The year 2016 has been hard so far. This year has been one filled with more hate, fear, and destruction than I ever could have imagined. Murder, discrimination, and terrorism are rampant. Our country is in a political emergency that seemed possible only in dystopian novels. I hear disgust for fellow humans filling the mouths of some of the people around me, and my television screen cannot escape reports filled with malice.
With all of this hatred being spewed left and right, it's easy to focus on the big picture and think of all of the ways the world needs to change. How the person next to you could be better, be different or improve. To look at other cities, states, countries and tell what they're doing wrong. To criticize more harshly other religions and most harshly those without religion. In truth, what can you do about anyone or anything but yourself?
It's no doubt that saving the world is a big project. For one person alone, most likely an impossible project. Though it is definitely a noble and wonderful goal, many would classify it among the naive.
I was thinking about this the other day when I ran across a short poem by one of my favorite poet's, Rumi:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
It struck me deeply, and I posted it to Facebook as a version of my commentary on recent events, as I generally try to avoid sharing my views on social media (aside from Odyssey, I guess. It's made me a little bolder). I was moved by the amount of people who found resonation within the words of this 13th-century poet, a man who knew nothing of today's troubles yet spoke into our hearts.
The solution was this in the year 1200, and it is this now: if you want to change, then change. Change yourself. Don't just complain about your situation, the people around you, the world. Maybe you, as one individual, can no little to turn around the entire plight of our universe, but your impact is greater than you know. The ripple effect of a positive (or negative) action is more than a cliche. Do what you can to improve your corner of the world. Help people. People you know. People you don't. Smile. Use that empathy you have inside you. Be kind to animals and our earth. Give others a chance and do your best not to judge without knowing someone's story.
Make an effort to get a little bit better each and every day, and watch the world around you do the same.
