Gandhi, the man who inspired human rights movements worldwide all by dramatically living the simple nonviolent life he preached, once said “you must be the change you want to see in this world”. We now see this quote everywhere; at churches, yoga centers, political rallies, on workshop flyers, and bumper stickers. But what does “be the change” mean? To be the change means to want, choose and commit your actions to do the right thing.

In order to do something, you have to want it. If you want something, you’ll endure all the struggles and pain that come with it. You are determined to reach your goal. A change can only happen if you want to see it happen, and the only a change could happen is if you put your effort into it. The quote “if it’s to be, it’s up to me”, explains to us that too many people think that others such as leaders are supposed to be the change. It’s obvious that nothing is going to happen without you. You can choose to make a change or not. To take action or just sit there. But you know, at the end of the day, the choice was and is yours.

Secondly, choosing is a decision. There are hundreds of students in the school that we don’t know. And maybe one of them is sick of everything. They can’t put up with life anymore. They don’t see the happiness. They don’t feel the love. But you could change that. If you see someone sitting alone at lunch, why not invite them to sit with your table? Everyone is talking about it, reading about it, thinking about it, but they are not doing it. They don’t understand that their actions will only happen by their choice. Gandhi said “whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it”. This quote encourages me to do the right thing no matter what. To me, this means that I won’t always get an award for every good deed I do, but I should do it just because it is the right thing to do. Our decisions need to be made there and then, and we have to commit our actions to create a change we want to see.

Next, committing is like a contract with yourself- to do whatever it takes to reach your goal. A commitment is the action step, the push to get you through the difficult times. No matter what you decide to do, you have to commit yourself to it. Even if it is inviting someone else to sit with you at lunch. When you see a person sitting alone at lunch, you want to make their experience at lunch positive. Therefore, you choose invite them to sit with you at lunch. But then all these thoughts come rushing into your head, and when you look around yourself, everyone seems to be glaring at you in a weird and awkward way. Just for a stupid reason like that, you decide not to invite the student to sit with you. That is why you need commitment. So you could tell yourself “this is what I want to see happen”. You will need to put all your effort and thought into making it happen, but you can do it. If you want it bad enough, you will not allow anyone to get into your way. That is what commitment means; to give all your effort and thought into making a change you want to see happen, take place.

Lastly, “to be the change you want to see in the world” means to notice what is happening around is us and to take powerful, solid steps towards constructing the life and world of our imaginations. Seeing the change you want to happen will take much of your effort of wanting, choosing, and committing your actions to stand for what is right.