““Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”― Rumi
Usually, when I post a Quote, I like to wax poetical about it for at least my “blog minimum word count” of about 200 words. I talk about how I relate to the quote, or what feelings and ideas the quote awakens inside of me. Every once in a while, though, I come across a quote where I feel at a loss for words to type, because the quote itself is so beautiful and profound that it speaks volumes by itself, and it speaks them much better than I ever could. That’s how I feel about most quotes I discover from Rumi, and this one is no exception.
I think this bit of wisdom appeals to me exceptionally well now that I’ve truly embraced what makes me happy and taken the steps to achieve it for myself, rather than just waiting around for it to happen. We cannot change the world; the world is a massive force well beyond the reach of our abilities to mold and manipulate it. We can’t even change other people. The only thing we can effectively change is ourselves and how we see the world and interact with it. If you’re unhappy about something, you can’t change that which makes you unhappy. You can really only change how you interact with that which makes you unhappy (I suggest, if you can, just completely stop interacting with it altogether). It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but few things worth doing are easy.
There are still bits of this I’m working on. Even though I’ve made huge strides toward not stressing out about my part-time job, I’m still struggling to get into the midset of someone who’s just there to do her work and be friendly, rather than slipping into all the managerial stuff I used to be responsible for. I still constantly take responsibility for all sorts of things I shouldn’t, but I’m getting better at changing myself so that these things don’t catch up with my anymore. I’m putting my writing first and foremost, and that hasn’t been too difficult. I still have my moments, but, as a result of changing my perspective, I’ve been so much happier and productive and excited about the future. I’ve gone past thinking I’m clever; I have finally started to become wise.
L.S. Engler 