“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. 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.” – Mahatma Gandhi
How can we be the change? With everything that is going on in the world, from wars to the cost of living crisis, it can be easy to lose hope and wonder what we can do to make a difference. It doesn’t help that the world is so divided and there’s so much disinformation. It’s difficult to know what to believe or think. I firmly believe however that there are two small actions we can take that can have powerful consequences.
One is to pray for things to get better or for world peace. If praying isn’t your thing, just set the intention for things to improve.
The other thing is do small things every day to make the world a better place. This could be as simple as saying hello to people and smiling at them as we walk down the street.
I started doing this a couple of years ago. People often smile and say “hello” back to me. One man even said I had “made his day!” I have noticed that since I started doing this, I am more inclined to start conversations with people, whether it be a stranger in the street, or a waiter/waitress serving me in a restaurant.
I like to think that I am making their day better, and I hope I inspire them to pay it forward, and in turn, make someone else’s day better. Maybe they’ll be kinder to their family or colleagues. Maybe if enough of us do this, it will have a ripple effect on the whole world.
In the 1950s researchers observed a monkey on an island who found she could wash the sand off her sweet potato by dipping it into water. Then all the other monkeys started doing the same. This led to a hypothesis that suggested that when enough monkeys started doing it, monkeys throughout the island and even on neighbouring islands would do the same. This demonstrates the power of the collective consciousness.
A political scientist from Harvard University, Erica Chenoweth, suggests that only a small percentage of the population need to be committed to non-violence in order to effect positive change – Reaching the ‘Critical Threshold’ for Momentous Change – World Tribune Surely, we must be nearly there?
We may wonder if we, as an individual, can really make a difference. I love the starfish story, which illustrates this perfectly.
There were a lot of starfish washed up on a beach. A little girl was picking them up one by one and throwing them back into the sea. A passerby stopped and asked why she was bothering, saying the little girl couldn’t possibly make a difference. The little girl grinned, and as she threw another starfish back into the sea, she said, “made a difference to that one”.
So, I urge you to pray or set the intention for world peace and take one small step every day to make the world a better place. What can YOU do to make a difference? What do you already do?
I’m Samantha Brook.
I’m a Happiness blogger and coach.
I am the Amazon #1 bestselling author of Happiness Club: Learn to Be Happy and Get What You Want.
I empower people who are fed up with feeling fed up to take action to feel Happier and Get What They Want.
If you’d like to work with me there are a few ways you can do that including 1. Join the free Happiness Club Facebook group. 2. Buy the book – Happiness Club: Learn to Be Happy and Get What You Want! 3. Work with me for 121 intuitive Happiness Coaching. 4. Contact me for details of the Happiness Club workplace wellbeing programme. 5. Book me to speak at your event. 6. Hire me as a freelance writer to write about Happiness and wellbeing.
This post was originally written for Happiness-Club.co.uk.
