An event, as defined by Wikipedia can refer to many things; one of these, under the heading of philosophy is a mental event, “a thought.” Thoughts, are my main motivations.

Years ago, it occurred to me that change would not happen unless I made it happen. I realize, this sounds narcissistic, but bear with me for a moment while I attempt explain myself.  I have strong personal beliefs, one of these beliefs is that perception is 9/10 of the truth, which means that in order for me to “see” things change; I have to make things change.

Upon realizing that I was single-handedly responsible for correcting wrongs all over the world, and creating rights wherever there was a need for one, I instantly felt two very distinct sensations. One of these was a huge pressure; with the weight of the world’s best interests on my shoulders, I had a lot of work ahead of me, and felt significant anxiety about it. The other sensation, was quite the opposite, as I had been suddenly promoted to a very important position, a position that not only allowed me to change things how I saw fit, but required it, and that, my fellow humans, was a greatly satisfying sensation!

With my new role as HR to the universe, I decided that the  first thing  I should do, was to develop a Mantra, a code to live by that was easy to understand, and covered all of the bases. My Mantra is as follows:

1. Do Good Stuff…You can tell what good stuff is, by the pleasant feeling you get while doing the stuff, or in contemplation of doing the stuff, or occasionally after the stuff has been done.
2. Don’t do bad stuff…you can tell what bad stuff is by the unpleasant feeling you get while doing the stuff or in contemplation of doing the stuff, or occasionally after doing the stuff (if feeling occurs after the stuff then, see number three)
3. If you make a mess, clean it up…This is both literal and figurative. Literal meaning: If you dirty a space, clean the space. Figurative meaning: if you find you have done bad stuff, you must first clean up the mess, then move forward. (If the mess is not yours and you see it, refer to number one.)

With these clear codes in mind, I set off to change the world. My first task was to gather as much information as I could about how the world interacted with itself, which proved to be a daunting task. I imagined myself as a sponge, soaking in the world around me, listening to everyone who would speak, and studying everything my eyes could find. I realized very quickly that humans, even in the same family, city, state, or country, do not always speak the same language, which confirmed my original belief that perception is 9/10 of the truth.

I observed, with ears, eyes and fully open being, that although, humans use many of the same words within a recognized language, they do not mean the same things to each person. My perception of spoken communication, is that its purpose is to convey one individuals meaning,( i.e., feeling, thought, knowledge, or experience and etc.)to another individual or group. With that observation and perception, I had collected one of many tools that I would use to change the world. I had discovered, that the point of conversation is that the other people knew what we were really saying, and not, as I commonly observed happening, that they simply believed that we knew what we were talking about.

I will digress for a moment to acknowledge that many authors in many fields have noted in writing very similar “ah-ha” moments to the ones I’m describing here, but I will also add, that at the time, I had not been exposed to their works.

What I took from my observation of communication in action is that I must listen to the language being used by every individual that I came into contact with, study it, understand what it meant to each person, then reflect it, when it was my turn to speak. When I say reflect, I do not mean copy, as that would have sounded artificial or mechanical, what I mean is, I had to learn their unique language, and speak it.

I found myself spending quite a bit of time quietly listening, as new languages can be difficult to understand, and all of the meanings I had already assigned to words, were no longer relevant.

Change had already begun in the world by the time I started speaking in my new role as HR to the universe. I found that when I spoke to an individual in his or her own language, it effectively eliminated the time it takes to earn an individual’s trust. I have since concluded, that the reason behind this is that in a world where few people speak your language, hearing your own language from another causes an instinctive bond with that person. 

 To be continued…