I do not understand why or how so many
people are completely buried in negativity. I do not understand why so many
people in this world are so focused on working towards a better future for
themselves yet they don’t see that their futures are intertwined with that of
others. I do not understand how those people are unable to grasp the simplest
of ideas that doing what’s best for you also means doing what’s best for
everyone else.
So many people allow themselves to drown in
excuses. We tell ourselves that things cannot be better. We say that it’s
highly improbable or that it’s downright impossible for any situation to
improve because of this political reason or that lack of resource or it takes
too much time here or too much money there. We cling to these excuses and we
repeat them to ourselves and each other so often, it’s as if we’re proud of it.
(I just watched Tomorrowland and Hugh
Laurie’s character’s monologue near then end about humans gobbling up the idea
of an apocalypse really got to me. Seriously, go watch the movie and listen
carefully to the well written script and beautifully laid out descriptions about
the modern human condition)
I am indescribably frustrated at the collective
human race for being utterly toothless when it comes to making the world a
better place. Sure, we have our Mahatma Ghandi’s and Bill Gates’s and Nelson
Mandala’s and Mother Theresa’s who put the best interest of the collective
human race first on their list of priorities and they never backed down in their
efforts to leave this world in a better state than when they found it.
But I’m not talking about our lack of
Ghandi’s or Mother Theresa’s. I’m talking about the getting the regular folks
to be just a little more compassionate and proactive. I’m talking about getting
more individuals invested in the future. If every person on the planet was just
a fraction more compassionate, if we were all just a little more in tuned to
the atrocities that are occurring in this world, if we all just did that one
little thing better in our lives, if we commit our time and effort to just one issue
we feel could improve the world for everyone, then we can change the world.
The power to create a nicer, healthier
environment for ourselves is in our hands. And as I said before, our fates are
intertwined. So when we do something to improve our lives, other people’s lives
improve as well and vice versa.
If we’d all just stop making excuses and
start taking action, things will change. We have to stop sitting on our butts
and waiting for someone else to do the thing. We have to stop having
conversations about why things won’t change and start talking about how we can
change them. And then do you know what we need? We need to pick a thing and do
it. Commit to it. If every person on the planet, or even just half the people
on the planet, decided to start recycling paper and only buy recycled paper,
then we’d save a whole bunch of trees, and consequently we’d also save a whole
of bunch of flora and fauna as well as reduce our carbon emission. If every
existing house and every new house was fitted with solar panels or wind
turbines, we’d dramatically reduce pollution and our dependence on fossil fuel.
If every government official and every politician acted in the best interest of
the people (as they are supposed to), then I’m sure we’d reduce infant
mortality rates, crime rates, and poverty. I don’t have numbers for these
predictions but I’m confident that it’s true to some degree.
I guess what I’m really trying to say is
that I don’t understand how people can be so selfish. I don’t understand how
politicians can be so greedy and power crazed that they forget their duties and
elected officials. I don’t understand how big business people and very rich
people are only interested in protecting their assets as of now but don’t care
at all about what the planet and the global society is going to look like 50
years from now. I don’t understand how so many people can be so concerned about
the short term gratifications without giving a single thought as to what the
long term ramifications of their actions might be.
I do believe that humans are good. I
believe that we are all (with the exception of those who have severe chemical
imbalances in their brains) capable of compassion and empathy and care.
Somewhere along the way, we seem to have lefts those things to the wayside
while we adopted self-righteousness, selfishness, and greed. We’ve become so
self-involved that we find it much easier to just sit back and absolve
ourselves from any responsibility we might have towards each other as fellow
humans rather than make the smallest change to our lifestyle for the benefit of
humankind.
I want us to find that compassion. I want
us to embrace all the positive energy we can, double it through commitment to a
just cause and then release that energy via positive actions. I want us, as
humans, to collective create the single most powerful ripple effect in the
history of the world (if it can be measured) and I want that ripple effect to stem
from good deeds; random acts of kindness, a commitment to recycle, a monthly
donation to Doctors Without Borders, or just any one thing that is aimed at
reducing world suck.
You may not see the effects of your efforts
in your lifetime, certainly not if you’re the only one doing it but you have to
know and understand that if those good deeds are sustained, then over time
those efforts would pay off. Better still if more people committed to all the
causes, because then you might be able to watch as the world changes and adapts
to its bigger, brighter and better future.
If you want to change the world for the better, take a look at the Global Goals that were set out this year. We have 13 of
them to accomplish by 2030. We can make it happen if we all work together. So
go on, pick a thing and do it. Then get some people to join you in doing the
thing as you change the world. Get your elected officials to commit as well and hold your government accountable. Hold your friends and family and yourself accountable. This is our planet and our society. We only have one of it so we'd better get to work at fixing it.