplace else. Stay open. Stay flexible. Look for the beacon—the beacon of meaning.