First and foremost, apologies to those of you who have been reading me here for being away for so long.Next, apologies again coz' I can't stay for long.Just an FYI this time:
For all of you out there who are waiting for a Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew or whoever it is you grew up idolizing, stop waiting. Wake up and BE who you are waiting for. The world out there does not have any Sherlock Holmes anymore. The world out there does not have Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincolns anymore. If you believe in these people you are one of the fewer people in the world. Even fewer are those who chose do something about all this in the course of their daily lives. I am going to start that change in my life , no more waiting for ideals to be put into actions by others. I am going to be my own Sherlock Holmes and may God be with me and all of you too who seek out to change any wrongs being done to them in any way in their lives, be it foreclosures, unjust employees, corrupt officials or any other matters.
Here is a quote I recently found in a book:
It's when we face for a moment the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know the taint in our own selves, that awe cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart.
In reading this latest contribution to Anu's wonderful, insightful blog, it brought to mind Bill Bradley's latest book "We Can All Do Better" whose title was inspired by Abraham Lincoln: "These pages were largely inspired by a passage in Lincoln's second State of the Union address, in which he said, "We can succeed only by concert. It is not 'Can any of us imagine better?' but 'Can we all do better?'" That is a question for us as a nation and for each of us individually." —Senator Bill Bradley
ReplyDeleteAnu is absolutely correct, we cannot expect OTHER people to save our country from financial ruin, give assistance to the less fortunate in our society, provide a society of brotherly love and tolerance, etc. Only when the individuals in the country act individually can we accomplish systemic changes.
On the other hand, it is through our knowledge and understanding of great men that preceded us that we gain the direction and strength to follow their path. We are not looking for others to walk the path, but we are looking for the path laid out by others to follow, and in so doing, become more purified, humbled, and loving humans. When we individually strive to achieve (and hopefully achieve) such a life, then collectively the world will be impacted.
I believe we stand on the shoulders of those who went before us in order for us to see further. So many great men/women have stood tall in character and soul so that when we stand on their shoulders we truly can see great distances. And, as Anu implies, it is up to us to move OURSELVES forward; we can not rely on others!