If I hadn’t written about ‘Tolerance’ last week, maybe I would have been writing about it today, given the appalling events in Manchester this week.
In NLP, we learn about Perceptual Positions i.e. seeing the world from another person’s perspective. I have tried so hard to do that this week:
What does our world look like for young people today? How does someone turn their back on their country? What drives someone to believe that taking any life is ‘right’ in their belief system, religion or culture?
I don’t know…I just don’t know.
So often, in situations like this, we look for someone to blame – the parents, the schooling, the religion, the environment, the culture, the politics, the regime…
And yet, we all live with these influences in our lives, to a greater or lesser degree. We don’t all become murderers, suicide bombers, thieves, fraudsters, rapists – the vast, and silent, majority of us just want to live our lives as best we can, contributing what we can, in our own way, to make the world a better place.
That silent majority was seen in the aftermath of the Manchester bombing – the selfless acts to help others, the gathering of all creeds and cultures at the vigil in Manchester following the attack, the outpouring of love and support for our fellow citizens.
So I guess my question is, how do we, the silent majority, ensure that we are seen and heard, not only when horrible situations occur but all the time? How do we step up and influence real and lasting change for the better? How do we stand together to create a beautiful, safe and free world for our children to inherit?
I wish I had some answers…then, perhaps, I wouldn’t feel quite so helpless when things like this happen. I do know that we, the silent majority, have to hold on to the belief that we can influence change, we can make a difference and we will.
Please, go out today and make a positive difference – to one person or to many – we will be seen.