Do You Want to Make the World a Better Place?

There are so many ways to segment peoples of the world; by race, by income level, education, political view, genetics, and sociological traditions, whatever… For me, it comes down to core motivation by answering the question, “Do you want to make the world a better place?”

Do you want to make the world a better place

It’s not the end-all be-all qualification, but it’s an important part of establishing a person’s character.

Some of you might think this is a simple yes or no question, right? Well, it turns out its terribly complicated. I’ve always held to this tenet like the Holy Grail, because the idea is a driving force throughout my whole life. I often ask myself, “What can I do today – or in this moment – to make the world a better place?” even if only in some small way.

Having this particular mindset has me on the lookout for others who are motivated in the same way, because couldn’t we all impact the world in a massive way for raising love, understanding, consciousness or global peace if we could join together?

So, I routinely ask the question, “Do you want to make the world a better place?” A glowing 90 percent of people answer, “Yes.” Wa-hoo! I’ve found a soul-brother or soul-sister!

Then, to qualify we are sharing common ground, I ask, “What does that mean to you?”

This is where it all starts to fall apart. My joyous enthusiasm starts to wane, as they scrunch their nose, squint, tuck their chin and ask, “What?”

If they can provide me with an intellectually sound reply, I challenge them with, “What did you do today to make the world a better place?”

I am surprised how complicated such a simple question could be. The problem appears to be that we – all of us – have our own interpretation of the question, “Do you want to make the world a better place?” And if we are at all concerned about making the world a better place, each of us has a different idea about what that might look like.

Kind’a like my, “What would you do with 20 million dollars?” question.

It appears the question is misinterpreted or lost in translation, because when I ask someone, “Do you want to make the world a better place?” the question they answer is:

“Do you want everyone in the world to think, act, believe and be like you?”

Which (I’m disappointed to say) is not the question.

And I’m as guilty of it as anyone. When I ask the question, it is from my individual point of view. To me the question infers random acts of kindness, sharing love and compassion, personal, emotional and spiritual growth, tolerance for all peoples, responsible care and tending of our planet, and more along this trend of thought.

Even though from my perspective my inference was full of intention and clarity, the person to whom I had proposed the question possesses an entirely different perspective and agenda.

Even you; if you would like to see the world a better place, you might have a completely different idea, like:

(List of other ideas deleted prior to publishing, due to my own ignorance)

I am humbled and humiliated by this rant, now.

I found myself listing the myriad of ideas that others had answered the question with that were not congruent with my own and found myself in judgment. Ranting… (Where’s the tolerance in that?) participating in the problem myself.

I am the hypocrite, the problem. I am what’s wrong with the world.

Regrettably, those things I despise still reside within me… It is an ongoing process…

Forgive me.

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