Making the Dream of a Beauty Queen Come True
Having lived in the Philippines for many years — a country where beauty pageants are like a national sport — I know that the subject of ‘Peace in the World’ used to come up often at such contests, but whether you have watched one or not, this subject is certainly of great concern to all! And just now, when the US Elections 2020 split the American nation 50/50, my concern for it only grew! Because this whole election experience gave me a definite feeling that whichever side you supported, whichever country you live in — WE ALL LOST!
“…the well-being of society, which is the well-being of the state and the well-being of the world, are completely interdependent. As long as the laws of society are not satisfactory to each and every individual in the state, and leave a minority that is dissatisfied with the government of the state, that minority conspires under the government of the state and seeks to overthrow it. “
BAAL HASULAM, “Peace in the World”
Alarming words, indeed! So, what is so democratic or worth celebrating about a situation, when half the population call a victory what the other half call a defeat? And isn’t this stark divide of the American society a mere reflection of the fragile and dangerous state of our world as a whole — a 100% polarized humanity that does not have a habit of seeking solutions to satisfy “each and every individual”? In my home country, the UK, we have our own situation, the Brexit, which after several years still divides the nation right in the middle, and the list just keeps growing.
And what if the split was 90/10, what about those 10% who feel hurt and enraged by the outcome, can we ever build a healthy society by stepping on their toes?
On the other hand, perhaps, WE ALL WON — won an important insight that now is the time to start learning how to embrace all differences, all parties, may it be in politics or in your family at home! Perhaps, this time we’ve had just enough pain, frustration, uncertainty about our future and the future of our children — just enough to make us ready to start building positive, mutually supportive connections between ALL, above all differences! Just enough to start seeing the value in correcting our relationships in the first place — to start seeing this as a lasting solution to our problems. Small steps towards each other, until we build up just enough of that mutual trust — that we are all trying to find solutions to satisfy “each and every” individual ! No more “us and them”!
Without such an agreement, without such trust, how can we possibly dream of LASTING PEACE in our interdependent, integral, and totally polarized world of today?
Yes, this does sound like a dream, on a par with that of winning a beauty contest! So, let me get my inspiration from the beauty queens, for want of another — to follow my dream, to keep thinking all the time how to make myself increasingly beautiful in the eyes of others, in the eyes of ALL, and then work hard every day to achieve it - which, for me, simply translates into the following:
It is me who needs to change first, I need to keep working on myself to become more friendly, supportive, warm and caring to all people around me, whatever the differences between us… Until we ALL win this contest — Peace in the World!
