If you really want to know what’s wrong with the world today, I’ll tell you the truth about it.
At an amusement park on Saturday, a man a couple chairs down from me was passionately complaining about other people at the park:
"No one says ‘excuse me’ anymore!"
"People have no regard for others!"
"People are so ignorant and selfish!"
Other than being at that amusement park, I was in the car for about 15 hours this past weekend on a couple long rides. One thing I love about driving is that, for many of us, much of our crap comes up while driving.
“People are so selfish!”
“I’ve got to be aggressive or I’ll be taken advantage of.”
“People are oblivious to their impact on others.”
“You’ve got to drive defensively because other people are idiots.”
“You couldn’t wait 5 more seconds?!”
When these judgments come out, they’ve got a passionate energy for many of us. We can be so right that others are so wrong!! We can be so right that there’s something wrong with the world!!
In the car, there’s anonymity. We don’t know what other drivers’ intentions are, so we assume the worst. And because we don’t know who they are, we don’t feel much shame about being aggressive, selfish, and/or judgmental towards them.
And while we cultivate those judgmental thoughts and harbor that sadness, frustration, and self-righteousness, it’s like we’re drinking a poison. We’re harming ourselves with those perspectives and that energy. We’re betraying ourselves.
Why would we do this to ourselves, to the people we care about who are with us, and to the strangers around us that we don’t know?
We must be getting something out of it…
Each and every one of them is a harsh complaint about someone else or the state of the world, but can you see the real purpose behind all of them?
We get to avoid responsibility.
We get to avoid responsibility for maintaining peace and calm within.
We get to avoid responsibility for managing our well-being and safety without blaming others.
We get to avoid responsibility for being the source of positive change in the world around us.
Instead, we sit back and complain that the world and its people have gone to sh!t.
If you really want to know what’s wrong with the world today, I’ll tell you: Nothing.
Nothing’s wrong with the world today. Nothing at all.
Go ahead, take a moment and think of all the proof you have that I'm wrong.
Those are YOUR reasons. Those are YOUR arguments. Those are YOUR excuses.
A whole lot more becomes possible when we get responsible for our mindset and the impact it has on ourselves and others.
Yes, of course something else is possible all around the world. I'm not suggesting we let go of our desire to have a positive impact.
What I'm suggesting is that we let go of the perspective that there's something wrong, and instead get to the inspired, empowered, and effective work of creating what's possible.
The “Be the change you want to see in the world” quote wasn’t exactly as Gandhi said it, but it captures it well. How he actually said it is this:
"If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
As long as we keep cultivating a perspective that there’s something wrong with the world, we’ll keep seeing a world that’s wrong - and our actions will be consistent with a world that’s wrong. Complaining. Blaming. Justifying. Abdicating.
If we alter our mindset and cultivate a perspective that there’s something right with the world, we’ll see more of that - and our actions will be consistent with a world that’s right. Love. Inspiration. Community. Well-being.
One of those paths is the path of resignation and cynicism. The other is the path of hope and possibility.
Choose.
Thanks so much for reading. 🙏❤️
P.S. As a transformational coach, I help people and organizations move beyond their self-imposed limitations to be their best and feel amazing. If you’re interested in finding out how I can support you or your organization, schedule an exploration with me. 💌
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