Everybody is talking about change.... wanting change. Yes, the general perception is that we need change in every area of our lives.............. government, politics, public and private endeavors in business - banking - finance and in every industry meant to promote the country. Systems need changing and the people who run or operate it need some attitude revamping. too..
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Just an observation but I've been here long enough to see that we are a people of contrasts and contradictions. More often than not we don't really walk our talk. Or maybe that's a human frailty.
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When we speak of change, we think that it's the other guy who needs to do that (an external process rather than an internal one outside the self) ----- the government officials... the inefficiencies of public and private services... the system of governance... the policies in place which we perceive are no long relevant to the changing times... the institutions perceived to be corrupt... the foreign ideologies allowed to encroach into our territory... those and perhaps even more contribute to the mess we find our country and ourselves in. We point our finger to these reasons or causes.
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Honestly... that's only half of the story.
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Do you know what the other half is all about? Try these.........
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--- not crossing on assigned pedestrian lanes
--- not following traffic rules and regulations
--- 'tanim-bala' at the airport
--- throwing candy wrappers, receipts, cigarette butts, empty coke cans and water bottles on sidewalks and streets
--- sweeping dry leaves, twigs, plastic bags, trash into street gutters in our neighborhoods and communities
--- using dishonest weighing scales at the market place
--- overcharging goods and services
--- cruelty to animals i.e. abandoning them in their old age or when sick, hurt or wounded
--- not coming to the rescue or looking the other way when somebody is being victimized by thieves or robbers on the streets
--- vandalizing public and private property
--- unnecessarily cutting down of trees and polluting rivers, streams, seas with trash
--- kung may nangungutong na pulis.... meron ding nangsusuhol na civilian
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--- and so much more. You know it; we all know it. It's the little sometimes unnoticed and oftentimes taken for granted things being done in daily lives on the ground, visible and invisible, which show the character of a person, community, city, nation or country.
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Change can be pushed by a leadership but it will take its roots from the people. If they want it too..... hurray! If they don't...... then it's back to square one... again!
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That's our story. I don't care if other countries have the same story, too; that's their problem. This is ours... our story, our problem.
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Donald Miller says...... "Change the world around you by LIVING A BETTER STORY." --- That, I believe, is now our challenge. To create a better story for our individual lives and for our people and our country.
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God bless you.... our people.... our country.... the world.
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(Big thanks to the internet for these inspiring images.)
