Be The Change You Want To See
On some profound level, even in this powerful time, it is important for us to come from our power. Our power is not found in the behavior of others. If we exist on pens and needles waiting for our leaders, regardless of the country, to make good decisions we are on a fool’s errand. If you expect an irrational person to act rationally, you are irrational. We must accept that if a positive change is going to happen in this world, we must initiate it.
Likewise we cannot not depend on the average person. The average person is going to do what the average person in any environment is doing. They are going to accept the propaganda the average person in their community accepts as true. Even more, most will act aggressively if someone does not share their perception. We will not get them to change by shouting at them, or thinking that they are evil. Everyone everywhere thinks they are good, and what they do is in service to a just cause.
In my perception we are needing a human revolution. An evolution. It must happen on an individual level. Not waiting for the whole to shift, we must shift the whole by shifting ourselves. Connecting with our deepest values and committing to them with every bit the determination as anyone is committed to war or hate. Balancing the inner and outer world is realizing that we can only hope for the world to change if we are willing to as individuals.
Committing to kindness even as we set limits. Committing to compassion, realizing that humanity has been duped by the most biased of us, and the most sick. Realizing that joy is in working for change, even if change never comes. Committed to positive indifference, knowing that no matter what happens, be it war or disease, we are on the path to becoming better as a human family. It feels dark now, but we will make it.
The mission should you choose to accept it is to make it a big part of your purpose to memorize a small piece and to recite it often. Humanity is a miracle. When we see others actively destroying our shared human nobility we cannot not save it by following them off the cliff. We must take the opportunity to meet the commitment to discord with the commitment to harmony. Consider memorizing this small piece, and take it seriously. Become the best you can be, and realize that you and everyone else here has made mistakes. Big ones. Memorize this, and you will plant the seeds for a positive humanity.
I no longer try to change outer things. They are simply a reflection. I change my inner perception and the outer reveals the beauty so long obscured by my own attitude I concentrate on my inner vision and find my outer view transformed. I find myself attuned to the Grandeur of life and in unison with the perfect order of the universe.
From Ralph Blum’s Book Of Runes