Today's Visions

Be The Change You Wish To See …

So, tonight I am sitting here, listening to country music and I found myself browsing once again for quotes.  Hmmm, what is being said about mistakes?  Oh, wait!  Did the great minds of the past believe in soul mates?  What do they say about friendship, success, love?

I love quotes. It is truly amazing how some individuals can express thoughts so succinctly that they reverberate through time continually creating new knowledge and new perspectives.  We all our have our favorites.  You know the one I am talking about, the one quote that resonates right down to your deepest core.  It is the quote that you immediately remembered and never forgot.

Mine was “Be the change you want to see in the world.” by Gandhi.   I read that on the wall of Magickal Things, in Culpeper Virginia one day and all I could think was “Of course.”  It was such a simplistic truth.  How did I miss that one?

Well, let’s see … I would like to see more courtesy in the world; I need to consistently show courtesy.  I do not want to see our world polluted; I need to do my part in reducing pollution.  I would love to see an end to violence of all forms; I need to control my temper.

As a society, we cannot expect to live in the world we envision if we do not make the necessary individual changes.  What actions we show today will direct tomorrow’s society on the path we wish it to follow.  It is not a fast process, there is no instant gratification, but it generates such a satisfying sense of accomplishment and it is the most effective way we, as individuals, can make a difference.

Not all the changes we chose to make will be as easy as deciding to carpool to reduce energy usage.  Some will require thoughtful examination of the very foundations our lives are built on.  These are the challenges that I find myself tripping over.

One example of a foundational lifestyle challenge that I am personally working on is the temper that I mentioned above.  I have a bad temper.  For the most part, it is has been under control for years and I do not need to take ten deep breaths before I respond to an irate situation.  However, there are still certain people who can push my buttons.   I will find myself forgetting to take deep breaths, forgetting to create intentional responses and forgetting my commitment to end verbal violence.  I just blow.

When I trip up like this, there are two choices before me.  Give up and accept verbal violence as the way of the world or pick myself up, go through a mental checklist about what went wrong and try again.  This mental checklist process requires a deep examination of our inner selves; the part that most of us would rather keep buried in the depths of our being.

It would be okay if I were the only person hurt when I trip. I created the situation; I have to endure the bruises.  However, everything we do generates ripples.  Somewhere, my failure hurt someone – usually the person/people very closest to my heart.    I find that I can get no rest until I have fully apologized, complete with an explanation and a plan to avoid future occurrences.  This apology process creates accountability for me and that accountability is fertilizer for my growth.

So, I am sitting here tonight listening to country music, pondering one of my recent trip-ups (it wasn’t my temper this time, lol) and ended up thinking about my favorite quote.  Be the change you wish to see in the world.  These simple, succinct words encourage us towards difficult challenges but promise great rewards for our world, our society and ourselves.

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