The Mission Statement That Changed The World

[SamIam]

Reposted from Steven R. Covey's Website here: http://www.stephencovey.com/blog/?p=14a
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Mahatma Gandhi. Let me read you his personal mission statement:

"Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
* I shall fear only God.
* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering."
- Mahatma Gandhi

I listened to Gandhi's grandson talk about his life. Her name was Arun Gandhi and this is some of what she said."Ironically, if it hadn't been for racism and prejudice, we may not have had a Gandhi. See, it was the challenge, the public need for the public victory that developed the private victory. He may have been just another successful lawyer who had made a lot of money. But, because of prejudice in South Africa, he was subjected to humiliation within a week of his arrival. He was thrown off a train because of the color of his skin. And it humiliated him so much that he sat on the platform of the station all night, wondering what he could do to gain justice. His first response was one of anger.         

He was so angry that he wanted eye for eye justice. He wanted to respond violently to the people that humiliated him. But he stopped himself, and said 'that's not right.' It was not going to bring him justice. It might make him feel good for the moment, but it wasn't going to get him any justice.

From that point onward, he developed the philosophy of non-violence and practiced it in his life, as well as in his search for justice in South Africa. He ended up staying in that country for 22 years. And then he went and led the movement of India. And that movement ended up with an independent country, something that no one would have ever envisioned."

And just think on this, he held no formal authority. No position. Most people think that leadership is a position. It isn't. Leadership is influence. The key to influence is what we're talking about. You can have influence without position. So don't be so dependent upon position or formal authority, but use your moral authority, what you know is right. Gandhi changed over three hundred million people using this. Today there are one billion people in India.

I love going to India. It's a tremendous place. And he achieved many significant goals, but he didn't achieve all of his goals. But eventually, it became an independent country with its own constitution and they could deal with their own problems, instead of having some steward oversee what they were doing and making judgments and setting up rules and regulations.

He's one of my favorite heroes.

But you know what he did? He learned synergy within himself. He learned to create a third alternative: non-violent action. He was not going to run away, and he wasn't going to fight. That's what animals do. They fight and they flight. That's what people often do, they fight or they flight, they run away. He worked it within himself until he won the private victory and learned the philosophy of his life. Non-violent action; a third alternative.

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I had a couple of thoughts on these I will share with you:

* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
* I shall fear only God. - I don't worship anyone or anything, god's, ideas, and governments included.
* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. - This can't be said enough. People do what they think it right and best. Change is not about being right, but creating greater understanding in others.
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering. - This is always foremost in my mind when dealing with bureaucrats. I often find them relying on "the law" or "proper procedures" rather than their own morality. By pointing out factualy what's happening, I can sometimes visibly see them begin to question their assumptions.  That is what it will take for true lasting change.

I hope you enjoyed the article, and I would love to hear your thoughts as they relate to the FSP.

SamIam

[TackleTheWorld]

* I shall not fear anyone on Earth. - As a result of complete frustration and giving up on life, I got this one.  Strangely enough, then the fun began.
* I shall fear only God. - Replace God with reality or forces of nature and I will accept that one.
* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. - Dada Orwell taught me about that one.  More effective for changing people's minds than attacking them.
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.- You wouldn't believe the good this one does for your self-esteem, dreams, health as well as connections with other people.
* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.- Oh, yeah.  Forget about conquering with arguments and systems and violence.  Truth is much easier to point out and stand behind and live by.


I studied and argued for liberty for decades, but I didn't live it until the FSP.    It's really fun, Try living your principles for a while!

[dalebert]

This is always foremost in my mind when dealing with bureaucrats. I often find them relying on "the law" or "proper procedures" rather than their own morality. By pointing out factualy what's happening, I can sometimes visibly see them begin to question their assumptions.  That is what it will take for true lasting change.

People are desperate for nice clear lines. They're standing on weak foundations and it's really scary to them when those foundations start to fall apart. That's why it's so hard to get through to them.

[Russell Kanning]

I agree SamIAm.

[David]

"Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
Difficult for me.  I am fearful of others.
* I shall fear only God.
Easy for me.  I believe strongly in a higher responsibility to others, Gods children, if you will.  It is easy for me to condem war, and other wrongs, because I see the individual, and I sense my responsibility to do what is right. 
* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
Difficult.  I have some trouble not bearing grudges.  I overeact, usually in an inward fashion to anger, or to some grievance I have. 
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
Working to get there. 
* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering."
Easier by the day.  I am passionate in my belief in justice for all. 
- Mahatma Gandhi

[J’raxis 270145]

Secularize the "I shall fear only God" as Lauren said, and I think they're very applicable to the FSP and aptly describe how a person ought to best live in freedom. As for myself:—

* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.

Working on that one. Anyone who's dedicated themselves to our liberty movement has certainly taken the first step here: no longer fearing, at least to some extent, what the government or its thugs can do to you.

* I shall fear only God.

The goal to work towards, I believe, is to have no fear per se, but to maintain a healthy respect for those things that can injure or destroy you and over which you have no control. (Where fear means an irrational, unthinking visceral reaction to something, and respect means that you have a thorough understanding of what something is capable of doing to you, and you'll take intelligent, educated steps to protect yourself against it.)

* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.

Mostly there on this one. On an intellectual level, I've said that the only things I believe that are condemnable are violations of the non-aggression principle, engaging in fraud, and engaging in the condemnation of other people for things other than violations of the preceding two things. Of course, saying something on an intellectual level and actually being able to live up to it are too different things, and that part I'm still working on...

* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.

No problem there. I used to think dealing with the small ones weren't worth the time, but not only does standing up to even the small ones make an important example, but if you know what you're doing, it can be quite fun, too.

* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.

That's pretty much what us liberty activists are here for.

[Ron Helwig]

I studied and argued for liberty for decades, but I didn't live it until the FSP.

That's a great line that should be used for marketing the FSP, IMHO.

[ReverendRyan]

Keep in mind he was only able to hold to that cause he didn't consider black people to be actual human beings.......

[Russell Kanning]

Keep in mind he was only able to hold to that cause he didn't consider black people to be actual human beings.......

having a nice day?

[ReverendRyan]

No, I'm just not into hero worship.

[kola]

who mentioned worshipping?