By Seyitan Ogunmokun
There is probably nothing more cliché than this statement right here. It’s like the cliché-est of all clichés.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
This is not to give you a long sermon about how to do things right or about Global warming and how we should stop doing things that cause the depletion of the ozone layer or about how it’s good to recycle and dispose our waste properly, you know all that, probably even more than anybody else could put it to you. This is not going to be one of those ‘Recycle or Die’ handbills or one of the paid post the federal government is using to sell its new ‘Change begins with you’ agenda. Rather, I aim to explain the ideology or thought behind the concept that is ‘Being the Change’.
Being the change involves more than just doing what you think is “right”. It involves more than doing as you preach. It goes beyond Recycling or preaching about change. Being the change involves an embodiment of the concept. How does it reflect in your life or my life? You talk about Recycling, personally, have you done some recycling? Have you gone as far as soul searching? Have you tried to prevent ‘personal global warming’? All these and many more are very germane. We talk about healing the earth, running on bio fuels, reducing toxicity in the atmosphere and all that but how many of us truly start healing process from within? You cannot give what you don’t have. You cannot heal if you yourself is not healed. How many of us actively search to reduce toxicity within ourselves? How many of us actually wake up and decide to be positive?
Being the change begins with our minds, with our perspectives, with our willingness to change from within. The cliché statement only means that we must be ready to combat all these issues starting with ourselves, our minds.
The declining economy is an issue most Nigerians can relate to. You want to see a change in the economy? Effect the change in your mind first! What’s the economy of your mind like? Are you low on supply of strength? Are you low on supply of ‘mental richness’ (in the actual sense of the phrase) ?
Poverty of the mind, lack of expansion and application of the mind are very big problems we face in the world right now. You have to change that! You have to be the change you want to see in the world. You need to maintain a balance both within and without. You want to recycle? Recycle your mind first. You want to combat global warming? Combat the global warming in your mind first. I speak about the mind because it is the seat of ideas. The mind, not to be confused with the brain is the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences; to think and to feel. The mind is the faculty of consciousness. In other words. The mind is the activity of the brain. You must ‘recycle’ your mind, you must curb ‘global warming’ in your mind. You must be the change you want to see in the world!
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi