Be The Change You Want To See

Leon Haynes
Mar 10
3 min read

We all want the world to change. We all want things to be different, better. We all want people to be kinder, helpful, loving, patient, generous, understanding and so much more.

Spelling out the word change. — Being the change.

Now, all of those things are not impossible, but like every vision or dream, it has to start with someone, and at first, that is usually the person WITH the dream or vision, then others will usually follow.

Let’s explore why, in order for things to change, you have got to change, you literally need to be the change you want to see…

#1 - The Matrix Analogy

Bending spoons.

As well as music, I love movies and this quote reminds me of a scene from one of my favourite films which is called, ‘The Matrix’.

In the scene, we see the main protagonist, a character called ‘Neo’, entering a room in an apartment building and in this room we see some young people, gifted, young people.

Amongst them is a boy who appears to be bending spoons. Neo approaches this boy to get a closer look and then asks if he could try. Neo proceeds to hold the spoon and stare at it in order to attempt to replicate this ‘spoon bending’ exercise that the boy was doing.

The boy, then utters the following, “do not try to bend the spoon, that is impossible, instead, try to realise the truth.” Neo asks, “what truth”, to which the boy responds, “there is no spoon, then you will see that it is not the spoon that bends, only you”.

#2 - The Mirror Image

The man in the mirror.

Another famous pop star by the name of Michael Jackson (RIP) also made reference to something similar in one of his songs called ‘Man in the Mirror’, where he sings, “if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change”.

"... if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself..."

This is essentially at the heart of what being the change is all about, not asking of others what you’re not prepared to do or be yourself, setting an example and taking the first step to lead the way.

Summary

In life and society, there are many areas where a lack of diversity in thought, background (ethnicity and class) and gender can limit the opportunities for us to be able to better understand people who are different to us, it can also be detrimental to the masses – especially if that lack of diversity exists in Government.

If change was as simple as just telling people what the problem is and then getting them to change, the world would be a very different place for all of us, cleaner streets, world peace, abundance of love, no infidelity and so on.

That being said, here are some key takeaways I believe this quote can inspire in all of us:

If you’re not part of the cure, you’re part of the disease and if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Choose your thoughts, words and actions wisely.

For things to change, something has to change and even if you can’t change the things you see, you can still change the way you see those things and ultimately, your actions as a result.