At 'World's Inspiring Personalities' seminar for people who alone inspired many and played a crucial role in directing the society towards a new path; I met a young girl from a small village of India. She was working for development of villages. She told me she was inspired for social work by many personalities from different edges of society.
"I conduct seminars for two purposes; first, it revives me with new energy and second, I may find more people getting inspired to think beyond selfishness, to become a 'change-maker' of society," she said. It also helps her in developing confidence as an independent young citizen.
India is home to one of the world’s largest and fastest growing youth population. Out of the whole population today, 54 percent of India’s population is below the age of 25. And 65% of people are less than 35 years. According to an estimate, by 2020, the average Indian will be 29 years old as compared to 37 in China, 45 in Western Europe and 49 in Japan. It means inspite of being the youngest country, we are not developing. The only reason for underdevelopment of India is the thinking of our youngsters. At the time when the youth is full of energy, she/he struggles to find job and bear family responsibilities. And when she/he gets out of it, they are down on energy and then we tell them to think about philosophy, to work towards betterment of society. Youth must flow like a river then only new paths can be unfolded. We describe our country as the youngest nation of the world in terms of number of youths we have in our population. But can a statistical definition define 'Youth'? Then, how youth can be defined? I found these lines written by Samuel Ullman describing Youth in a very mesmerizing way, in her diary which she presented me to have a look at it. He wrote:-
"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; a freshness of the deep springs of life."
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in an adult of 60 more than a child of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next. In the center of your heart and my heart it's as if there was a radio antenna; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from people and from the infinite, so long are you young."
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." And my full effort is in transplanting new eyes, new landscapes will be discovered itself. We are on the cusp of a fundamental change — a change in the thinking, every society needs to succeed in race of betterment. We are transitioning from a world of past to world of future, in which a small elite runs everything to a world and everyone needs to be a player. Don't take my word for it, look around you. I kept on listening her, a very prominence uttering. Her every word was questioning the ongoing orthodoxies and the same word were giving a new path towards the betterment. I have met so many critics in my life but this girl was unique, blessed with both criticizing capability as well as creativity.
I was in a state of no mind. She again started speaking, "you can find so many figure in past from every field who play the role of 'change maker', it doesn't need any specific quality." You can easily find a child or an old person, a man or women or a politician to musician as a 'change-maker' of this society. For example, Samantha Reed Smith and Hector Pieterson both were children but they were great 'change-maker.' Or you can take Joan of Arc, mother Teresa and Clara Barton, all were women but have brought drastic changes in society at their time. Let it be Abraham Lincoln as a politician or Henry Ford as an automaker, Ludwig Van Beethoven as a composer or Steve Jobs a recent example. None can skip from truth that all of us can prove ourselves as 'change-maker.' It cost nothing; It is only a great combination of observation, foresightedness and will-power. Anyone who has these three qualities can be a 'change-maker.'
It is not necessary to become all of sudden a social figure. You can be a change-maker in your friend circle, from there you can try to expand your area to social world or humanity whatever possible.
Flame up your ideas and creativity, and then try to solve the most demanding social challenges. Try to see things differently. Ask these questions to yourself as a challenge-
Are you innovative, creative, and resourceful?
Have you always given an effort to find, if there was a better way?
Use this line of a great 'change-maker' as an energy source- "You can't solve a problem on the same level on which it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level."
And now with all efforts possible,
Get yourself ready to be a 'change-maker.'
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