If we want change in the world we must start within ourselves, and this is my vow to the world.

As the world mourns and bleeds, I make a promise.

It will start with me.

Will you join me?

Today I will bring light to the darkness. No matter how dark it gets, I will remain a beacon of light and hope. Having lived in darkness for years, I appreciate the light too much to allow it to be put out.

I will remain friend to anyone who needs one, no matter what your views, or where you come from. I will be the love I wish to see.

I will meet frowns with a smile. I will shine through the rain. We wouldn’t have rainbows without the rain and I will serve as a reminder of that.

I meet sadness with joy, a hug, a smile, a cup of tea.

Into the hatred I will bring love. I will not meet hate with more hate. I will show tolerance when I am met with intolerance. When the intolerant yell, I will match it with calmness and compassion. I will not be dragged into the intolerance. We cannot change the world by fighting hate with hate. I will stop being the traffic that pollutes the world.

Where there is fear, I will bring understanding. We judge what we do not understand. And what we do not understand we often fear. I will spread knowledge and wisdom rather than sow the seeds of fear and ignorance.

To the lonely, I seek to be a friend, a comfort, a presence.

Where there is anger I will bring love and forgiveness. I will be an example of forgiveness to the world. I am no judge.

I will not judge the masses by the action of a few. I will meet each soul individually and with love and compassion. I will seek to understand my enemies, thus making them my friends.

I will not succumb to the will of others who would rain hate down upon our world. I will stand strong in the faith that love will prevail, and I will not be controlled by the few who would tear apart the world. I will not go quietly down the path of hatred and blame, I will boldly stand in my convictions of love.

I will send compassion and healing to all. To all of the pain that wants to drag me under and suffocate me, I will not let you. I will breathe you in and I will heal and cleanse you without my own divine light before I send you back to the world.

Where there are arguments and fighting, I will bring peace. I will not perpetuate the cycle of war and violence.

Instead of seeking to be loved, I will give love to the world.

Instead of seeking to be comforted I will offer comfort to the world. I will serve the world rather than myself.

I will live to listen rather than speak.

Where there is destruction I will aim to create.

I will not be driven to a life of hatred and intolerance by others. I will not believe everything I hear. I will educate myself and form my own opinions.

Where people are following blindly I will lead. I will be a vessel of faith in these times of doubt. I will stand strong where fear and hatred threaten to destroy us.

I will stop blaming and I will take responsibility for myself—thus manifesting the change I wish to see in the world.

To some, I may sound a fool, and that is okay. For I vow to understand others rather than be understood. I will show compassion where I do not understand.

As St Francis’s prayer says:

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I will allow the concepts and beliefs that no longer serve my intentions of peace to die, so I may live eternally in peace and love.

Let it start with me.

Relephant: 

The World is Falling Apart: What Can I Do?

Author: Lindsay Carricarte 

Editor: Renée Picard

Image: via the author