"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. Chinese Proverb
Why do I like these? Well. I have faced that I do a lot of complaining about the bad attitudes of people at church and the community in general. I also realise that this is totally hypocritical of me, as I am complaining lots about the whinging of others. So this is to stop very soon.
Ghandi is a dude (I wonder how many people have referred to him as a 'dude'. I did it to Jesus in an input I did at church last year.) who so many, including myself, admire. That quote can be taken up by anyone who has ever said, "I wish for something to happen". For me, for things to change at church and better attitudes to come about, I need to stop telling people to do it, and do it myself always. I'm sick of being a hypocrite, something I never want to be remembered as.
The Chinese proverb is the same. I can spend my whole life telling people about the 'darkness', wishing for something good to happen, for there to be a lighter better world before I die. But if I do that, I'll still feel like I wasted my life, because what use is me telling everyone that they are capable of doing so many things if I don't do them myself? I'd much rather be a man of action and few words than the greatest literate or philosophist and have done nothing except think.
Nice thoughts,
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Michael Jackson's 'I'm starting with the man in the miror...'
But just ignore the whole Michael Jackson part. You a fan of MJ?
See, if everyone was the change they wished to see in the world, then maybe the world would be a better place. Although, people would have different opinions about what is right/better. Oh dear, does everything have an opposite side??
Jono agrees. In general.
ReplyDeleteIn essence, they're both the same thing, instead of wondering, cursing or hoping, you need to DO. But DOing might not require the standard thing a lot of the time. For example, sometimes being a great literate or philosopher person can be a form of DOing. Sharing your knowledge and discoverings may be an action in itself. I thought this was interesting to note. A man or words can be a DOer, as well.
Em: Ha, yeh MJ sometimes. That song yes fan. Most everything has an opposite, but that's ok, it creates things to think about...and fuels this blog.
ReplyDeleteJono: I understand a man of words can be a Doer too. I meant, in general, the type of person who talks a lot about what they'll do 'one day' or what they wish would happen and just whinge about others but never do anything for the better (and you know the type of people i'm talking about). They're not really doers except of negative things.