CHANGING THE WORLD

My father has a saying that he uses fairly frequently: “Help me to change the world.” It’s a beautiful endeavor meant to focus our attention, love, and compassion on ourselves and everyone else in the world. But you can’t change the word by pretending to be something you are not. Through this pretense, you are already rejecting yourself.

The very first step is to accept yourself just the way you are, “flaws” and all. Here is the irony: The moment you accept yourself is the moment you realize that whatever you thought was flawed is not flawed, and you change only because you want to, not because you have to.

Practice

With awareness, remember that the moment you accept yourself just the way you are is the moment you begin to change the world. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot give love and respect to your brothers and sisters without first learning to love and respect yourself, just the way you are. There is no such thing as a flaw in any individual, and that includes you. Everyone is simply expressing his or her own intention in life.

Living a Life of Awareness

~ Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.