REAL CHANGE BEGINS WITH CHANGE OF HEART

You have probably heard about this old age story of a man that wanted to change the entire world on his own. Please let me tell it in my own words. A story is told of a young man in his twenties who had a vision to change the world. He thought he could make a lasting change but after assessing his efforts and progress, he realised that the world was too big to listen to him. He decided that in his 30s now, he would try and change his continent. Ten years passed and he realised that he could not change his continent. Then he revised his goals downward and decided that in his 40s he could at least focus all his energy on changing his country. Soon it dawned on him that even his country was too big for him to change. He swallowed a bitter pill again and with great pain and disappointment, he revised his goal further down words.

He looked at his community and decided that his people were backwards and they practiced retrogressive traditions. And so it was that he decided that he was going at least change his community before he hits 60 years old. Ten years flew by so fast and he realised that he had very little energy left to change his community.

 It then occurred to him that while he was so focused on changing the world, his own family had been falling apart around him. His children were drug addicts and he and his wife had grown apart to an extent that they couldn’t recognise each other. So he made a vow to himself that before he dies, he was going to try and change his children and wife and restore some order. This too proved to be an exercise in futility. His wife would not listen to him. The wedge between them had grown too wide over the decades he had not paid attention to her. The biggest surprise of his life was finding out that his own children were all grown up now and they had left the house. All this while he had neglected them and he didn’t even see them growing up. This is when it hit him, instead of focusing on changing everyone around him; he should have focused on changing himself first. It was too late now. When death finally came calling he had achieved nothing.

Sometimes change of perception and attitude may be the only thing you need in order to change your environment. Clear your own doubts and misconceptions first. Then with a clear mind, face your environment. Someone once said, human beings are the only creatures that can step out of themselves and reflect on their thoughts and actions. Animals can’t do that! Use this gift wisely. It is easy to get caught up in the rush of things and the call of our routine that we forget the imperative of being aware of everything that we are doing. The easiest way to get overwhelmed is to jump head first into a hip of activities without a proper order.