Change – Part 1

Be the change you want to see in the world.

The other day I was musing about the world of politics.  I’d cast my vote but was wondering what it would really take for me to be able to vote with confidence.  What would I need to know about the candidates?

At that point one of my favourite quotes came to mind:

“Be the change you want to see in the world”

Rather than seeing politicians debating on tv, throwing mud at each other and visiting hospitals and shaking hands, I would actually like to see them being busy out there making the change they talk about making in the world.  Many people I know claim not to trust any of the politicians and you often here the phrase ‘they are all as bad as each other’ and that seems to me to stem from a feeling that they lack integrity.  Of course I’m speaking in general terms here.

So if someone said that they believed in helping the elderly to stay self-sufficient as long as possible and they were seen out helping to fit grab rails and wheelchair ramps….well you might just believe them.

Instead of delivering a flurry of leaflets leading up to election time they could be leading teams of litter pickers, working within the hospitals and seeing the challenges that the NHS faces day to day or meeting with schools and businesses to see just what skills young people really need when they leave education to be able to get a job.

What about us?

So taking that thought forward if we want to see change in the world then we could be thinking about how we can embody that change.  How can we act differently to show the integrity of our beliefs?  Perhaps if we all made just one change with this in mind then the world could be a different place.