Change Yourself to Change the World
Change Yourself to Change the World
Rather than changing the world, the best thing is to change yourself. Most of the things happening in the world are not within your control. (99.9%) The remaining is. That leaves you with a measly 0.1%. Now, what if this also is out of your sphere of influence. We love to control things. Because it brings in a certain amount of predictability in the chaos that we call the world. The other reason why we love to control is that it gives us an ego boost. Things are happening as we wish them to be. Every day brings in a new set of situations and events that we have to manage. With our limited knowledge and experience, some of us barely skim through while some others ride it like a roller-coaster. No matter what, we cannot avoid situations (although some people are experts at navigating this scenario) that cross our daily lives. Either we meet them head-on or try maneuvering around, in whichever way we wish to.
Somebody has said that there are no facts, only opinions. The objective world is a myth as each one of us sees the world through our social reality. This of course is subjective. We can safely say that every single one of us views the world through our colored lenses. Hence what might be a truth for you may be somebody’s falsehood. What you perceive to be a red color may be missing from a color-blind person’s vocabulary. There is no harm in perceiving reality through a different glass as long as it’s not an extreme view. Our innermost beliefs often make us see the world in a particular way. If something contradicts our closely held beliefs, we try to justify it, rationalize it and try our best to cling to it. Deep-rooted beliefs are hard neural pathways within our brain, which can be changed, but takes a lot of effort. Hence the best way to deal with situations is to be detached when we face them.
To change oneself is not an easy task. It may take months or years to get rid of false beliefs, bad habits, and other baggage. We all have 4 faculties of mind – memory, intellect, ego, and Chitta. Out of this if we can conduct our life through Chitta, we will be dealing with things the way they are. Chitta means looking at things without referring to memory. Thus, we see the world objectively or the way it is. But 99.9% of people operate out of the other faculties of the mind. This gives us a distorted view of reality. Every experience that comes our way (by means of our 5 senses) is recorded. Some of them take up space in our minds deep recesses while others may be ignored. However, the fact is that we are absorbing mounds of information every second of our life. What kind of thoughts to allow and what not to, is the million-dollar question? I don’t want to answer that because I might also be biased in my opinion.
We are taught so many things in school. Unfortunately, no one teaches us thought-culture. There are books for everything, but there is no manual of life. The attitude that we cultivate through our ruminating ages shapes the way we think. Thus, it’s very essential to have a proper positive attitude towards things, events, and people. An optimist sees the positive side of life, while a pessimist is a critic. Wayne Dyer has said that when we change the way we look at things, the things that look at us change. This is a dictum. We attract what we are. That means how we feel deep inside. This again is a product of our thoughts and emotions. Change the way you look outside, and things start happening your way. Without effort. To cultivate this kind of disposition is not easy. We have to willingly make a change within us. We are a sum of all the thoughts and emotions we have had so far. Don’t blame others for your situation. You are the captain of your ship. You are the master of your soul. So, go ahead, change yourself …
God Bless!
