What is Our Role in Creating Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is Our Role in Creating Change - Essay Example The change has to first start from the self and then alone can we try to change people and things around us. Our role in creating change starts with the change within us. The mind works based on past experiences and knowledge. The mind is the most powerful agent and if the mind-set can be changed, change is smooth. However, human beings resist change because they fear the unknown. They would like to adhere to what has been the practice and are reluctant to adopt something better. Change within can occur only when we understand the benefits of change, when we have the ability or the knowledge to understand the benefits of change. This requires effective communication. We can bring change to the world through effective communication. Communication encompasses much more than simply talking. It requires the skill, it requires patience to listen. Listening enhances understanding between people; listening enables us to know one another; it helps extend compassion to those in need. Communic ation should not create rumors or lead to distortion of facts. Meg Wheatley emphasizes on simple honest conversation (pg. 3) where each individual has a chance to speak, the chance of being heard. Communication has the power to move the world, says Meg. This has been witnessed in social movements throughout history. A small group of committed people can change the world. This is evident in Poland’s powerful labor movement when solidarity that started with 9 people grew to 9 million (Wheatley, 2001). Also, an individual mother’s grief led to a national movement under the banner of Mothers Against Drunken Driving (MADD). Working in collaboration and cooperation creates a positive environment. Everyone involved in the work is at ease and gives his/her best. The mind is peaceful and a peaceful mind is creative. Meg draws upon the example of nature and explains how the system functions as one single unit even though it is comprised on so many different elements. Human being s too have the quality to work in harmony but we have somehow fallen off the track. Competition in every field has made people move at a fast pace so as not to be left behind. Meg believes that relationships are all there is (pg. 19). Competition against fellow beings only gives rise to unwanted emotions, feelings of ownership, jealousy and greed. Vitality comes from cooperation and not from competition, she says. An important aspect in change is to respect and acknowledge one another as equals (pg. 29). Traditions and cultures around the world have always promoted peace and harmony. Now that people around the world communicate and interact oftener due to advancements in communication and information technology, people are unable to adjust or be cooperative. We have to learn to understand diversity and the benefits of diversity. We gain diverse experiences which should make us richer and humbler and not arrogant. We should acknowledge diversity in people, in their culture, in their traditions and appreciate them instead of condemning them. Each individual has to take responsibility of the change in the self. We have allowed ourselves to drift like a piece of wood thrown in the water. We need to inculcate discipline. This does not mean to follow rules or abide by regulations. It is the discipline that should come from within and should not be imposed by an external source. Imposed discipline makes one feel suppressed and over time one does not give it any importance. However, discipline that is followed by one’s own self is always towards improvement, regulated and it needs no monitoring. Great changes starts from a small conversations held among people that care and people that are committed to the cause (Waltuck, 2010). Change in the