Isn't It Time? The Choice to Change is Yours

How long does it really take to make a decision to be at peace with yourself or your neighbor? How long does it take to recognize the futility of violence against those to whom we are connected? How long will it take for us to understand that peace is a decision we must first make within ourselves? Peace is not external, it is internal and it must start within each of us before it will ever spread to all of us!

Is humanity that egotistical that it cannot choose to see itself in each death that occurs by violence? Is a human life so cheap, so exhaustible a resource that we can afford to choose not to care when one soul dies at the hand of another?

How many atrocities must occur before we say we have had enough and we are not going to participate any longer in the killing? How many men, women and children will give up their lives or have them ruined forever before we commit to the process of peaceful coexistence?

Is what we want so important to us that we are willing to cause harm to another human being to obtain it? Seriously, have we become so mentally, emotionally and spiritually desensitized that virtually anything is okay, including exhausting our most valuable resources? Neither murder nor mayhem has solved a world problem without creating a new one to take its place.

I'm reminded of the old saying that "If you want what you've always gotten continue to do what you've always done. To get something new, you're going to have to do something different." Isn't time for a change?

It's nothing new, perhaps it's a part of the very fiber of the human condition. But it often seems as though there are those who will do anything for money or power. Question: So what does anything leave out? Answer: Nothing. Which is exactly what one would have in the end if they continued to follow this philosophy. The number of bankruptcies in the US is staggering yet there is always someone on the other end of that deal who is receiving a pecuniary gain with the same financial force as those who are pounded by the loss of their home. One man's floor is another man's ceiling?

What happens to the guy or gal who worked for 35 years, doing all the right things to develop a retirement only to have the pension fund be embezzled or the 401k riddled like a Superbowl ticket made into confetti?

I am not going to belabor this point as I know the majority of readers here are intelligent, caring individuals. I guess my question isn't really just "isn't it time" for a change of thinking; I guess the real question here is "isn't it time for a change in doing?"

I was told that "nothing happens before someone sells something." So, I am asking you who read this to answer the following questions:

• If this were the day that I breathed my last breath can I say that I am at peace with myself and with my neighbor?
  
• Can I say that my actions have been authentic enough to demonstrate and perpetuate peace?
  
• Have I refrained from egotistical and selfish dealings fostering discontent in my home, my family, my business or within my community? Or, can I say that every action I took was preceded by a momentary breath of consciousness long enough to include consideration for others?
  
• Can I say I replaced the thought of personal gain with the possibility of peaceful coexistence for the highest good of myself and the highest good of all concerned?
  
• If we cannot answer these questions in the positive then, "isn't it time" for a change?

As always, the choice is solely yours, but the consequence belongs to us all!