Thoughts

Well, it finally took me one bad day to learn something new, and learn an important lesson that I've unknowingly ignoring for the past few years: change in you doesn't necessarily change others.

In fact, while change is constant, you can't force change. It comes naturally to a person, whether he/she is open to it or not. Those who close themselves off from change will never be able to embrace it until they open their hearts.

So yes, I guess it never dawned on me till this day. Only now do I realize that the world can't change for you. Even if you did change yourself, people around you might not follow your example. They may be more inclined to stick with their guns rather than adapt to something new. They find comfort in what they've been doing for the rest of their life. So why should they even consider changing?

John Maxwell said before that, "A leader influences others by the level of his/her leadership." In hindsight, that's not necessarily true. Society must first choose to accept his/her leadership before they show their support. Obama made it through the elections mainly because he brought the US a new glimmer of hope in what is believed to be a bleak future for America after Bush's disastrous term(s) in office. His leadership can be said to be a breath of fresh air.

And that was enough to propel him to presidency. But now, he seems to be facing a tough hurdle to overcome after the US' massive debt crisis almost plunged the world into chaos.

It works in both ways, change: for you or against you.

But I digress, this isn't about change. It's about the realization that I've come to.

I've always believed that once you changed, then the others would see how it helped and make that change too. Even if they didn't, then perhaps they would change in some way or another - but ultimately, leads to their positive growth. But I guess I'm still naive. Honestly, if influencing people to change were this easy, the world won't be where it is now.

So, case closed? Not really. There's still a lot more for me to learn from this. I'll let you know if I find anything new.

Cheers all.