Quote of the Day

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

I'm making this my first "Quote of the Day," because... Well, for two reasons... no, three. It's a quote that has always had A LOT of meaning to me.

First, it's quote that's always meant a lot to me, and for those who know me, I am constantly looking for and analyzing quotes. I mean, this one just makes perfect sense. Why WOULDN'T you be the change you want to see in the world? DUH!!! If you aren't, doing something about changing the things you want changed, and you're just complaining about it, doesn't that just make you a whiner? And NO ONE likes a whiner!!! Maybe this is one reason I really like President Obama.

Second of all, our world is going to "hell in a hand-basket", and everyone needs to start taking responsibility for it. DO YOUR PART, PEOPLE!!! Imagine how much easier it would be on EVERYONE if all the people who do NOTHING did their small part instead of sitting on their butts and complaining about what they wanted changed. Yes, I know I'm a radical thinker.


And finally, because I'm getting older, and it seems like that's the only way to get things done. I will be the first one to admit that I am not the biggest fan of working "for THE man", but in order to get the things you want, it has to be done. In addition, the best way to get someone to see YOUR WAY, is to show them. A very small example is accents. How many times have you traveled to a place, or known someone who has, where there's a very distinct accent in that area, and after just a short time, you or that person picks it up? I was in Calgary some years ago for a week before my friends met me there, and when I said something to one of them, not only did I shock her with my newly acquired "ehs" at the end of every sentence, rounded O's and strong emphasis on the ends of words, I scared myself. I thought I'd been captured by a Canadian alien. But, you can also see this happening with children. Have a wild a crazy kid spend some time with your child, and see how he/she behaves, and then have a very well mannered, well-behaved child spend the same amount of time with your child, or maybe do it in reverse order... just in case. You can never tell these days. But the point is that we influence people more by EXAMPLE than by just by "telling".

As a fourth reason, I want to ad that I think Janet stood for everything this quote says, and that alone is a good enough reason for me. Not that she and I ever discussed this quote, but this is how I saw her, and how I will remember her.