Relationships are limiting and other stuff

Somehow, in the age where for the first time in the humankind history people could finally live whatever life they wish for, we've globally decided to deprive ourselves of all the joys and excitment in exchange for a daily routine most of us despise. It keeps on astonishing me day in day out but there's only so many "But it's only up to you to change it!" I can offer.

 *      *     *      *      * 

A couple of months back I met this incredibly positive girl Maggie, a Pole who's lived in Denmark for many years now, and she told me a very wise thing (well, she shared a lot of those, but that's the one I need today), which I'll paraphrase for you - Magda, when I was younger (and she is 3 or 4 years my junior... ekhm) I used to do that as well - use so much energy to try and convince people around me that they had to power to be happier. I'd talk, be excited, give them all the energy I could muster but you know what? Most of the time it would leave them stuck in the same old, whereas I'd be out of energy and would have none left for myself. Everyone's at a different stage and have their own pace, give them the time they need and let them come to you.

Already then I was planning to launch a couple of projects that would be about something more and bigger than myself, as it has mostly been till now. To tell you the truth, I think that's why I've been writing less and less, not publishing so many photos on the other blog - I've grown enough to realise that what I do is not all that meaningful to anybody else and even if it were, as I know people respond to me and my adventures, I don't reach out to as many as I think I could. Many factors contribute to the fact: I'm not "out there" in the virtual world, I do close to no publicity for my blogs, I don't write in Polish (and I think our market needs all the inspiration it can get, especially if one wants to get through to the average Joe, who won't necessarily speak English), the websites themselves are not too userfriendly or interesting yadda yadda yadda.

I didn't use to understand people who'd talk about how they truly want to help others change their lives, it sounded so cliche to me, but now I'm pretty much one of the bunch. These days, I see people look at me the way I used to look at others, whose ranks I trust I've now joined. To end this part of blabbing, let me just tell you that the blog and my writing will be moving onto a different virtual location in the following months and I wholeheartedly believe I'll be able to make better use of my time, energy, the amount of words typed and pictures published.

*      *     *      *      * 

However, going back to the title at hand, I wanted to share a reflection that's been coming back to me the last couple of years, whenever my relationship status was discussed. Namely, when I'd say I like being in a relationship more than being single, people would tell me something along the lines of: Well, but then you couldn't travel so much and you wouldn't be able to have all those experiences and adventures! I honesty never understood why anyone would believe that. 

When I was younger I had a long time boyfriend with whom we were planning some serious world travelling but somehow after a while all I'd hear from him in relation to those grant plans were excuses as to why we'd have to wait another year. At one point in time, we were about to break up the first day we meet personally anyways (I was living in Belgium and he was back in Poland), so one day I decided I'd had enough of waiting and booked my first solo flights, to Madrid and Mallorca. What followed later was a period of intense and, almost exclusively, solo travel. For a long time while in the relationship, I'd hold a grudge against my ex for leading me to believe we'd travel together and not following up on that promise. I used to tell him and myself alike that he was stopping me from setting off and I think it's safe to say it was one of the main reasons that we started drifting apart. Now that I'm smarter, I know he wasn't stopping me from doing anything, I was great at it all by myself. Now that I'm smarter, I know that I should have left on the trips I was dreaming about by myself and it did not in any way have to stay in contradiction to us being together. But back then, I wasn't that smart. So we drifted apart and eventually split up.

I know that for a lot of people coming out from a relatioship feels like regaining their freedom but then it just means that they weren't in a good relationship to begin with, doesn't it? Surely, you wouldn't want to tie yourself to a person who in return ties you down, would you? Or maybe it's not that that person ties us down as much as the neediness we've been taught comes with a relationship? The need to always be together, the need to share all hobbies, the need to do everything together. It's tiring to even think about all those "needs" we empose on those delicate human relations, let alone the process of executing them. 

