A friend of mine, who works in the mental health field (shout out to all you mental health practitioners out there), posted a question on Facebook the other day, asking people how they interpret Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.”, and of course, this got me thinking.

When I think of that quote, my initial thoughts immediately go to the amazing song/video “Be the change” by MC Yogi (one that always makes my daughter stop and pay attention, then ask a whole bunch of difficult questions; which I love).

But then, when I thought about my friend’s question, about how I work on being the change I want to see in the world, I had to really pause to think about it. 

I read some of the answers that my friend received on her post. Some of them were action-based: smiling at people, wishing them a good day, reaching out to friends if/when you see them struggling. I thought these were good suggestions to start with. They reminded me of the growing movement of Random Acts of Kindness, which I think is great because in a world that is seemingly fraught with negative things, the world needs more of people being kind to each other.

But I wanted to dive a little deeper into the exercise. Smiling and being kind to people you encounter are great things to DO, but Ghandi’s question is about BEING.

How do you BE the change you want to see in the world?

In other words: How do you show up in the world in such a way that (you hope) has a positive impact on the world as you encounter it?

This made me think of some of the negative movements I’ve seen recently scroll through my Facebook feed (be they events in the current political world of the United States or other appalling things happening elsewhere in the world). I usually scroll right through and don’t read any of these items, but I still notice that they’re there. I think about the people who shout out their anger, those that push against the thing they are not liking, and I wonder how much good they think they are doing by taking such an approach.

It’s so easy to respond to anger with anger, but so difficult to respond with love. That’s what made Gandhi so great.

If I look out at the entire world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and say “What can I do, little old me, that will ever make a difference?” and it’s true. Chances are, you can’t change the entire world.

So instead, I chose to narrow the lens and look at what I CAN do, in my immediate world.

How do I BE the change? I start by looking inward.

How do I BE?

Be a Seeker

This is why personal development is so important. Not because you’ll make a ton of money if you follow this year’s biggest motivational speaker, but because when you work on yourself, you slowly begin to change your mindset. You begin to change the way you SEE the world, and in turn, you begin to change the way you react to it. You change the way you SHOW UP in it.

Personal development, or as I like to call it, working on yourself, is not something you sort of look into by reading a couple of books. If you’re going to do it properly, it’s something you do for the rest of your life. It’s constant learning and then applying, learning, and applying. It’s personal growth. It’s emotional and intellectual evolution. It never ends.

That’s why I love the term, to be a Seeker. Seek to learn. Seek to understand. Seek to grow.

Also, in this process, there is one thing that is extremely important to remember and that I try to do as often as possible. You know that thing you sometimes hear about taking yourself out of the equation?

It means taking your EGO out of the equation.

Always remember that it’s not about you.

Because it’s not. Even if your spouse is angry with you. It’s not about you.

If you can remember that, and remove yourself from the equation, it allows you to see things from a different perspective. Now, you can more easily remain calm even though your spouse is angry with you, and instead of responding with anger, you can respond with kindness and ask questions to seek to understand where the anger is coming from.

When you practice removing your Ego from the equation, it becomes much easier to look at yourself and see any mistakes or misbehaviour that you’ve made, and not take them personally. It’s your Ego (remember the Big Snooze?) that says “You did something wrong. There’s something wrong with you. YOU are wrong. You are inappropriate.” But if you take your ego out of the equation, you can then say “Ok maybe I shouldn’t have done that, or reacted that way. Or maybe I shouldn’t have said that” but it won’t bruise your sense of Self.

Removing your Ego from the equation of what you are looking at, is the key to being a Seeker.

Be the light

Once you can see the world as a Seeker, you can begin to look at it with child-like curiosity. When you’re in the habit of looking at things in a way that you try to understand them, the way you show up in the world becomes a lot softer. Less aggressive.

Showing up in the world in an attitude of curiosity, truly changes everything.

It means you have an open mind when you’re navigating relationships and taking part in conversations. It means checking judgment at the door. It means you end up with meaningful interactions that significantly lead to stronger relationships because you truly LISTEN when people speak.

When you spend most of your time listening, you give them the unspoken gift of worthiness.  When people feel heard, they feel empowered. And when people feel empowered, they are capable of great things.

Be the change

If you look out at the world, and you see something that is missing, or something that needs changing, ESPECIALLY if it’s something you feel passionate about, then go out there, and initiate that change.

Don’t get out there and protest with the others who are angry that things aren’t done in the right way, or aren’t happening in the right way.

Go out there and DO IT the right way.

BE THE SOLUTION.

Don’t add to the problem. We know what the problems are. We hear about them all the time. But if you look at it from the solution’s perspective, if you get inspired with a solution, or a new approach to something, then get out there and start working on that. Do THAT.

Have you ever felt so passionately about something, like climate change, or social justice, or women’s rights, or Indigenous wellness, or mental health… ANYTHING!, that when you think about it your whole body responds?

Have you felt so lit up by a certain subject that you feel your whole body vibrating just by thinking about it? Even if it’s an idea that you have, or something you’ve discovered.

When that happens, that means you’ve found something that the world needs you to do. If you can manage to keep the Big Snooze out of that stream of thought (because he WILL try to dissuade you from going forward with it), and remember that YOU matter, that the world needs YOUR unique contribution, then you can shine.

Then you can go out into the world and BE the change that YOU want to see in the world.

The world doesn’t need more people to complain about what’s going wrong. The world needs YOU to have the courage to go out there lead it towards the solutions and ideas and changes that have already been and will continue to be inspired by you.