Thursday, June 16, 2011

Today I'm Going to Try to Change the World... Are You?

I had the good fortune of attending the Slave Lake Benefit Concert at the River Cree Casino last night.  Prior to finding out that it was going to coincide with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs... I was stoked (no, not really much of a hockey fan - just a bandwagon-jumper!).  After watching the first period at the local pub, Trent and I had to tear ourselves away to drive over to the casino. 

My indecision fell away almost as soon as the concert began.  As Johnny Reid - one of Canada's Country Superstars, took the stage I jumped out of my seat with the rest of the 2,000+ crowd to give him a standing ovation.  And then the music started... as the first chords of the song, 'Today I'm Going to Try to Change the World' filled the room, emotion flooded my body and tears began to spill onto my cheeks.  Caught off guard, I took my seat and attempted to calm myself down so that I could remain fully present and 'take it all in'. 



I first heard this song last summer as I was driving out to Nordegg and had a similar reaction... not quite as powerful but I could feel the same 'tug' on my spirit.  As soon as I arrived, I downloaded it onto my phone and was blasting it for my family, telling them that I had finally found my 'theme song'.

Here are the lyrics:

Today I'm gonna try and change the world
Gonna take it one day at a time
I've made my resolution
I've opened up my eyes
Today I'm gonna try and change the world


I'm gonna say hello to my neighbor
Greet him with a smile
Shake the hand of a stranger
Sit and talk to him for a while
Tell someone I love them
From the bottom of my heart
Today I'm gonna try to change the world


Gonna make sure my children
Know right from wrong
Never turn my back
On those who need someone
Always gonna try to see myself
Through another's eyes
Today I'm gonna try to change the world


Today I'm gonna try and change the world
Not for me, but for those I'll leave behind
I've made my resolution
Change it one day at time
Today I'm gonna try and change the world

Sounds simple right?  It really is.  I believe that everyone is a gift.  In fact, I make it my intention (and personal mission) to walk around in the world and have interactions with people.  As another one of the performers last night pointed out, you can literally be changed by an encounter with another person and likewise, you can change someone's life for the better as well.  In recent months, this has been a profound realization for me and living this philosophy has truly has brought positive changes and people into my life. 

I recently read that it only takes the square root of 1% of a population to affect the collective consciousness... that is only 100 people in a group of one million.  As we saw after last night's hockey game in Vancouver (I am referring to the disgraceful rioting that followed - boy am I glad that I chose the concert instead of that boring game!), this theory can work both ways.  As such, this is both reassuring and scary!  Think about it, as long as people have the attitude that 'it's not my problem', no change will ever come.  Instead, I would suggest that we switch our mentality and follow Ghandi's advice 'Be the change you wish to see in the world'. 

Change starts with you... and even small changes can have a huge impact.

Marebare

PS.  For all of you Canadians, the benefit concert was filmed by CBC and will be aired tonight... check it out!!!

2 comments:

  1. What a beautiful song! I had to go listen to it on YouTube. Here's to being the change.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have carried that Ghandi quote around with me since I first heard it during my first year of college in 1997. It really is that simple--good for you!---Jaimie Spence

    ReplyDelete