So when you feel you're being limited by your relationship, stop. Look at yourself, at your partner, at how and what you communicate and re-evaluate. It's either your attitude or not the right partner at the time. We all grow and constantly change, even though we might not realize it. Every book you read, every person you meet, every meal you eat - all of them influence us in one way or another. Luckily, sometimes we manage to grow in the same direction our partners do, which makes for lasting relationships. Sometimes, we find each other only in a given place and for a given time to experience just a part of our life journeys together. Both cases will bring to our lives as much as we allow them to.

Coming back to the "you couldn't travel part" - why the heck not?

Here, to back up my words in the most valid way I could find, I would cordially invite you to visit this website and read all about how a relationship can be the base for a most rewarding and aventurous life.

The appaling things we do to our planet

One of the jobs I've been doing lately is translating for an Australian company that runs rainforest conservation projects. I translated all the needed legals, the company mission statement etc. so I already knew more about how badly we need to start changing our carbon footprint but still, nothing hit base quite as hard as the statistics I've recently finished translating.

*     *     *     *     *

Did you know, that:

* 55% of the world's largest rainforest stands to be severely damaged from agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching over the next 22 years?

* 2000 trees, or the equivalent of 7 football fields, are being cut down every minute in the Amazon rainforest?

* only 4% of original forests in the United States remain, the rest are gone?

* the length of time carbon dioxide stays in the earth's atmosphere before it is absorbed into carbon sinks is between 50 and 200 years?

* in The United States, cars and trucks emit 314 metric tonnes of CO2 every year, and that is the equivalent to burning as much coal as would fit in an over 80 000 kilometres long train?

* an average tree absorbs about 20 kilograms of Carbon Dioxide per year. The average person produces 7 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year?

* in 2008 the arctic seasonal sea ice melt outpaced normal levels by 34% and there has been a 70% increase in the rate of Greenland's ice melt over the last five years?

* on average, the 140 million cars in The United States are estimated to travel over 6.4 billion kilometres in a day, and according to the Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of gasoline doing it?

* the consumption of oil in the United States and Canada alone is said to be close to 11 litres per person, per day. In other countries that are part of the OECD, the consumption of oil is 5.2 litres per person, per day. In other nations that are not part of the OECD, the consumption is as little as 0.76 litres per person per day?

* in 2007 $1.6 billion of jet fuel was burned by planes waiting in line to take off at airports?

* 1% of Australia's untapped geothermal power potential could provide enough energy to last 26,000 years?

* citizens in the United States spend $25 billion a year on lawn care. Residential lawns and gardens are doused with 80 million pounds of chemical pesticides and 70 million tonnes of fertilizers annually?

* only 1% of China's 560 million city residents breathe air that is considered safe by the European Union. Cancer is now becoming China's leading cause of death?

* very few oil spills are ever officially reported. On average there are 27 oil spills every day somewhere in the oceans of the world?

* with current human population growth and global warming, the world is going to be fighting over drinkable water supplies by mid-century?  

* by the time you finish reading this sentence, more than 50 000 aluminum cans are made in The United States?

* in The United States they throw away enough aluminium cans to rebuild their entire commercial air fleet every three months?

* the US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 per cent of which will never be recycled?

* about 1% of U.S. landfill space is devoted entirely to disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose?

* for every single garbage bin that you take outside on garbage day, 70 equivalent cans of garbage were produced by all the various manufacturing processes that created the bin in the first place?

* if the entire world lived like the average American citizen, we'd need 5 planets to provide enough resources?

* cigarette manufacturing uses almost 6.5 kilometres of paper just for rolling and packaging cigarettes? That is one tree for every 300 cigarettes produced.

* there's a swirling vortex of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean, which covers an area twice the size of the continental U.S. and is believed to hold almost 100 million tonnes of garbage?

* with the current levels of rainforest destruction many local species are going extinct at a rate of 100 species per day?

If you're one of them skeptics but with an open mind, a recource you might wanna check - Skeptical Science.

*     *      *      *       *

As for me, I can already see a change in my behaviour when it comes to consuming some of the goods. More about that in one of the following blogs though, together with a couple of real simple pointers about what we can do that will slightly change how we live and mightly change the impact of our lives on the planet.

