Did You Know You Could Make History Like Nelson Mandela?

Do you want to see change in your life? Do you want to become a celebrity? Do you want your life to have more meaning? Most people do. They want to live a high-class life. They want to see the world be a beautiful place. They want to see a clean environment, an end to pollution, poverty, injustice, suffering, racial, sexual and gender discrimination. They want to see an end to child abuse and unnecessary divorces. They want an end to HIV/AIDS. As a result, all sorts of people – celebrities like Michael Jackson and Bono, icons like Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Nobel prize winners like former US Vice President Al Gore have devised numerous tools such as songs, books, documentaries, rallies, websites and all kinds of messages to bring this to the attention of the public and authorities.

These have been methods used for centuries. The ability to mobilize communities towards a unified response has always been supreme. Moreover, those who have exhibited these abilities have emerged or been crowned as leaders. To a certain extent, history has recorded some positive references. Yet we continue to live with this evil under the sun. We continue to see history repeating itself. Which begs one to question - Does History repeat itself, or are we the history that refuses to change? Are we not the creators of our own fate?

I find it hard to separate our actions from universal events. Everything hinges on what we do with our lives. The technologies we invent like surgery, chemotherapy, airplanes, guns, Internet, ipad and smart phones. The life styles we choose. The food we eat. The houses we build and choose to live in. The values we embrace, and so forth. The way we think has everything to do with where we are – our family, careers or lack of it, religion, our net worth or income whether poor or rich. We even go further to create a middle-class, whatever this is. Thoughts are the roots of everything. Whatever exists in our realm of reality is what we have given birth to by our thoughts. Thoughts are ideas, images, or conversations. They are not blank spaces or fillers in our heads. Thoughts are things.

Our thoughts are creators of reality. You cannot separate yourself from your thoughts, but you can alter and replace your thoughts with your desired reality. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The heart is this context refers to the subconscious. Some people call this the soul or mind. The subconscious is the most important part of your life that determines your behavior. You don’t act because of your reasoning or logic. Your feelings are usually what motivate you. How you feel about something is what determines how you respond. Thoughts lead to feelings, which then lead to action. To give you a practical example, think of an event in which you were hurt. How angry you felt when you found out. Remember the words exchanged, and how you felt your world crushing. Close your eyes and go back in time, and try to do something different this time.

If you are like me, you can feel the anger building up, your heart beating faster than normal, your palms beginning to sweat or you might even have tears in your eyes. How do you think your reaction would be if the person showed up right now? Would you be genuinely smiling and excited? Or would you feel like throwing a punch or try to completely avoid them. On the other hand, would you easily dismiss it as history? The truth is, you are more likely to react negatively because of how you are feeling right now. Not so much, how you plan to react logically. Feelings determine our major actions. The same is true for positive feelings.

What then is the most effective method of instituting change?

Since our actions which are influenced by our feeling caused by our thoughts create our reality (real world), it is obvious that the most vital thing to do is to change our thoughts. Do not kid yourself. This is not an easy exercise, as we have to reprogram ourselves from centuries of erroneous teachings, beliefs, experiences and perceptions of reality. Change as much as it sounds appealing and we can sing about it, is unusual and that is why it is difficult to embrace.

However, with time, it becomes usual. Everything is unusual, until we get accustomed to it. What you need is courage and a resolve to be different. You need to identify those dis-empowering thoughts and embrace those that will stimulate your positive emotions. Focus on what you want to create (the ideal picture) and your mind will get to work replacing those negative elements with the positive supporting ones. The more you practice, the more dominant positive thoughts you have, the better you feel and the more positive your actions will be.

Beware, people by nature will deliberately choose to misunderstand you. They are afraid to lose their own base. This base is the foundation upon which they build their beliefs, before these beliefs begin to rule their lives. People will talk about change, but in reality won't follow through with it. Never be afraid of what people will think. Nelson Mandela stated “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” And as Tom Krause rightly puts it, “Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” Courage is not venturing into something you already know, you will easily win. There has to be a possibility of losing.

Therefore, we can draw examples from inspiring leaders that influenced change for generations. They spread their message by example, by living the life that they wanted to see in others. It is not easy, yet it is the most effective. The best way to change lives is to change yours. The only way we can change our outer reality is when we ourselves change from inside. Most people respond to the change they see, rather than the change they hear.

History will not repeat itself if we change the creator of history. Man has to change for history to change. It does not matter how small your steps are. Just start from anywhere and keep moving. “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win” - Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore, as a driver of influence, if you need to make a difference in the world, you need more than honking and rephrasing your message. BE THE CHANGE TO FOLLOW!