Beyond the Obvious

 I think that in many aspects what is being said is absolutely true. Without education there really is no future. How can we expect for children to stop turning themselves in to suicide bombers when we do now give them the chance to become something greater than that. We have to break the stigma. It is like with anything else, you can fight it but you will never overcome it unless you understand the root of it. Problems are like weeds, you have to go beyond the surface if you want to eliminate them. In a sense I think that we take our education for granted because it has been given to us freely with no limitations. In other countries children have to fight for the privilege of attending school. Another issue that arises is the culture issue. In many Asian countries they have cultures in which women cannot attend school.  If we truly want to educate others then it is necessary for us to break down the barriers of culture. Once someone said “ignorance is violence”, if we want to achieve world peace then we must begin by breaking the stigma by educating others.  Violence is the result of misunderstanding, not having the capability to comprehend and assimilate the different thoughts and ideas of others. It is time that we, who are gifted and fortunate to have education, reach out to those who need it. There are countless of individuals who only dream of obtaining some education. It is within our grasp to give it to them. It seems like all the education we have received is ill wasted if we do not use it to enhance this world. The way I see it education is the key to defeating ignorance but you must still have the desire and resolution to do something great with it in order for you to help stop violence. It is worthless to have the knowledge if you are not willing to do something with it. It is not what you have but what you do with it that makes a difference. It is strange, but when you think about it you begin to realize that it all makes sense. If you put one and two together you might realize that without you knowing it you are really studying to help others. Most of the professions that we study for are those that involve helping others. Subconsciously we are trying to help, now it is time for us to do it consciously.

Purpose Driven Hope

It is hard not think of the sixties along with the hippies when talking about peace; however that is not truly my idea of peace. I do not think of it as all happiness, it is more as being calm in the middle of the storm. It’s when you are in harmony with your environment and life. Peace is when you understand your fears and are willing to confront them. Peace does not mean not having problems it just means that you do not rage on without finding solutions. It is when you have done everything that you wanted to do when you wanted to do it and there are no regrets. You don’t have to prove anything anymore and you are just left with this immense feeling of satisfaction. It’s like after you have a great meal, you did not eat in excess, but it was very satisfying and thus you are just content, nothing else matters at that moment but the simple feeling of satisfaction, of self-fulfillment. A lot of people strive to achieve this peaceful life when in reality its not of peace as a whole that we should worry about but those individual moment s when you are truly satisfied with your life and what your have done with it. It does not matter what others think of you or of your life style it is all about achieving that equilibrium of that moment. There is a small wonder, a small moment of happiness, in achieving that equilibrium that can make your entire day worth it. It’s like they say, it’s not the big things but the small ones that make life worth it. A small moment of peace and happiness can go a long way. It doesn’t mean we should stop pursuing world peace but it means that we have at least taken a step to being one step closer to that goal. It all comes down to the individual; if you are not in peace with yourself then you can not be at peace with anyone. There really isn’t a good picture when it comes to thinking about peace. It all becomes a lie. In some ways you could say that the media and politics have managed to give us a distorted version of what peace really is. They have forced us to think that it is about living carefree. However, reality is very different in that peace is differs for every individual. As for myself peace means having a well-rounded satisfying life, one in which we are all willing to give and to receive. It is a challenge if not impossible not to think of hippies when peace is mention, however if we dwell deeper than the surface the flaws of this ill-suited image become apparent. The reality of peace and be found beyond all that false sense of careless-happiness. You can not reach peace if you are too involved with yourself. Contrary to popular belief, that you have to think of yourself first, in this case thinking about someone else is managing your own well being. If you become self less there is a greater chance of you being able to achieve that peace that we all long for. And if we all achieve that level of peace is it not possible for world peace to finally be achieved?