"Be the Change that You wish to See in the World"
We've all heard of this quote, often attributed to Gandhi. Actually it comes from Arleen Lorrance's Love Project, but that's another topic. Gandhi often said things of a similar resonant frequency: ("If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.")
But what if, instead of wanting to change the world, what if we decided it was okay to just change ourselves...
What if changing the world, doesn't really matter? What if all the stress and anxiety we feel about carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, isn't really as important as we make it out to be?
This is a serious thought. I'm not advocating egoism, selfishness, egocentricity, individualism, materialism, or anything like this.
Actually, quite the opposite.
What if you really wish the world were a different way? What if you see a problem with the world, and you think to yourself: "It's so horrific and ungodly and unimaginable that this problem exists and nothing is being done to stop it!"
Is that not a call from the Universe to get off your ass and start bumping against other electrons? Could there be any more clear of a signal from reality that there is a tremendous opportunity for challenge, risk, growth, and reward... To say nothing of self-actualization and self-fulfillment, and a deep sense of happiness and contentment that comes along with it..?
But we don't need to get so macro, so meta, so-all high-pie in the sky... Sometimes, it's literally the simplest, silliest, dumbest stuff that happens day in and day out, right in front of our eyes, and it goes completely unfixed, unsolved, unconsciously paid inattention.
This is silly.
Not everything can be fixed instantly... In fact, this is the source of addiction and depression: is the desire for instant gratification... It's like, ummm... we are human beings with lifespans of incredible length (by the standards of the felt-presence of immediate experience on this planet.)
A 50 year life is like 438000 hours... And a crackling good time is like 6.
They say it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to be among the best in the world at it. Imagine how many things you could actually become the best in the world at with 50 years...
It's not like the pull of a cigarettes, or that hit of meth, or even like that gooey-cheesy pizza.
Most of the best things in life unfold over time, and cause the release of a constant and steady flow of positive, good feeling chemicals...
When we put the right things in our bodies, and use our bodies to do the right thing...
It doesn't matter if today life isn't all that it could be... Just start doing something positive, something good.
In no time at all , everything will be on the way to getting excellent!
It's within everybody's reach to have a great life.
Because there are people who were given the shittiest cards in the world and they die the luckiest people on Earth, and people who were given everything from the beginning, and by the time they die they are the saddest, most miserable bunch on the planet.