Small Change, Big Difference

We can't change the whole world at once. In fact we can't change anyone else but ourselves. So it should be no surprise that to promote world peace we can only change ourselves. This is where the small changes come in.

If we want peace on the outside, we need peace on the inside. If you have secrets that need to be told, tell them. If you feel guilty about something you have to clear your conscious. And if you are acting in opposition to how you know you should be acting, you must fix this. Of course this last one is not such a small change and should forever be your guide through life. The point here is you must be yourself before you can even begin to talk to someone else about who they are.

After your closet is clean of skeletons your mind can rest easier and you'll be much better off for it. Then it is time to make the right actions. The following is an obviously simplified storyline but it can be seen how a situation like this is indeed happening everyday. Suppose you are on your way to work and in your hurry you cut someone off. This person then gets angry and is in a bad mood when they get to work. Since they are in a bad mood they take it out on one of their employees. That employee then goes home extremely upset, gets drunk, and abuses their child. The child grows up with this abuse and is deeply scarred, eventually turning to a life of violence and killing your child. All because you were in a hurry.

Obviously this is a slight exaggeration but this constant feeding into anger and violence is the very root of all our problems in the world today. So next time you lose your temper or feel impatient and feel like being rude to someone else, keep in mind that you are feeding this violence in the world. When you are rude to your waitress, when you talk disrespectfully to others, even when you get angry and just hold a grudge against someone, you are feeding the much larger machine of violence in the world.

Of course you will get angry from time to time, but what you do with this anger is more important than not getting angry at all. It is important to notice that you are getting angry and think of the bigger picture. Then you must calm the anger by finding its true root. In our little story the abusive parent may say he's angry that his boss took out his anger on him, but that's just the most recent event. This anger has been building up his whole life, perhaps he was abused as a child too and is still angry about the injustice in this, perhaps his wife had cheated on him and he never truly forgave her, whatever the case may be there is an infinite supply of reasons to get angry and if you don't truly get over them then you will carry this with you your whole life.

Stopping the spread of anger is a giant step and as you can see really doesn't take much effort on your part, just a little patience here, some forgiveness, and some insight into yourself. If you do just this, it would be a very valiant step, but if you feel up to it you can do more. Instead of just stopping the spread of violence or hate, also spread love! Simple things like smiling, saying please and thank you, talking to someone who looks lonely, helping a stranger, or just being polite. Just as the violence spread and something as small as cutting someone off turned into murder, love can spread and something as simple as a smile can turn into someone saving a life.

This is all a lot of words basically saying what you learned in kindergarten. Be polite, share, be kind to others, don't hit, don't curse, don't steal, etc. Simple little things you've known your whole life but somehow we tend to forget in the heat of the moment, and this is when it is most important to look at the big picture.

Every one of your actions (and thoughts!!) has repercussions and you are free to take whatever actions you want since you are a free spirited adult, but when you take those actions remember the impatience turning into murder and the smile turning into a second chance.