Happiness and Enlightenment

If you want the world to be more loving,
then be a more loving person.

If you want the world to be kinder,
then be kinder.

If you want the world to be more peaceful,
then be more peaceful.

Though it’s probably the most over-quoted wisdom of all time, Gandhi advised us to “be the change we wish to see in the world.” Gandhi’s words convey a two-fold truth that inspires me and yet reminds me that I am small.

For one, there is only one person in the world over which you have control. That person is, of course, you. We might expend tremendous amounts of energy and effort trying to control the people around us, but such efforts are usually done in vain. At the end of the day, you can’t force someone else to change except, perhaps, superficially. True change comes from within. Since we can’t force change on other people, it makes much more sense to turn our efforts inward. If you want more of something in the world, cultivate that special something in your own heart and mind.

Second, each of us has the power to lift up the world. Scientists are beginning to discover what sages have been telling us for ages: That we are all deeply connected – and I’m not talking Facebook or your local watering hole. A massive endeavor at Princeton University called The Human Consciousness Project, for example, is one of the many experiments attempting to prove just that. And so as you express more love, kindness or peace in your own life, the implication is that you lift the consciousness of all of us. Moreover, you’re inspiring change in others through the example of your life – rather than trying to create change through force or manipulation.

So as you go about your day, it’s just another reason to be more loving, a little kinder and a bit more peaceful. Through each thought, word and action, you’re changing the world.