Why isn't there ever an "enough"?

Do you ever feel satisfied nowadays?

I know plenty of people who make the best use of time they possibly could - working, having fun, doing hobbies, socialising, achieving - and yet they always feel they should be doing more. I'm one of those people. 

We feel we should learn more, do more, plan more, be more. 

More, more, more. 

Where does it stop, and does it ever?

*     *     *     *     *

I realise we all need progress and progress comes from wanting, needing or imagining something more than what already is but is it really necessary to always be in the pursuit of MORE?

Many folks who travel to the poorer regions of this world come back saying how incredible it is that people in there are happy in spite of not having a lot. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my opinion it's not in spite of, it's because - people are happy because they don't have a lot. 

They're happy if they have a place to sleep and live, something to eat and feed their loved ones with, relationships with friends and neighbours, all of which brings them a peacefulness that the 'Western' mind and soul rarely experience. 

Why? 

Because they have what they need and that's enough.

In our quest for more, have we maybe forgotten what enough feels like? 

Failure now equals success later?

Up until not so long ago I used to think that everywhere around the world people were taught that failure was unacceptable and had to be avoided at all cost. Naturally then, I was pretty happy with myself for not having, basically ever, failed at anything remotely important.

But then, back in my AIESEC days, I went to a short lecture given by Noam Kostucki  entitled something along the lines of "The success of failure". 

It was an eye-opener.

The lecture itself was a lot of fun, very educative and entertaining, but at the same time the conclusion I arrived at by the end of it was not so much fun. I realised never having failed was nothing to be proud of because it simply meant that I had never pushed myself enough, always played it safe and adapted my goals in such a way, that I'd always stay in my comfort zone. Sometimes almost crossing that fine line between the comfort zone and the whole universe outside of it, but never quite making the jump.

Recently, I've been talking to a couple of my (oh, so amazing!) friends about success, career, drive and ambition. I was saying how I felt I was lazy and didn't have the drive to pursue 'the real thing', always staying back and thus feeling underchallenged. They were saying how they wouldn't use the word 'lazy' in the same sentence they'd form to describe me. And so it got me thinking, once again, where does this discrepancy come from? How come they seem to take me as a motivated and driven person, and I see myself as a bit of slacker?

During the last couple of years, there's been basically one big mental block I'd had in my head but I decided I've had enough and started working on removing it. I was astonished to see that within a week of making the decision, I was on the best way to actually conquering it, let alone tackling the issue at hand. Let's see how things shape up in the following months but one thing's for sure - I'll have removed it before the end of the world. Whether I find great opportunities or just an end of one of the roads on the other side of that block - it doesn't really matter much. I'll still be the winner for having taken a shot at it.

One who fears failure limits his activities.
Failure is only the opportunity to more
intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford 

Falling prey to the worst excuse out there.

Came across this article a couple of days ago. 

Found some excuses I hear from people, which annoy the heck out of me at times, as well as some I tend to use myself. Can you find a bit of your attitude in it as well?

*     *     *     *     *

One of the excusses I hate most, is "I didn't have time/ I don't have time" 'cause it's a straight-out lie. We all have time, if it is possible to view it as something to be possesed, that is. However, these days I am tempted to speak those words in regard to posting anything, though I try to fight the urge as much as I can. Why would I ever not have time to write?

An example of a Magu's day

1:40    Come back home from a snack and a beer out with Nahum (who finally found his way back to Warsaw after 6 years of promising to do so!).

2:40     Manage to fall asleep (even though you had been dead tired for some time, somehow falling asleep poses a problem).

6:00      Wakey wakey - it's time to communte 45mins each way to my folks' place to feed the cat (no comment).

8:30       Meet up with Nahum at the train station and get a coffee before saying goodbye and his getting on a train to Berlin.

9:30      Go to an appointment at an aesthetic center.

10:00    At a big bookstore looking through magazines and creating a list needed for the PR agency I intern for.

11:00     An interview with a lovely Thai girl for my column.

