Be the change..

This famous quote by Gandhi was brought to my attention following the death of a friend, and since then I have been pondering it almost daily. I understand what it means, but what I have a hard time with is how I can apply it to my life. I have so little time in my life to simply get the things done that I need to, how can I possibly fit in saving the world? And an even bigger question, how do you explain this way of thought to children so that they too can be the change they wish to see in the world. Do they even wish to see a change in the world at this young age?

I do see my kids leading by example when we go to a restaurant and they are sitting quietly at the table waiting for their food while staring in horror at other kids that are screaming and running around. During these rare moments we are so proud of them, but if you take the horrible children out of the picture, then our kids can turn into those screaming, running kids very quickly. My point is that for some of us, or maybe even most of us, we tend to ignore or shut out all of the bad stuff around us unless we are faced with it directly. We don't try to change things until they're right in our face, and by then it's often too late. I know we all have very busy lives and not much time or money, but perhaps we need to all start thinking about the bigger picture a little bit more and figure out exactly what change we do want to see happen, so that we can start at least changing our own lives to start moving in that direction.

This blog really hasn't helped me figure out what change I'm working towards, but I suppose in some way, maybe it will help with the bigger picture in getting more people to think along these lines.

Please post comments with ideas on what changes you'd like to see and how you're changing things at home to lead in that direction. Maybe if we all brainstorm we can save the world faster.