There are two things in life that are constant – time and change. It is true. We live in change every day. Whether it is change in our lives or change in time, we live in these constants daily. Yesterday marked a change in history that will forever be remembered. Our 44Th President was sworn into office yesterday (twice actually) amid a crowd of more than 1.5 million people, the largest ever to witness a Presidential Inauguration at Capital Hill. Surprisingly enough, that was not the only piece of history that was written yesterday. January 20th, 2009 marked the day that America saw it’s first Black President take office. President Barack Obama took his oath and delivered an inspiring yet powerful Inaugural Address.
I watched the entire Inaugural Day Ceremonies until I wasn’t able to keep my eyes open anymore. What I took away from it was that the “Change” that President Obama campaigned on is not something that he can accomplish without me, you or everyone else in America. Since I listen to so much music, I tend to relate things that happen in my life to song lyrics. The one that comes to mind is “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” The verse after that says “… and let it begin with me.” Change cannot start at the top and magically trickle down to the masses unless the mass itself changes.
No matter what change may be TO YOU, it will always start WITH YOU. Barack Obama said “we are the Change that we seek.” Ghandi said “be the change that you want to see in the world.” It is that simple.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
The older I get the more I realize the greatest wisdom in life is always simple. If it’s a kinder world you want, YOU must be kinder. If it’s a happier world you wish to see, YOU must be happier. If it’s a more caring world you seek, YOU must be more caring. It falls right in line with the name of this blog, “life is what you make it.” If you are unhappy with the way your kid’s teacher talks to YOUR kid, go do something about it other than complaining to your friends and family and hoping that someone else will do something about it. You, no WE cannot sit by any longer any wait for the change we seek. We must BE that change.
I watched people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicity, political party, gender and economic diversity gathered in one place for one purpose yesterday. I saw teenagers alongside their grandparents, whites alongside blacks, wealthy alongside low and middle class. It was an inspiring image of hope for the future. We need to relish in this moment and build on it. This journey is going to be long and tough but not as tough if we are all in it together for the ultimate goal… Change. Start being that Change today, no not tomorrow. Not next week. Be that change right now.
