Practice what you preach

Today was Gandhi's birthday. Lots of messages flying quoting his most famous (perhaps) comment that "you must be the change you wish to see in the world."

I once read the story of where that line came from--I've no idea of its truth, but I don't think that matters. The story goes that a woman came to Gandhi one day with her son and asked Gandhi for his help in getting the boy to stop eating sweets. Gandhi gave her a date to return and sent them away with no explanation or advice. When she came back, Gandhi spoke to the boy and then to the mother, who asked him why he couldn't have had the conversation with her son at the first visit. Gandhi told her that he could not tell the boy to stop eating sweets until he, himself, had given them up. So he'd sent her away so he could do first what he was going to tell the boy he should do. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

We often hear it as "practice what you preach" and "walk the walk, not just talk the talk." My dad used to tell us when we were kids, "if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

I used to tell my students regarding the 'law of three' that the reason we watch our actions isn't because of some karmic threat. It's because we recognize that our behavior creates the world we live in. Certainly not singlehandedly, but in our collective action. If you want to live in a world full of creativity, be creative. If you aren't, then you are acting to create a world you don't want. Want to live in a world full of love and joy and respect and prosperity? Put your actions toward those things. Want to live in a world where everyone gets what they want materially? Go for what you want materially. Dollar trumps? Live for the almighty dollar.

You may not change the world overnight, but you'll be helping it along. And you won't be fighting your own desires to do it. Be the change you wish to see. It's the only way to create it.