12:10   A meeting with my editor about the possibility of my running another column.

13:00   Arrive at the PR agency and discuss a few projects.

14:45   A sandwich for lunch and a power nap of 30'.

17:00   Give the Caribbean Body Movement class (they used to call my class reggaeton but they were wrong to do so).

18:15   Walk towards the second dance school for the night while making business calls connected to the corporate events organising company I work for.

19:30   Leave myself (and a couple of students who happened to be there) breathless during a Zumba class.

20:30   More business talks and calls follow.

21:20   Bless Ania for bringing me delicious rice with home made pesto - at least I don't have to cook tonight!

22:00   Wish Ania a safe flight to Liverpool (where she'll charm some more people) and welcome Karolina and Adam.

22:30   Supposedly start translating a legal doc for the Australian company I work for, but just drop dead on the bed and not be able to move, instead.

So tempted to say I'm short of time...

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

Happy tears

You know those moments of bliss, serenity and sheer happiness that you don't care about where you're at, what's going on and what awaits, 'cause the whole world seems to have come together at the very same time to help you get whatever you need ?

New experiences just about to happen.

Most positive and hopeful messages from strangers and friends alike.

A cheerful, moving movie.

Prospects reaching out beyond what you thought tangible 3 days before.

A promise of Indian sweets in the mailbox.

That street guitar player killing one of your favourite songs, which you haven't heard in ages.

Bliss, serenity, hope, promise.

A tear.

Nothing to prove

Have you ever wondered what constitutes a 'good person'?

Ever thought about the mindset and qualities one needs to be a genuine, generous and helpful human being?

I know a couple of not only good, but actually great, amazing people and sometimes I wonder what gives them the strength and energy to have the attitude they have. Towards life, towards others.

What do you think?

One of the answers that came to me today was that they had nothing to prove to anyone, besides to themselves maybe. Makes sense?

Sweet dreams

Be it day or night dreaming. 

 All men dream: but not equally. 

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity:

but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. 

T.E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

New beginnings

A new week and a new month.

What better time for a little piece of advice and a little reminder at the same time?

All I'm missing is spending all my cash but honestly, I hope that day doesn't arrive just yet... 

How about you? Anything you could introduce to make your every new day a happier one?

*     *     *     *     *

Yesterday, as I was thinking about certain situations in my life, be it job related, guys related or friends related, I realised what's one of the major differences between a pessimist and an optimist.

It is a very simple thing and it definitely isn't anything that hasn't been said before but I'd never stopped to think about it until now.

Every decision, every action, every event - all of them are the ends of things as we know them.

Every decision, every action, every event - all of them are the beginnings of a future we have the chance to write.

Our attitude towards ends and beginnings can, and does, make a huge difference in our happiness. You can talk about the same situation or the same period of time and be either past or future oriented. Say "Feb is ending" or "March is about to begin". 

Usually, the first one would be said with a certain feeling of lost or regret even, it'd make you feel sentimental, look behind you.

The second one would most likely be said with a bit of excitment, a little thrill of the unknown, with hope that there are better things ahead of you.

How do you choose to see the turning points in your life?

Old ends or new beginnings?

"So when will you get a real job?"

Is a question I hate.

A question that makes me laugh.

A question that annoys me as hell.

And, unfortunately, one that I've been encountering many times over. 

Even from the people I thought would know better, from people I would expect more of...

*     *      *      *      *

Quite a while back, I came across a site everyobody looking for alternative ways 'to make it work' comes across - The Art of Non-Confirmity and joined Chris's newsletter. 

I regret to admit I rarely read those, usually storing them in a seperate folder "for later". Today in the morning read one of the first emails I got from him, "The Decision to Be Remarkable" where he describes his experience with the "real job" question. The timing couldn't be more perfect, seeing how I've recently resigned from a "real job" and am, yet again, bending my head backwards over the idea: what next?

Resigning wasn't a decision I made lightly and I'd discussed it with many people, shared my feelings and plans. What do you think, how many times did I hear: But when will you look for a new job? When will you get real?

