Our Body – Our World Thinking of the Times

Contemplating the ways the world has failed itself and how humanity has lost its way, my parents and I debated the issue while heating by their fireplace. The past few months, we each seemed to be brought back to the subject, again and again, whether while discussing it at the family dinner table, or out chatting about it with friends over coffee, and of course being confronted by it on a daily basis by the news coverage and other media outlets. Interestingly, as well, it seemed the universe kept throwing me subtle signs that I had to react to the subject one way or another. I enjoy searching for analogies when trying to understand a certain concept. And so in the search for understanding, I came upon a wonderful piece of writing that brilliantly compared the world with the human body, imagine that!
Just as the body cannot function without all its complex parts working delicately together to maintain the existence of the human, so can’t the world continue to exist if its civilization ceases to unify. Just as every cell, every muscle and every organ is responsible for its individual duty for the overall function of its whole being, so should we view each of our roles in this given life, whatever our paradigm, as platforms for the unification and cooperation of our fellow brothers and sisters. Humanity seems to have lost its touch when it comes to its relationships that bind the authoritarian institutions of society, the community and the individual; though all separate entities, all undeniably interconnected at large.
Then how must we begin the subject of the world and its current state? How do we reopen our hearts, minds and ears to the clamor of events happening everyday, especially after being so desensitized by the overwhelming negative news we are being bombarded with? How do we approach the matter and critically think of a resolve? Just what can we do on an individual level and a communal level to bring about awareness and maybe even change? Well as it has been famously stated, change begins from within, right?
So then, as we discuss the matter amongst our grown-up selves, but more importantly with our children, we must first remember to change our heart’s views if there exist prejudice of any kind: ethnicity, class, religious denominations, gender or race. We cannot foster any sort of change if we still harbor prejudice of any nature. Take some time to reflect on your personal prejudices, and believe me, you will find one or more lingering about your sea of thoughts. Some are so subtle you would never think they were biases on your part due to force of habit. I was pretty shocked to find some of my own, but ahhh AWiB, with all its RTDs, personal development motivations and forced self-reflective interactions, sure enough I found me some. And so the lesson and awareness began, from within.
Be mindful of your actions and watch your words when engaged in sensitive matters involving religion, race, ethnicity and the like. Educate, educate, educate! Educate not just yourself but all those you can influence around you. We must advocate education on all levels because ignorance is truly the root cause of all prejudice. Don’t demean ignorant responses or answers, but instead use the opportunity to teach a fellow human the better way to approach the matter. Don’t dismiss negative retorts or outcomes either as you must use your awareness to stand for what is right, what is just and what is fair. And most of all, we must enforce the spirit of service to fellow human beings as that is humanity’s true disposition. Be in the spirit of giving, volunteer wherever possible, help out if you can and remember nothing is ever too small a good deed as long as it a good deed with pure intentions.
We can’t expect to change the world overnight, and we must not stress ourselves believing we’re expected to. All we really can do is change ourselves and then in living an exemplary lifestyle, hope that we will be able to influence others around us to do the same. So let’s try to think of the world as we do our bodies; as we need nutritious food and exercise to stay healthy so does the world’s citizens need positive words and reinforcement if we are to coexist and secure a better world for our children.
Here’s to our bodies, and to our world.