A Better World

Everywhere you look lately it seems
to be more bad news. You watch
the television, read a newspaper or
search the web and what do you
see? A floundering economy, war,
murder, abuse, fear, rape,
inequality, lack of cooperation,
hatred, and dishonesty. What for?
When will it end? What will it take
for people to understand that this
needs to stop or we are all going
down the toilet together?
Our future, notice I said OUR future,
is the collective responsibility of
every single one of us. We cannot
point our fingers at another
individual or toward a situation
outside of ourselves and say that
they are to blame for the state of
things right now. Change starts
inside each one of us. This is not
something we can leave to our
children or future generations to fix
because it is affecting us right now.
It hinders the way in which we live,
thrive, love and enjoy life. Change
begins with you.
The first change we need to make is
this issue of "pride" that is plaguing
our species right now. At what
costs do we defend our pride? How
many people must lose their lives,
their well being, their children, their
parents, their brothers, sisters or
friends before we realize just how
pointless it all is? You may think that
you have been "wronged" in some
way, but is it worth losing your
happiness, life or wellbeing, or that
of your loved ones just to save
your pride? I certainly hope not.
True self confidence and respect is
achieved when we learn to love
ourselves. As long as we love
ourselves there is no need for pride,
status or anything else of that
nature.
Pride for your country does not
matter. Pride for your race or
religion does not matter. Pride for
yourself or your family does not
matter. Having compassion,
kindness and unconditional love for
each other and for ourselves DOES
matter. We need to look past our
differences and begin to treat each
other as family. If we can learn to
forgo pride, we can greatly reduce
war, murder, fear, inequality and
hatred in our world, and what an
improvement that would be!
The next change we need to make is
forgiveness. Contrary to popular
belief, forgiveness is not something
you do on behalf of the person who
has wronged you, it is something
you do for yourself. When we
harbor ill will toward another person
we aren't harming them, we are
harming ourselves. Hatred, anger or
resentment can make you ill, it can
cloud your thoughts, it can waste
your energy and make it harder for
you to achieve anything
worthwhile. By forgiving someone
you are not surrendering,
condoning their actions or handing
them the victory. You do not even
need to like the person or welcome
them back into your heart or home.
By forgiving you are simply
reclaiming your life, your energy,
your happiness and your wellbeing
from their grasp. By forgiving you
are making the choice to stop letting
them hurt you and you are making
the choice to stop hurting yourself.
Forgiveness is one of the most
difficult things we can do in life, but
as with anything that comes with
great effort it also holds the greatest
rewards. By learning how to
forgive, we can significantly reduce
war, murder, fear, abuse, and
hatred in our world all while
achieving inner peace for ourselves.
After forgiveness comes the need
for us to have compassion for one
another. True compassion should
come from the heart and not
through compliance to laws or from
the fear of consequences.
Compassion is far above
compliance or civility. True
compassion comes from loving and
respecting another as you do
yourself. True compassion means
treating others as you would like to
be treated. True compassion means
to do no harm and offer help when
needed. Compassion means to think
of how YOU would feel if the roles
were reversed before acting.
Compassion means to see and treat
every other being as your equal.
Compassion means to do your part
to end pain WHEREVER you see it.
Compassion should extend beyond
humans to our animal friends as
well. How can we be truly
compassionate if we ignore their
cries and pain just because they
cannot speak our language? If we
turn a blind eye to the pain of
anyone living being we can turn a
blind eye to them all, including our
fellow man. If people could ONLY be
compassionate there would be no
more war, no more murder, no
more abuse, no more rape, no
more inequality, no more lack of
cooperation, no more hatred, and
no more dishonesty.
Can you imagine how wonderful
the world would be if everyone was
compassionate and kind? If
everyone was forgiving, loving,
helpful and cooperative. If we
accepted, included and protected
one another. If people were caring,
understanding and sympathetic
toward one another. If people
recognized the beauty in all others
and appreciated them for it. If
people were thoughtful and
considerate. If people were honest.
If people loved themselves and each
other enough to value our collective
safety, happiness and wellbeing
above everything else. Oh, what a
world that would be!
Many people will think that I am
utopian when I say this, but it IS
possible to achieve. Perhaps not in
this lifetime, but maybe it can be a
reality for our children or
grandchildren. When we make the
changes within ourselves that we
would like to see, we influence those
who we come into contact with.
Start with YOU. Learn how to ditch
your pride, work on loving and
accepting yourself, practice
forgiveness and develop
compassion for yourself and for
others. Let go of negativity such as
fear, guilt, worry and sorrow. Do
simple things throughout your day
to lift up those around you. Give
smiles and compliments to people
wherever you see them. Hold open
doors for people, talk to one
another, get to know each other and
offer your help and understanding.
Do your best and live honestly.
Think positively. Focus on things
you enjoy and spend quality time
with the people you love. When
you are happy, fulfilled and full of
love, you have more to offer to the
world. It is that simple. One person
at a time can expand to encompass
cities, then eventually countries and
the entire planet, but it always
begins with you.
--M. Marcy