Building a better future starts with ourselves
May 14, 2023
Change is the only constant.
One of the things I admire about Gandhi was his constant drive for self-improvement. We’re all changing, but we have agency in life to steer that direction. We can make adjustments to our thoughts, habits, and behaviors to achieve personal growth. Gandhi demonstrated that individual development could be part of a larger movement for national development. Swaraj, the demand of the Indian independence struggle, meant self-rule. By developing self-rule over one’s own life, he taught, the Indian people would also develop the abilities for self-rule over their own country.
The first step towards self-improvement is identifying areas of opportunity. Gandhi prescribed a number of habits for his organizers, to help them lead by example in advancing self-rule; among them were truthfulness, nonviolence, tolerance, sobriety, daily mediation, minimalism, simplicity in diet, manual labor, and celibacy. In the 21st century, there are additional opportunities for self-improvement; modern life brings a new set of temptations.
The 30-day Gandhi challenge is a program, an opportunity, to examine our own lives and practice those life skills. It requires a commitment to 30 days of sobriety from intoxicants, and two 24-hour fasts, with optional, stackable challenges. These challenges begin every six weeks; the next one starts Monday, May 15, with the monthly fast for peace.
Self-improvement works best with commitment, discipline, and consistency. It involves adopting new habits and behaviors that support personal growth while discarding negative habits and behaviors that hinder progress. It is a continuous process; even in the last years of his life, Gandhi set aside time each day to work on learning the Bengali language.
These attributes are why self-improvement makes up an essential part of the American Union model for political reform. Building a better future requires individuals to make positive changes in their lives. Completion of the 30-day challenge qualifies members to take on additional roles in the American Union, including that of organizer.
(Read more: The political franchise as a tool for nonviolent social change)
Delegates in the peoples’ legislative assembly also complete the 30 day challenges, keeping the work of serving the American People rooted in the principles of nonviolence, with a commitment to honesty, integrity, and personal responsibility.
Over the next month, these blog posts will look at Gandhi’s arrival in South Africa to assist with a legal case, after his voyage there 130 years ago. The two decades he ultimately spent there transformed him from the well-dressed barrister who insisted on riding in first class into a community organizer who lived a simple life.
For today’s discussion question, is there a habit or behavior that you know has a negative impact on your life, but you continue it anyway. If so, why do you think that is?