*     *      *      *      *

Let me share with you what Chris thinks of it, as these are my exact thoughts (allowed myself to stress what I found most important):

Along the way I went back to school to do a graduate program in International Relations, and when I finished, a friend of a friend asked, "So now will you finally go and get a real job?"

Hmmm... It was kind of like they were asking, "Well, Chris, are you ready to grow up now?"
To be honest, my first thought of how to respond to that question was not very nice. I don't have anything against real jobs, but I also have no interest in following a path that I personally find unfulfilling.

Thankfully, turning 30 years old did bring about a certain maturity, even if the desire to be like everyone else has remained elusive. Instead of saying what I first thought, I just said, "Sorry to disappoint you - but I probably won't be getting the kind of job you'd like me to have any time soon."
In other words... "I will not meet those expectations."
(...)

The decision is deceptively simple: begin making your own choices, and stand out from many of the people around you. It's simple because that's really all there is to it -- think for yourself instead of following the crowd, then begin to take actions to align what you do with what you believe.
It's deceptive, however, because whenever you begin to do this, you'll encounter more than your share of opposition from people who want you to do things their way. Some of them will say your ideas or goals are unrealistic. I say, "life is short." Finding a way to do what we want while also helping others is the most important work we can do.

*     *     *     *      *

So, to answer just about everybody (myself included, as I, of course, doubt everything about me and my choices, like way too often):

I don't think I'll be getting a "real job" soon.

:)

Question

What do you go for:

a safe OK

or

a potential awsome / failure and hardship that will follow

?

Last of 2011

What to say?

It was a kick-ass year. 

Nothing more, nothing less.

And still the last days of 2011 brought surprises I wouldn't have expected and insanity that will continue in 2012...

I've been meaning to somehow sum it up but that will take a bit more time and a lot more writing.

However, as it is the last post of 2011, some wishes for 2012 are in order.

Here they go then: 

Do NOT complicate life. 

Take it as it comes. 

Do not force anything or anyone. 

Believe the path you're on is the right one. If you feel it's not, CHANGE it.

Love, laugh and let live.

That's what I wish to all and each one of you, myself included!

Dreams

I guess you already know I'm big on dreams.

Dreaming, 

making dreams reality, 

dreaming some more, 

encouraging others to dream 

and 

helping anyone and everyone we can to get closer to what they dream of.

I've recently heard from someone very close to me that they didn't have any dreams.

I don't believe that.

I refuse to believe that.

I do believe sometimes we can get so caught up with our professional/family lives that we belive our dreams impossible, however big or small they might be, to a point where we don't even consider those thoughts dreams any more. We see them as mere curiosities and never act on them. 

And it's the worst thing we can do.

That's why I love this initiative so much.

However, just dreaming won't do the trick.

You gotta want it and you gotta work for it. 

And if you do, you will find your end of the rainbow. 

Many ends. The more, the better!

So what are your dreams?

And what will you do next to make them happen?

Creativity

One of the things my friends seem to say about me most, is that I'm creative. I like to think that about myself as well.

A little something I bumped into today, which would seem to explain why it is so.

I do all 29!*

What are your ways to stay creative?

*Well, the coffee drinking part not so much but latte's not that bad ;)

What is happiness?

Going to sleep at night knowing that no alarm clock will go off in the morning.

Sleep tight friends! 

I know I will :)

The essence of travelling

3 short films.

3 minutes alltogether.

The essence of travelling.

Enjoy!

MOVE

LEARN

EAT

For your consideration

 Magu Bee might not have lived 30 years but she's somehow figuring out the same lessons.

It's a very good read, so go ahead folks!

30 Life Lessons From 30 Years

 

 

If

I've somehow had a hard 2 or 3 days lately, luckily am slowly coming back to life now.

Today I have found a graphic I loved and wanted to post it, so that all of you out there took a moment to step back and be grateful for what you have, just as I did. 

Maybe not a mighty original thing, definitely not anything you might not have seen or heard before. But still, it had quite an impact on me.

