I keep getting these beautiful forwards
over my phone. Each day there are at least 3 messages (and that’s a dull day I
am talking about), sharing some gems of wisdom. Everyone is enlightened about
how precious the present moment is; how anger is futile; why friends and family
matter more than our jobs; how we must change to change the world, etc…etc.
Why then is there still so much strife in
the world? Why do we hear only negative news each day? Why are we still
fighting with our close ones? Why hasn’t this world become a better place
already?
I feel this is so because we truly and
sincerely believe, with our heart and soul, that these messages are applicable
to others and not to us. When we read such profound messages, elucidating
wisdom, our brain first appreciates the beauty in the message and then
immediately jumps to making a list of people who need to change and to whom
these messages are applicable. And now with broadcast lists, it has become
easier to keep a permanent list of people who need to change. One click and you
have done your good deed for the day, been a guiding light to a bunch of lost
souls.
Ironically, the receiver of your message
hopes and thinks that you have paid close attention to the message, because it
certainly seems applicable to you and a whole lot of other people he/she knows
of. Yet another click and the message is on its way to ‘save’ other misguided
souls. So the message just keeps going around in a loop, without bringing about
any change in the world.
If there were a condition that you can
forward a message containing such pearls of wisdom if and only if you are
already applying that wisdom in your own life, I suspect that we would forward
far fewer messages or probably stop forwarding them altogether, because knowing
something and applying that knowledge are two different things. I may be
knowledgeable because I know all there is to know about life but I am not wise
until I start applying that knowledge in my daily life.
Gandhi, who said, “Be the change you want
to see,” knew about the solitary struggle it is to change the world. He also
knew about the power of one individual to bring about change and realised that
change does not start by pointing fingers at others. No one likes that. It
starts with changing yourself first, setting an example and through that
example inspiring others to change themselves and then our environment,
collectively. But it all starts with one: you.
So next time you receive such a message
loaded with wisdom, tough as it may be, be absolutely honest with yourself
whether you truly follow what is written in there and only if you do, forward
it. Or at least make a mental note that you need to change certain aspects of
your life, promise to work on it and then forward it. The world will definitely
change.
