Do this one thing and change the world!

Photo by Ronald Cuyan on Unsplash

As I work for an NGO, people often ask me what they can do in order to change the world. Of course, they all want this to be easy, cheap, fast and not taking a lot of efforts. Well, we all know that these are not really the right ingredients to achieve great things in life, but I am highly appreciating the goodwill to make a difference in the world.

Even though I think that there are many things that we can all do on a daily basis to make this world a better place for us and for the future generations (you can read these blog posts where I give many practical, easy and cheap ideas 10 ways you can change the world. TODAY., 10 ways you can change the world. TODAY. Part 2), I think that there is one thing, yes, you are not dreaming, there is one thing that changes not only the world in general, it changes our whole life and this to people around us. And, yes, it is easy, fast and it is for free! Bang!

This one “magical”, transformational and life/world-changing thing is not actually “a thing”. It is an action. And this action is to stand up and to speak up!

As long as reducing plastic use, recycling, taking the public transport, biking, volunteering (read these posts How did volunteering change my life?, How does volunteering make you become a better person?) are still extremely important in order to make a difference in the world and in the society we live in, if we don't speak up freely and honestly without any shame or fear about what really bothers us, about what we think is wrong with the society, with the system, with our life, about how we feel, about how this life makes us feel, we will never change anything. Everything will remain on a very superficial, material (again!) level where living an eco life is still a posh thing instead of a universal thing accessible to everybody.

If we don't speak up openly, freely and honestly, we will still try to cure the symptoms instead of curing the illness itself.

Actually, maybe I lied to you in the introduction... Itsy bitsy.

Speaking up and standing behind our visions, our perceptions of the world and our life values is not easy. It takes courage and a certain level of personal growth, self-confidence and good self-esteem to do it.

Often, when you speak up the majority of people will not understand you, at first. They can even throw tomatoes over you and tell you you are nuts (or even worse). But how do we expect the world to change if we fear the change? How do we want the world to change if we don't change the way we think? We have been programed to think that we must all be the same so we could fit in and be accepted. But how do we want the world to change if we are all the same? It is not possible. The society - this is us. The world is crazy because the people became crazy and started appreciating and prioritizing crazy stuff – how they look, how much money they have, how many college degrees they have, how big their house is...

The world is only a reflection of the people who built it. We built this way of thinking and only we can destroy it... or change it in order to built a new one which is truly capable to accept real democracy. So, stand up and say what is true to yourself. Say what you want for yourself, say what you want for the world, tell us about your day-to-day struggles, tell us about your neighbor who is constantly making noise at 3am. We don't have to agree, but I will take the time to think about your point. Priceless.

If we want to live in real democracy, we don't have to fear speaking up. We don't have to fear judgment, being stigmatized, being different, being put in a case. This is not what true democracy is. If you see something that you find wrong, unacceptable or in contradiction with your personal values, say it! Do something! Don't hide! Don't be scared to say what you think. Don't be scared to say that something is not right. Often, other people think likewise and they might support you. If they don't, do it anyway. You are doing it for yourself and for your own inner peace. You personally will feel like a better human afterwords.

Nowadays, I see slaves and robots everywhere. People being modern slaves to other people. People thinking like other people just to be accepted. People doing what other people are doing just to please them. People not being able to make a proper decision on their own. People being slaves to food, to material possessions, to looks. Don't be one of those brain-washed robots! Don't be a modern slave!

Be a free person! Be free of all these delusional attachments that we created in our minds. Be you. Be authentic.

Say what you think it is important to be said. Tell people that you are not OK. Stop pretending to be someone you are not. People empower other people because they have the inner power to say what they think, no matter if we agree or not with them.

You want to make a change in the world – say what you think! It is as simple as that.

This will change your whole life. Some people will like it, others will not. Those who don't are probably not meant to stay long in your life. Those who will stay, are the people who will not judge even if they don't understand your visions or don't accept them. Actually, agreeing is not important. What is important is the acceptance of the existence of a new point of view. The acceptance of a human being as they are. What is also important is the privilege to think about what has been said, to question it, to put on trial with our values and beliefs, and even if at the end we don't agree, at least we gave it a shot.

This should be a personal inner work. The benefit is for us. We don't want to change the other person. If we do, we actually don't accept them as they are. We don't truly love and respect them. We might think we do, but we don't. If we love someone only if they are like us, if they think, walk, eat, speak, look like us, this is not love. This is stupidity. This is narcissism. This is fear from what is new, from what is unknown.

Giving the benefit of the doubt. Giving a shot to a new point of view. Taking the time to think about it. Not necessarily agreeing but not judging either, not trying to convince that we are right and the other is wrong. This is what being tolerant means.

The real democracy, in my opinion, is learning how to be tolerant with the people around us.

I think this is very important to be said especially now after the European elections. We live in a world where it is easier than ever to travel, to meet people from different countries, to move to another continent. Your neighbor is not necessarily from your country. Your colleague may not even speak the language of the country you both live in. You can go out of your home and 30 minutes later end up at an African market while still living in Europe.

Some people from the extreme nationalist movements think that this is a way to lose our cultural identity. I think this is a challenge for us as a society to learn how to be tolerant and how to accept those who are different – who have different values, beliefs, mentality, political visions... And by doing that still be able to save our cultural and personal identity.

It is foolish to think that we are all the same and so we must stay. So may people live in fear because of this way of thinking. So, let's be the people who will support those who don't have enough courage to say what they think, to speak up and to enrich the world with theirs experience, thoughts, observations. Let's not be from those who exclude the different ones, but from those who want to learn from them. Let's be the different ones. Let's learn from each other. Let's speak. Let's say how we feel, what we like, what we dislike. Let's speak about our difficult past. Let's not be ashamed of who we are.

Only by changing ourselves we can change the world. There is no other way. Our words may inspire, empower and change someone's life. You never know. So, speak up! You are changing your world and the world of those around you. Love, Elena

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