So smile and appreciate all the small wonders of this world 

and all the things you take for granted.

Changing the world

It's something that's been on my mind for quite a while now but it took me ages to actually sit down and write it down. Why I'm doing it today is probably because I've recently came back from a meeting with a Turkish CSer I spent the afternoon with and with whom I ended up talking about what I'm about to share with you.

.        .        .         .         .

What got me to put into words the feelings and notions I was having for quite some time was a very curious meeting I had in Spain, Frigiliana to be exact. My CS host at the time was an Englishman living in Spain, an anarchist and devoted nudist. He was very eager to share his knowledge and above else, his ideas about the world. He was also the first person to tell me about the Zeitgeist movement, today's Turkish CSer being the second. I still haven't watched the movies but will do it very soon (and probably share some more thoughts on the occasion).

The ideas and ideologies my English/Spanish host had might be simplest summed up as 'changing the world'. He was talking so much about it and about how the society and the system ruin our lives, that he really seemed like a man on a mission. At first I was very interested and impressed but later on took a bit of a different approach.  Let me tell you why.

.        .        .         .         .

First off, everyone keeps on saying how we need to go and change the world. Which world, may I ask?

I firmly believe there is no such thing as THE world. Or THE reality, for that matter. Just as I don't believe there's a thing we call objectivity. 

"If there's no such thing as THE world or THE reality, what is there?!", I hear you ask. Well, there's a sum of all worlds. There's the world of a millionaire living in a beautiful beachside mansion, whose reality is not at all similar to that of a fisherman living in a poor village somewhere in SEA, who in turn lives in a totally different world than a child in Iraq, who has to fight for his 11 year old life every minute of my life, which is led in a different world than the one my friends in Spain have.. Can you see my point?

So when I hear someone shout out: "We have to change the world!", I automatically ask him: "Which world would you like to change, sir?". And even if we decide we should be changing the world of the child, for example, how do we go about doing that? And what warranty do we have that if US troops back out, some other won't take their place? None. And so we get stuck in a cycle we cannot escape. Because instead of preventing something, we're trying to fix or replace it. Which is a fool's errand when huge money (and let's face it, what else is there to politics at this point?) is involved.

"So what do you propose, we should just let it be?" No. But I don't think big revolutionary ideas will change anything.

.        .        .         .         .

My host and I spent one evening talking about similar things. Him telling me that we have to get rid of all the money, destroy the system, leadership etc. I do agree that we could do without money, as there are enough goods produced to satisfy everyone, and it's the distribution or the lack thereof that causes misery and poverty, and might be better off without it. Destroying the system? Changing the system, yes. What good would come from destroying structures? We'd just make new ones. Get rid of leaders? How do you propose we get anything done on a bigger scale?

A bit of our dialogue (M=Magu, H=host):

H: There's a community in town A. They live like this. Without money, without leaders telling them what to do. Everyone's happy.

M: Ok, so what happens if there's a bigger project that needs to be undertaken? How do they make decisions?

H: Well, everyone sits in a circle, they have a stick they pass along and only the person with the stick has the right to speak. It's ideal! Everyone gets heard out. And then they vote.

M: Ok, and how many people are there?

(can't recall the exact number he quoted, let's assume he said something like:) 

H: 100

M: Ok. And how long does the decision making process take? What if there's a 1000, 5000 people in such a community? Let's say there's 6 billion of them. How big do you think that circle to be?

H: It doesn't matter how long it takes! Because like this everyone can speak up! And well, there would be many small communities that would communicate with each other.

M: Ok, and how would they be doing that?

H: There would be representatives.

M: Ok, and how is it different from what we have now?

H: Because the system is wrong! And there is money! And politicians are evil and only care about the money!

M: Ok, and how do we know it won't happen again? For every 20 people that will agree to have as much as the next person, there'll be one who'll decide he wants more. How do you prevent corruption?

H: You get rid of money!

