We often make rash decisions or come to drastic conclusions when we see or hear the truth.  Whether in our relationships, in our neighborhoods or on the job, when we hear something that is  far from what we initially believed to be reality it causes most of us to go into a state of disbelief and even anger.  Chapter (or Day) 4 in “30 Days To Taming Your Tongue” is titled The Hasty Tongue.  I read this book a year or so ago and had to go back and re-read this chapter again.

Stop, think, and pray before you speak. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. James 1:19 KJV

How could I make such a rash decision without first discussing this with my immediate family?  Being a father for the first time has opened my eyes to a great deal of things.  I think differently.  I drive differently.  I sleep differently.  I walk and talk differently.  Life isn’t just about ME anymore.  I have other people in my life that depend on me now.  I have more responsibility now more than every before. 

So how on earth could I expect to just pick up a leave just because I was unhappy with it?  How could I not practice what I preach?  I am always saying “if you don’t like something, change it.”  It’s practically the meaning of the name of this blog!  When I saw Al Gore crying when he heard Will.I.Am singing a song he wrote called “Take Our Planet Back”  it nearly drove me to tears.  So if Al Gore could at one point sat in one of the highest seats of US Government and witnessed what is going on in today’s economy and environment and made an effort to influence change instead of influencing abandonment, why can’t I?  President Obama said, “we must be the change we want to see in the world.”  I don’t see any reason why things can’t change.  Look at how far we’ve come already?  Can you imagine life without a telephone? A computer? A car?  These are all things that were produced to improve our quality of life.  There’s no reason to believe that we are going to continue to go backwards as a society or as a people or even as a human race.  If you’re reading this it is only proof that we can change anything we want to because the very instrument you are using to view this blog was not in existance 50 years ago.

So what can you do you ask?  Well, you can start by getting invloved in a cause.  Do some volunteer work.  Join a activist group.  Do something that does not come with a paycheck but with a sense of pride that you did it for you, the people around you and the people that will be here after you.  If enough of us do this we will enhance the lives of those that will come after us, just as those that came before us have done for you and I today.

Here is a short list of some of the organizations I am invloved with.  Maybe this will give you some ideas.

American Diabetes Association

We Can Solve It

Progressive Future

NBA Cares

Make-A-Wish Foundation

All Children’s Hospital

United Negro College Fund

NAACP

The Venus Project

The ONE Campaign

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.