Do you believe in God? Then forgive.
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.” John 8:7
Do you believe in Buddha? Then let go of anger.
“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger,” because, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
Do you believe in Muhammad? Then fight the good fight.
“To overcome evil with good is good, to resist evil by evil is evil.”
Do you believe in Gandhi’s message? Then go forth and vow to do your part.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Do you believe in Judaism? Then stay humble.
“Klieg, Klieg, Klieg-Du bist a Nar. You are smart, smart, smart – but you are not so smart!” – Yiddish saying
Do you believe in some other religious entity or group of entities? Then offer respect.
“There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the same place, so it doesn’t matter which path you take. The only person wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.” – Hindu proverb
Do you believe in science? Then continue learning.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
Do you believe in the U.S. Constitution? Then protect and stand by the rights of every citizen, regardless of whether their opinion matches yours.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Do you believe in Santa and the power of a childhood dream? Then keep the faith.
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Roald Dahl
Do you believe there’s good in the world? Then exemplify it.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those little bits of good put all together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
Do you believe there’s evil? Then understand where it’s coming from and why.
“The evil that is in the world almost always come of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.” – Albert Camus
Do you believe good will triumph over evil? Then don’t despair.
“Some believe that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I’ve found. I found it is the small things, everyday deeds done by ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.” – Gandalf (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Do you believe in the future? Then create it.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Do you believe in humanity? Then support it.
“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” – Anne Frank
Do you believe in yourself? Then nurture your soul.
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Do you believe in love? Good, you’ll need it.
The thing is – we may all have different beliefs driving us to do things, but deep down we’re all more similar than the world makes us out to be. We all want happiness; we all crave meaning and purpose in our lives, and we don’t want to hurt people, but sometimes we do. Sometimes we forget that others have different beliefs, and our own set of beliefs clashes too much with theirs for us to understand where they're even coming from.
But, I challenge you to change that. To believe that you can really, truly change that. Because you can – it all starts with yourself. If you are willing to step outside yourself for just a second, and let someone explain to you why they believe what they do – you might finally begin to understand them. Will your whole life change? Eh. Will you agree with them? Probably not, but you don’t need to agree with everyone, that’s unrealistic. But you owe it to each other and to yourself, even, to attempt to understand and show respect for one another. Because even if their worldview isn’t particularly enlightening to you, taking a step back and realizing that – yes – there are millions upon millions of people out there, just like you, but with different perspectives; that is truly the enlightening moment right there.
Criticizing and condescending others for creating problems, or failing to solve them, will leave you believing in nothing. And believing in nothing is a sad, sad way to live. Something collapses in you and the world grows dark as your soul grows dim… but these moments do not define us, and they can only trap us if we let them. Believe you can do good, believe in others’ will to do good, and make sure your actions follow suit. If nothing else, set an example. Others will follow, I promise. It may not be instantaneous, it may not be overnight, but it will happen. Good is everywhere, even if you do not see it. Believe in it.
So put on your best Tom Hanks voice, and recite this to yourself (because – you guessed it – I’m bringing The Polar Express into this):
“Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.”
Oh and one last thing – do you believe in a better tomorrow?
Because the only way to prove it is to do something about it.
Believe that you can, and you will.
P.S. :)
