Do you like where we are headed as a society? In this global setting with news broadcasted live as events unfold, we have an opportunity to evaluate the social conditions not as a bystander, but as an active participant, even when we are not directly impacted by the events.  If you don’t like the path we are on, have you thought about how you can change the direction of our society?

Do you question why only 1% of people hold 80% of the wealth and power? The fact is that most of the 1% was not born to wealth; they made it on their own. What makes them different? I propose that they learned early on how to focus and make good decisions. You may ask what the basic requirements for making good decisions are. Well, let’s first define what a “good decision” maybe.  I would define a “good decision” to be one that would produce the consequence that we are willing to bare in short or long term. The basic elements required for making good decision are: ability to tame ego, manage emotions, take mistakes as learning opportunities instead of failure, set goals that we intend to achieve, and focus. Those that change the course of their lives, or better said, those that write their own destiny share these basic skills.

Untamed ego and reacting to emotionally charged experiences tend to distract us from what matters most, therefore, would lead us to making rash decisions that may cost us time, money, relationships, and success. Not setting goals and lacking conviction to achieve them is distractive as well and would make us jump from one idea to another frequently, therefore, none of the ideas will have time to come to fruition and we are left disappointed, discouraged, and face loss of confidence as we don’t reap the rewards of our efforts due to fragmentation.

Consider that we can change the social conditions and move away from   violence, crime, poverty, and psychotic breakdown that cause people to go off the deep end. Then the question is what are we willing to give up to change the path? Are we as a society teaching our young ones how to make decisions, how to live a fulfilled life and be a healthy, productive individual?  Our children today are the leaders tomorrow, leaders in their own lives, communities, organizations, and the society as a whole. In short, are we dealing with so many disturbing events that are senseless because as a society we have lost site that we all are responsible for tomorrow’s leaders?

Most of us have an opportunity to touch other’s lives as we engage with them as friends, colleagues, or employees. Do we take the time to think how we can be a leader in any given relationship? Provoke thoughts, help individuals grow? My last question is as you individually go through this journey we call life so you have the intention to grow your inner being?

The most gratifying experience for me and those around me has been when we have had an experience that we clearly identify to be a growth opportunity. But in order to do so we must be present each and every moment, be willing to be active participant, and allow ourselves to fully internalize the experience and learn a lesson, instead of letting the emotions attached to the experience to shape us.

Shohreh