Change Begins With Us

In this time of so much unrest and pain, many of us turn outward in anger and frustration. It is a natural tendency for us to react in this way to the horror we see around us and the growing stress we already are experiencing in our daily lives. It can leave us feeling helpless and sad, so what is left is more noise and opinions on what others can do. We often can think that when we look at problems of racism, prejudice, school shootings, the environment, and so on, that the issues seem so overwhelming that we don’t know where to begin.

It starts with each one of us.

To create change, if each of us took one action each day in our own lives for the injustices we see all around us, collectively change can happen. 

It takes work.

We dig deep.

We have to be honest with ourselves.

What one change can I make in my life TODAY to start the process and not wait for others?

I recently watched this episode of 100 Human: Are You Biased? on Netflix. The experiment was determining whether or not people are honest with themselves on the bias they carry and the behaviors they don’t even realize they demonstrate. In the beginning of the episode they asked the participants if they had bias and the majority said they did not. Through the various experiments in regard to sexuality and prejudice, the participants didn’t even realize the unconscious bias they had. I had to admit to myself that I am not sure I would have thought differently than the participants. It didn’t matter what their sexuality, race or religion was, everyone equally carries it. I realized I had to continue to work on myself, as this is a life practice.

We need to be honest with ourselves that each of us carry this. We only have our own life experiences to go from and it is very hard to truly understand what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes and what their experiences are. 

So how do we get there?

We can pause and assess our thoughts before we speak.

We can take an honest look at the interactions in our day and where we may have a bias show up that we didn’t even notice was there.

We can reach out and support someone in need, without needing a pat on the back for doing it.

We can be careful with our words.

We can ask other people questions and learn their stories and experiences without comparing our own to it.

We can create positive energy with the people around us.

We can find peaceful ways to show our support of our friends, family, acquaintances and people we do not even know.

We can’t expect change overnight, we are gentle with ourselves and those around us, and do something every day until it starts to add up.

We can observe without judgement.

We can be present with the people we are with.

We can show up in love.

If each of us chooses ONE thing to do each day to make a positive impact on the world around us, change can happen.

Don’t let this time pass and forget until the next time. 

Make it a practice, each day, even if it’s for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes to assess ourselves and our impact. Put it on your calendar, make a commitment to yourself.

Change begins with each one of us.

P.S. I thought there was no better time to share this Loving Kindness Meditation. Each time you need a reminder, feel free to come back to it. It’s a great reminder of how to cultivate love and kindness from the inside out and share it with the world around you.