Occupy Yourself

Don't worry, this blog is not about politics. If you want to talk about why I believe what I believe, feel free to e-mail me. If you want to argue, feel free to e-mail yourself. But the occupy protests have me thinking. What will be the America I come home to be like? What will it be like in 10 years? For my kids?

My democratic friends will say it will be bad because of the republicans. My republican friends (yes, I do have a few) will say it will be bad because of the democrats. But they are both wrong. It is already bad.

I can talk for hours on what I think on politics (and have many times before.) But politics isn't why America is in bad shape. And it isn't what is going to fix it. We are in a crisis because of us, and we are the only ones that can fix it.


You see the crisis is not political. It wasn't created in Washington, and it not anything new. It has been a long time coming. Washington simply is a focal point for us to watch it play out. But it is easier to blame Washington than it is to blame ourselves. But what people don't realize, it is easy to fix. I truly think it breaks down into two simple things. So what are these simple things?

The first is a desire to learn. In other posts, I have talked about not being afraid to fail, and to try to continue to better yourselves. That means actually taking the time to learn something new. But I don't think most people do that. Now, I will admit, watching the train wreck cast of the Jersey shore may be more entertaining than learning about federal monetary policy. But one of them is being manipulated (by both parties) in order to gain your vote. I'll let you guess which one.

The thing is learning is so simple. We have endless resources out there. The internet has put everything at our fingertips. But it has also put games, videos, porn, chat room, sports and basically everything else at our fingertips too. Guess what, you don't have to give those other things up. Since learning is a never ending activity (I plan to stop learning the day I die), a little bit of time each week adds up! Anyone can do it. I am living proof.

Studying text books and searching the internet is a great tool for learning, but sometimes can be daunting. Don't worry, there is an easier way. You just have to ask somebody. And that takes me to my second point.

Learn to learn from your fellow man. And hopefully, in turn, they learn to learn from you. Basically, this is all about the golden rule. We all know it, but we don't all practice it. How can we expect congress to behave and function when we barely can as a society. Think for a minute. When is the last time you saw someone treat another person negatively. A day? A week? I would be surprised if the answer is more than that. When is the last time you have treated someone negatively?

We have to break down these walls with each other. Just because someone is a Democrat does not mean they are a lazy hippy wanting a free ride. Just because someone is a Republican does not mean they are soulless and greedy. Yet, during political times, more often than not, these labels are used on people with different views. I have done it.

Have you ever asked someone why the believe what they believe instead of telling them they are wrong?

We are so quick to discredit our fellow man, so quick to discard their thoughts. But all we need to do is take a step back, RESPECT THEM, and start a dialog. Start talking about what makes us common, not what makes us different. Start talking about ways we can both succeed together, not ways we can't. Go out of your way to be nice, help someone else. Ask them why instead of telling them no. Maybe little kids have had it right all along.

I have brought up politics several times, but our problems are so much greater than that. Politics just simply takes our problems and shines a big spot light right on them. And the keys to fixing them are not very hard.

So I am putting a challenge out there to anyone that is reading this.

1. Commit to learning about something new every week. Take a topic outside of your current job, current life. There are so many resources out there that make it fun. Ted.com, thersa.org, the Kahn Academy. Or talk to a friend, or a stranger. Just make sure to ask why.

2. Commit to improving someones day every week. Go out of your way, talk to them, help a friend, help a stranger, don't yell at a service rep. What ever it is, take out one negative interaction with somebody, and replace it with one positive.

And when you master doing that once a week, try for twice, then three times, and so on.

If you think this is a good idea, please share it with someone else. Share my blog, make a Facebook post, challenge your friends to do better and be better, just do something. 

Ultimately, change doesn't start in Washington. There is no point in occupying Wall Street. It is time to occupy ourselves. Start the change within.

(Note: While this is was written with context going towards my American friends, the ideas are universal, and the challenge is global. Lets start to make this world a better place.)