Light

In a poignant Christmas Day speech, Britain’s King Charles III said that ¨my mother’s belief in the power of that light was an essential part of her faith in God, but also her faith in people and it is one which I share with my whole heart. It is a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others, and to shine a light in the world around them. This is the essence of our community and the very foundation of our society”. 

The King’s speech led me to reflect that many of my articles often paint a dark picture of the times in which we live. They reflect my view of the current global reality. However, they may not reflect completely the reality of each our individual possibilities in life.

I think that we can all agree that a major fundamental global change is required – a revolution of the mentalities regarding how we view our roles in society and our ability to change things by changing our behavior and our reactions to events. 

All major religions and spiritual traditions speak of the light of goodness and the darkness of evil. 

I believe that we all have a degree of inner light within that provides us with hope and governs the degree to which we will allow darkness to govern us. Most spiritual paths and religions provide techniques with which to connect to this inner light.

While this sounds deep and illusive, it simply calls for us to realize that while we cannot control what is done to us, we can control our reactions. 

Our reactions are what can lead to well-being or stressors. Well-being is a condition that we can achieve through practice and willpower. Stress reduction can be a product of such exercises and can lead to greater happiness.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “be the change you want to see in the world”.

If each of us nurtures the light within, and we can create new positive spaces for ourselves and for others close to us, we can achieve a revolution of the mentalities and we can build the powerful force of hope. Communities can change their environment if we all put some positivity into our thinking and actions. And if many communities achieve this, the possibilities can be impressive.

These things do not happen overnight. Nor does positive thinking eliminate plagues like Covid or attacks like the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, we have seen how millions survived the pandemic despite its ravaging path by respecting others by keeping health standards, wearing masks, and vaccinating fully when vaccines became available.

Ukrainians have shown us how resilience under a strong and effective leader can help us cope with the ravages of war and stand up to the strongest of bullies, whether in our own neighborhood or globally.

Nelson Mandela once said, “may your decisions reflect your hopes but not your fears”.

Today’s populist politicians traffic in fear – our fear of others who are different in race, religion, economic or social status. Divisions of this type do not result in an improvement in anyone’s life other than those of the ruling populist class. 

Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism in all forms all foment hatred. We can all take small but meaningful steps to stem the tide by ensuring that our leadership choices reflect our positive values and that we exercise our right to choose wisely come election time.

If we choose leaders who espouse positive values and look to bring all together in a common endeavor, we can build better societies and be better neighbors. If we choose to lead ourselves in a positive direction, we can achieve change.

It is up to each one every one of us to decide whether we are going to be ruled by fear or hope. Whether we are to join a blind mob or use our own critical judgment to grow as individuals and create the numbers required to effect change in our communities and, by extension, our global environment.

John Lennon sang “you may think I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”!

And I say, dream, because the dreams of today can become the realities of tomorrow.

May your tomorrows improve in 2023 and beyond and may your dreams steer you right.

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Keep reading: The Year That Was

Edición: Laura Espejo