Ten Things I Hope The World Can Start To Realize In 2020 And Beyond.

I just spent Christmas day with all the people who matter most to me in my life, and it kind of got me thinking about the things that are important in this life.

Contrary to popular belief, life is amazingly short. I have been around for more than 70 years now and it just seems to have flown by. Lately, though, I have been watching the world and trying to assess and understand the direction in which it is heading.

I’m sure you will agree with me that the challenges we face are pretty substantial, and that somewhere, even if its in the back of your mind, you have to be thinking about how these challenges get met and solved.

If I knew for sure I would certainly let you know. But for now, many of us are living on hope. We all want to feel optimistic about our futures and the future of our families, not to mention this planet. It is, after all, the only one we’ve got so far, and it really does seem to have been designed expressly for us.

So, here then, is a list that I came up with of 10 things that I wish the people of the world would all start to understand better than many of them already do.

2. That wars fought and lives lost over religion are the sheerest form of human folly, because at their root, all religions are the same. The only differences are in semantics, which, in the greater scheme of things, are completely superficial.

3. That leaders, in business, in government and in religion, need to earn the right to be followed by consistently exhibiting true morality, humanity and humility. Not by brainwashing people with an endless barrage of lies and innuendo.

4. That women and men are equal in strength, but that strength is simply expressed in different ways.

5. That all people deserve to be treated with kindness and compassion, regardless of their ‘status’ in society or their circumstances.

6. That the many colours that make up the human race are the only difference between us, and those colours are so superficial as not to matter even in the slightest.

7. That no matter what our differences, we really do have much more in common than whatever those differences might be. And we should, at the very least, be willing to respect those differences, even if we don’t agree with them.

8. That there is no such thing an an absolute. Everything has shades or degrees and it is in those degrees we find our common ground and the solutions we need to move forward.

9. That there is much more beauty on this planet and in all the people who populate it than there is ugliness. Much more.

10. That there are many forces in the world that seek, for egotistical and greedy reasons, to divide us and put us at odds with each other in as many ways as they can. This is the greatest reason of all for us to find common ground and stand together to do what’s right.

There are probably a lot more, but these are the main ones for me.

Just remember, change happens slowly, but can only ever happen at all when people shed their prejudices and their fears and learn to clearly see the roadblocks that are constantly being put in the way of progress.

This is a great world, filled with amazing people. Those who are not are in a very small minority, but make a lot of noise. The art of living well is learning to filter out the noise and focus on the truth.

This is a lot easier to do than you might think. All it takes is a bit of mindfulness, and a true belief in the fundamental goodness of humanity.

Have a great new year, and remember the future is in the hands of all of us, not just a few of us.

jim out

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