I’ve come to believe that there are words everyone knows the meaning of—but many people subconsciously reject what they truly mean.
Before you read further, I want you to drop your self-bias for just a few minutes. Otherwise, your mind will automatically make you believe this applies only to others, not to you.
I read something in a book some time ago, and one line stuck with me. Someone asked the author, “What is the meaning of life?” The author gave a detailed answer, but at the end, he said:
“Every day you wake up, try your best to bring a little more heaven and a little less hell to the world.”
I’ve never forgotten that line. Every day, I try to keep it in mind when deciding what actions to take.
It’s easy to say, “Of course, I can do that,” but take a minute and honestly ask yourself: Are you?
I believe a good society is the result of individuals making small efforts each day—not just grand efforts by the rich or the politicians.
If you open a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle, just a few pieces alone can’t complete it. The full puzzle only comes together when every piece is in place. It’s the same with people.
You are one of the pieces needed to build a better society. Your society.
Every small action you take contributes to making your society better—or worse.
How many times have you seen people lying to get ahead in a simple queue?
How many times have you seen people offering or accepting bribes?
How many times have you seen people lie to receive something meant for charity—something that someone else truly needed?
And more importantly: How many times have you done any of those?
This is where we get lost.
We point fingers and talk about how immoral others are, but we rarely pause to examine the times we have done similar things—and how we can change to make our society better.
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned certain words we often subconsciously reject. One of those words is “honesty.”
Specifically, being honest with ourselves.
If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we would call ourselves out anytime we criticize someone for doing something we would have done in their place.
If we’re honest with ourselves, maybe there wouldn’t be so much corruption.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we would try—every day—to bring a little more heaven and a little less hell to the world.
Cheers🥂