And so we went back and forth like this - me understanding the concept and partially agreeing with it but seeing that "destroying the system" or 'simply' "getting rid of money" is no answer. Unless you have precise solutions to the problem, you'll just create a different version of it. Criticizing something without offering ways of making it better is pointless. And not worth anyone's time nor attention.

At that point my host must have decided I was against his believes and that I was arguing with him, because the discussion got a lot more heated.

.        .        .         .         .

I decided to share my take on the subject.

We make the system. 
If I change how I live, I change the system. 
'The system' is not an individual. Nor is it a constant being imposed on us by some almighty power, be it God or whatever else you believe in. We made it. And if it doesn't work or has some kind of a malfunction, we're the ones who'll have to move our asses and change it. No other way around it.

Change the world? No. Change MY world? Yes, please.

How? Be happy.

You might laugh and want to quit reading but let me take some more of your precious time and elaborate on the subject.

"Be happy" is the simplest and best advise we can, and most definitely, should follow. Where do all the crime, corruption, harm come from? 
From the unhappiness of those who indulge in them. 
From unsatisfaction. 
Depression. 
Frustration. 
Failure. 
Feeling helpless.

All of which are the total opposit of hapiness.

If you're happy, do you feel the need to lie? 
Steal? 
Harm others? 
Plot?

Didn't think so.

If you're happy, are you positive? 
Do you want to share that energy with others? 
Do you feel like helping them to make sure they're in such a state as well? Isn't life easier and more rewarding when you do what you love? 
Meet with those you like? 
Help those you are in power of helping?

Yup, yup, yup and a thousand times yup.

If you want to be selling flowers and studying ikebana, why do you spend your life doing accountancy - anything but? Do you have another life to later do what you love?

If you enjoy law and want to practice it in the future but are afraid you won't score well enough on your entry exams, why don't you spend more time learning instead of wasting your time settling for less?

"But you can't make a living out of it!", I hear so many people say. Yes, you can. If you like something, if it makes you happy, you do it. A lot. You get better at it. If you're good at something, there'll always be people willing to reward you for it. Who'll appreciate you.

And yet it's all twisted, in this world of ours. For everyone who wishes they were a florist and does something else in life, there'll be a florist who hates their job and wishes they could be doing finance, and I can imagine there are hundreds of finance specialists who'd prefer to be doing something else, like baking or selling properties. Or surfing, or a million other fascinating things we can decide to do with our time. And decide is the key word. Don't let others create your life for you! They have their own lifes to take care of and one life to manage is plenty work as it is.

H: But that's such an egoistic approach! 

M: I don't think it is. I do believe that if you're a happy person, you make others around you happy as well. You feed them with positive energy. Think of it in terms of bringing up children, for example. Can a frustrated and unhappy person be a devoted and loving parent? Teach a child to feel fulfilled in life, to reach for what they want? Be a good role model?

Telling a child "You can be happy in life" while being miserable yourself is sending out a most contradictory signal. And I think we all know actions speak more than words.

 How can we teach others something we don't know how to do ourselves?

Whom would you rather learn to start up a business from, an enterprenuer running his own company or an accademic who thinks he knows how to do it, cause he's read so many books on the subject? Maybe written a few himself..

And that brings me to why I started viewing my interlocutor in a not-so-impressed-after-all way. He was telling me all those grant world-changing ideas and yet spending his whole days watching lifechanging movies, smoking weed and doing yoga on the rooftop of his building. 

As I've said before - talking, even most interestingly and about the most important things, without actually taking any action is not worth all that much in my eyes.

.        .        .         .         .

So be happy! 

Change the world to suit YOU. 

Don't change yourself to suit someone else's image of this world.

Of course, it would take time the change things in the bigger picture. But every process takes time. That's something we cannot escape. How much time it takes, however, depends on our actions.

Please take a minute and visualise this for me:

Every person commiting to what they love. 
What brings them joy. 
What gives them satisfaction and fulfillment. 
(whatever that thing might be)

How does this world of ours look like then?

Do you like what you see?

Because I know I do.

"We have to change the world!"

So please, just follow your heart and be happy!