Apathy, Change, and You

Each day is a challenge. I wake up every morning, trying my best to arm myself with whatever mental armor I need, so that I won't be blindsided by negativity. However, the one thing I never account for is the fact that everyone around me will be doing the same thing.

As a society, we've been trained to be skeptical of everything and everyone. We question our leaders, question our laws, and rail against the ways of the world that have led us to this mass chaos that, seemingly, has no end. Yet, none of us is truly willing to take responsibility for the role we might have played in this mechanism. We're, all of us, content to put up our walls or stick our heads in the sand.

Many of us assumed we could leave the important decisions to the more informed, more educated, and more involved segments of society. We stopped paying attention to the signs that signaled something wasn't quite right because we had problems of our own to tend to—let somebody else handle this mess. 

The problem with that attitude is that it's pervasive—it never stops at one person—and a society that mass produces an attitude of apathy isn't one headed in the right direction. You have to stand for something if you ever expect to live a life of purpose.

Read a newspaper, watch the news, seek out the knowledge you need to start making the small steps that can eventually get us all back on the right track.

Be the change you wish to see in the world...isn't that what Ghandi said?

Are you being that change or letting the world change you?

Sometimes You Get In Your Own Way

I'm constantly amazed at how wonderful the world looks through the eyes of a child. Everything they see and hear is a source of wonderment for them, and they never complain about their experience (no matter how big or small it might be)—most just appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the moment.

It's truly a beautiful thing to watch, and it got me to thinking, where has our childlike wonder gone?

We have evolved into a nation of people who are either distracted by the enormity of our responsibilities, or absent altogether. None of us are willing to take a moment to see what this life has to offer because we remain blinded by the negativity of its occupants.

In short, we're paying attention to the wrong things and we're too out of touch to realize it.

The children of this world, even the so-called "broken" ones, provide the perspective that we all need to be seeing this life through. Their lens offers the clearest, most consistent, and most positive path to what we all hope is our ultimate destination—happiness and peace.

Of course some might say the ability to revert to such a pure way of thought was lost long ago. "We simply know too much" now to make a change.

How does one forget the pain, the sacrifice, and the knowledge he/she has gained—that same knowledge that led us to the way we feel/think today—jaded and skeptical that this life has anything good to offer? How can we erase these thoughts when they play such an intrinsic part in who we are?

To that I only say you're thinking too hard.

To approach each day like a child, you would cease to dwell on the infinite impossibilities presented by this life, but rather, instead, be awakened and energized by the endless possibilities that your presence within it presents.

You must remember that you are a bright beacon of light, no matter how hard the world might try to dim you. It's up to you to take what this world has to offer and make the best of it.

You are your only true roadblock to progression and sometimes you have to have the strength to get out of your own way.