if you wish to be the change you seek in the world..

People shudder at the American death causality of the war in Iraq, yet they are not registered to vote. Walking down the street and seeing a middle-eastern person puts most on edge, because they have to have a bomb in their shoe. We stereotype middle easterners all to be these villainous creatures, but we don’t even know who or what we are stereotyping. In other countries, children are taught by the age of 5 how to kill others, how they must obey their leaders or they will not go to heaven. So when we categorize them as monsters, we don’t even take into account how they were raised. Killing people in America is seen as immoral and hanus but killing people in Afghanistan is seen as noble and obedient. To take in the account of how other people live is something we rarely do. We as a country waste so much food without even thinking of the people starving half way across the world. We can go to a pump and get gas in a matter of minutes. We can get food even faster. Our whole way of life is reflected by how we live our life. Today’s world is based on what we choose to do, what we choose to say and how we choose to live. Some people judge others not on the values a person has, but what the person values. Materials are blinding and expensive, but we continue to become absorbed in them. We spend money, not time. People are categorized by wealth status and social class, not by the people they actually are. Our world today is black and white. Wrong and right. Smart and dumb. There are no gray areas in the eyes of people. You do something, because you do it. People don’t rationalize with motives or past experiences that cause others to do what they do, instead people just judge on the fact that they did it. Womens’ rights’ has been established for quite some time now, but still women fight for their identity. Today a female would be considered outrageous to coach the game of football. The proposal of a woman president to many was seen as absurd and unethical. Men are not kindergarten teachers, because men are sex offenders. Women are emotional, they bare children. Boys wear blue, girls wear pink. Don’t play with dolls or cry boys, because if you do, you are gay. And God forbid the gay community got any bigger. Marriage is expected and accepted, but marrying the one you love isn’t. If a woman loved another woman, they could not spend their lives together. Our society is meant to accept. Yet people are constantly rejected. We are given freedoms in the constitution to live the way we want, yet when we act upon our alienable rights, we are punished for doing so. Teenagers are getting pregnant and having abortions at an early enough age where they can’t even spell abortion. Everyday people die, and not just from cancer or old age, but from drugs, drinking, and suicide. Our society is drowned by alcohol. Drunk drivers kill people everyday. They take the lives of innocent people. Yet those people who commit the crimes, we pay for. Our tax dollars go to criminals so they can eat, they can watch TV, so they can have privlidges. Our media is flourished with pictures of good stars gone bad. Haircuts gone hideous. Being skinny is more important than being healthy. We can ban cigarettes from public places, but we can’t ban discrimation from the public. Our world is at a turning point, a new course of action as we are determining our president. Yet people today know more of what Britney Spears is doing rather than where our country is headed. STD’s and sex are talked about in schools but the same schools are also giving out condoms. Safe or not safe, condoms promote sex. Children obesity is a huge epidemic in today’s world, but still McDonald’s and Burger King out number work out facilities and gyms by the thousands. Some of the highest paid people in today’s world are getting paid to criticize our society. Artists who rap using deragatorgy terms and scrutinizing females, promoting drug use and singling out gender, race and sex orientation. And to wonder why there is still discrimination in the world. Because it is still being used. It is a constant hypocritical example of how we live. America wants peace, so we bomb. Someone with a turban on their head is a terrorist. You didn’t go to college? You’re a low life. Our houses are getting bigger, but our mentality is getting smaller. Those people don’t have a lot money, those people do, those people are cheap. Don’t do that and don’t say that because they might get mad. As a whole, we complain, but we don’t act upon it. We sit on our ass and talk until we are blue in the face, but we never think to get up and do something. Taking the words from Ghandi, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” But why would we look to Ghandi, when we have Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton parading around as prestigious role models? The people we want to be like are weighing 90 pounds, singing about having sex and sleeping around with half the Hollywood population. Most do not look up to senators invoking positive change, social activists, or historical and religious figures. We know more about what our favorite celebrity is debating to wear to the VMA’s, than what is being debated in foreign affairs. Public school or private? Khols or Dior? Rich or poor? These are no longer just questions, they are guidelines for judgement. Everyone points their fingers and criticizes, but ironically enough they never even wash their own hands. So to whom do we owe this pleasure? To our government for allowing it, to yourselves for allowing it, or to ourselves for allowing the government to allow it? In this world there is nothing certain. Everyday it changes. You can talk on the internet to people ½ way around the world, but you can’t talk to your next door neighbor. Crimes and heart ache, ignorance and tolerance, we are all victims of it. So we must act upon it. Leave no voice unheard, create, debate, involve, inspire and relate to people. Find common grounds. Don’t judge others because when you do that, you are really only judging yourself. Embrace, don’t downplay diversity; learn from people who haven’t learned like you have. America is a melting pot, but it has yet to be melted. We constantly live in fear of what might happen in today’s crazy world, so yes, we must be cautious, but not scared of our own shadow. We hear of husbands and wives divorcing faster than marriage. It is seen as socially acceptable to continue to divorce after taking peoples words: their wedding vows. But what is someones’ word today anyways? Maybe we shouldn’t be so open and lend out our heart, but we should still let it be attainable. We hold on to regret like a life preserver, when in reality it’s the regret that makes us drown. We have to let go of it, burdens should be placed in the past, not on our shoulders. Failure should be inspiring, not discouraging. The world is a canvas, draw on it. Face the world, don’t hide from it. Be a better person by making people better people. Cry if you are sad, smile if you are happy. Don’t become bitter, become better. Don’t let children go down paths they should not, for those children will one day be our future. Make it known who you care about. Trust those who are trustworthy, not just the people you want to trust. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt or taking chances. Rules were made to be broken, and chances were made to be taken. Take criticisim, embrace it and then throw it away. Don’t dwell on the past, or worry about the future. Life is now. Leave judgment at the door, walk with two feet and surround yourself with people you like. In this world you are not here to make anyone happy, but you can certainly try. Do good even if it goes without notice. Attempt to the change the world. Don’t think you can’t. One action, one single thing can solely change minds’ of other people. People in history who have made trademarks probably didn’t think either that their first step would lead to miles of a changed world. But they stepped anyway. So who is to be the judge of one person not being able to change the world? Historic figures sacrificed their freedoms, their reputations, their lives to make a difference. They believed enough in themselves and their beliefs to go to the worlds’ end to enlighten. God gave you a voice for a reason. Let the world lie at your feet, let people become inspired by you. And as long as there are supporters, there will be criticizsers. But don’t neglect what your opponents have to say. God also gave you ears. Take in others perspectives, that is the best way to create your own. Never think for one second that you can’t make a difference. The flap of a butterflies wing can cause a hurricane half way across the world; and the courage and thought of one human being can change the world. So maybe we should take that step. We can make a difference in the world. And just by trying to make that difference, we will certainly find the difference in ourselves.