Be the Change

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I was powering through my to-do list this morning, watching the clock so I'd be on time for my afternoon appointments. As I skimmed my email to delete the junk, this Morning Offering quote stopped me cold.

"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world." (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

It's not that I haven't noticed this on my own. In fact, in my development classes, we discuss the importance of one-on-one time in child development and most of my students are as bothered as I am by the hand-them-a-cell-phone-to-keep-them-occupied style of parenting.

But this morning, the fact that I was rushing myself -- even as I read the quote -- brought me to a screeching halt.

Every day, we pay it forward. When the start to our day is quiet and relaxing, we feel ready to go about our day in a civilized fashion and, I believe, we're more likely to be considerate in our interactions with others. But when the start to our day is rough, we often pay that stress forward in every interaction that follows.

Mahatma Gandhi said,“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Perhaps the first change we need to make is to slow down -- to curtail the terrible rush and replace it, as much as we can, with a more mindful approach to our world. It's a lot to ask, especially some days, but for every moment that we succeed, we're offered a moment to connect with the world and the people around us in a more meaningful way. 

It can be hard to put aside the thing we're doing to focus on the person in front of us -- I struggle with this every day. My heart knows the value of the person, but my work has personal value to me as well, setting up a real struggle over where I want/need to be in that particular moment. Still, I can't imagine I'll ever regret stopping what I was doing to focus on another person. 

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When I worked as a school counselor and the nagging piles on my desk reminded me of my ever-burgeoning to-do list, I tried to live by the motto "people before paper." It's a start. And, if I couple that motto with a reminder to myself to slow down, perhaps I can move in the right direction at a more human pace.

I'd like very much to be a part of the peace in the world, no matter how small my contribution may be.