While tastes may differ, everyone likes to go do things. 

For some people, it is casually strolling through the livestock stalls at the county fair. For others, it is listening to live music, appreciating the skill it takes to play a musical instrument. And yet for others, it is as simple as resting on a park bench, just watching people walk by. 

Those activities may seem like things that can just happen, but each and everyone of them required effort from someone else. 

In order for the county fair to go off seamlessly, countless hours must be put in by county staff, the fair board, 4-H members, volunteers to name just a few who are involved. 

Every time you attend a concert, the musicians have put in thousands of hours of practice plus travel time to perform in front of you. Plus consider the people who organized the event and went to all the work to make the performance happen.

And even that park bench isn’t without effort. The city had to determine that the bench was needed, order it and get it installed. And someone may have been getting paid for that effort, but we need people to fill those jobs. Plus they may be overseen by a volunteer board or public officials who stepped up to run for office.

But those things won’t continue if we continue to use the word “they.” By thinking that every one else needs to make things happen, things won’t happen. We need to start using the word “we” and “me” more often in our conversations and in our thoughts and in our actions. 

With the advent of social media, it has become easy for everyone to share their opinions, share their thoughts, and share their ideas. And one of the most common words I have seen in these posts is the use of the word “they.”

For example, they need to a better job of making that community event bigger and better. They need to make the streets full with businesses and visitors again. They need to build this or they need to build that. They need to do this or they need to do that.

What happens if we simply change one word in all those statements?

We need to do a better job of making our community event bigger and better. 

We need to make the streets full with businesses and visitors again.

We need to build this. We need to built that.

We need to do this. We need to do that.

One small word shifts the thought from thinking someone else is going to do it to everyone taking on the responsibility and making the effort to get things done.

Rather than relying on someone else to do everything, we need to step up and get involved. We need to not only share our ideas, but then take the steps to make them happen. 

Of course, that is easier said than done. There are always obstacles to making things happen. But that is where the transition from “they” to “we” is even more important. 

All those people who we refer to as “they” want help, “they” want to share their expertise, “they” want others to get involved and learn how to make things happen. “They” want to share the workload. Shockingly, “they” would like to attend an event without having had to go to all the work to make it happen.

There is an added bonus of getting involved and making things happen. Those who are doing things get to have their voice heard. They get to have a vested interest in what is happening. They have a say in what their community looks like. 

By taking on the responsibilities, we can make things happen. We can make our community better for both ourselves and for our friends and neighbors. We can create a community other people will want to visit and perhaps move to. 

Yes, posting on social media is fine to vent, to share ideas, to learn what others are thinking. But it doesn’t get things done. 

If you have an idea on how to make a current event better such as Heritage Days, call the McCook Chamber to be on the committee. If you want to see laws and rules changed to make it easier to have events or incentives for businesses to move to our community, run for elected positions. If you want to see an activity happen, reach out to others who are doing it to be part of the process and learn along the way. 

Because ultimately, the more people who switch from “they” to “we,” the more people who will be working to make McCook and Southwest Nebraska an even better place to call home.