Write the vision, and make it plain.
This may be familiar to individuals who have had some semblance of Christian-based upbringing and/or exposure. The idea is that if we put our thoughts onto paper, then we will develop a plan of action. Having things in black and white helps us to be more accountable.
Many people go into the new year with a vision board or a prayer board or something that identifies the avenues that they would like to take to make the changes that they seek in their respective lives. Vision boards are a great tool to effect change. They are right in your face to consistently refer back to, and have been said to be impactful because of the accountability that comes along with them.
I can recall going to my first vision board party a few years back. The board stayed with me for quite some time. When I began to make certain changes in my life, drastic changes, I had the board to refer back to, which allowed me to see whether or not I was on track. Sometimes, however, the changes that life takes us through are not expected, and the vision comes to fruition in ways that we may not have imagined (it’s also a Christian-based principle to be careful what you pray for).
As my life’s circumstances were turned upside down, I ultimately gave up on the vision. But the vision had not given up on me. I disposed of my vision board, but being that it was the only one I ever completed, I can recall many of the items that were on it. I held the things that I sought out very near and dear. And honestly, eight years after having disposed of it, I can still see those things happening in my life (my vision board included pretty big goals that could not realistically be accomplished in a year’s time).
We have embarked on MLK Day, and the concept of vision boards and prayer boards seem a bit more relevant each time. Each year, we reflect on how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. impacted the Civil Rights Movement, and how his visions and ideals continue to be relevant in our lives today. Dr. King orated his vision via the immortal “I Have A Dream”. We have this timeless rhetoric to remind us how he worked, alongside others, tirelessly towards improving human relations. Each year, we are also reminded of how we have fallen short in many ways. Dr. King is celebrated both nationally and internationally1.
Being the change you want to see is an ideal that is credited to the influential philosopher Mahatma Ghandi, whose principles were heavily drawn from by Dr. King. Change starts from within, whether that means within oneself, within one’s home, within one’s place of business, within one’s circle of friends and family, etc. For example, more often than not, when a child has been positively cared for and nurtured at home, he or she goes out into their school and extracurricular environments making positive impacts, or at a minimum, being gracefully present. And more often than not, when people come from environments that they are consciously aware were not conducive to the types of adults that they would like to be, they set out to change the trajectory of their children’s lives. So, they show up differently as parents for their children than their parents did for them. Change happens one person at a time, and one situation at a time.
We think, we speak, we set goals, and we take action. Those actions have consequences, be them good or bad. If you have already set things in motion based on a perceived outcome, it is quite possible, if not likely, that you will continue to move in the direction of what you had in mind, whether consciously or subconsciously. You’d have to be a pretty good self-sabotaging individual to not reach some remnant of what you had in mind.
Of course, it takes a decidedly strong-minded individual to actually refer back to goals. And life happens. Similarly, we do not live in a Utopian world, by any means. National and international unrest has been prevalent for as long as many of us can remember, and has intensified in recent months, as seen in Gaza, Ukraine and Russia, and right here in the U.S. Constant attention to things outside of ourselves and outside of our direct control can make it easy to lose sight of what we have in mind for ourselves. However, it could also help us to achieve some of our goals. If perchance, you have a goal of contributing more to worthy causes, being in tune with current events can help to achieve just that.
But I use these particular examples specifically because they can be credited as reflecting the negative impacts that we have on one another, as well. Particularly with the reshaping partisanship that is happening in the U.S., it can be easy for political stances to take prevalence over personal responsibility. Each election year brings some exposure to otherwise unknown and possibly subconscious prejudices and bigotry. But are these really our vision? Or are we more closely aligned with better human relations, as Dr. King envisioned?
In this election year, let us all remember the good that we have in mind for ourselves, our friends and families, and our communities.