"No Man is an Island"

By Girma H. Aweke
August 13, 2008

“No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne. If we stop right here, we believe that you will understand what this article is about. John is saying something that we relate to in our own life. From our beginning, we know that we were dependent on our family, childhood friends, and the neighborhood. Now, even though we are adults and professionals who are responsible for our own life and family, the fact remains to be true for ever that we are and we will always be dependent on others for our life to be complete. No matter how successful we are or no matter how much money we have, life can never be possible without others. When we are happy or sad, we depend on others to share our happiness or sadness. If we really understand and believe that we depend on each other in many aspect of our lives, would it be possible to co-create the road map for a better future other than what we have and experience at this time? After all, “life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?’” (Martin Luther King Jr.) Would it be possible to uncover the possibility of a better future by sharing our own dreams that we hold inside of us with regards to our community and us. We tend to agree with Einstein at least theoretically that “only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” Could this be the time to explore our deep hearts and invest in our inner desires and drives for all of us?

Ethiopia has lost so many lives through the struggle for freedom, and because of hunger, war, disease and poverty for many years. Why? Blaming anyone for the current outcome is not going to help us in finding the real solutions. One way or the other, we are all responsible for the outcome of the present Ethiopia. Not only that, we are all responsible for what we have and don’t have as a community wherever we are now. Is it possible to change what we are doing or not doing consistently in order to get a different outcome other than what we have been getting so far? Do you feel like such a suffering of our people in Ethiopia and our uncooperative situation here are beyond our control? Are we born to be and have what ever we had so far without a glimpse of hope for better possibilities? Why is that other communities are doing extremely well right where we are while we are just living as if there is noting we can do together to create a better future for us and the coming generation?

The answers to these questions are within us. All it takes is for all of us to reach out to our heart and be willing to share our thoughts and intuitions. “If you want the world to change, be the change you seek” Gandhi. We as a nation or community can’t see the light of better future unless all of us search and become the kind of changes we wish for our people and us. We are given a set amount of time to live in this world. Each of us is given unique qualities to get to the height of our humanity while we are alive. When we are able to uncover our unique qualities, we begin to live, act, relate, and think from our deepest place in our heart. We will be guided from within to be who we are and who we want to become regardless of our circumstances, and difficulties. We are all here to create something meaningful in our lives. We are here to expand opportunities and hopes for all mankind. When we really understand these facts and know our ultimate purpose in life, we find our self in the “jet stream” of life. So, if we choose to start right where we are, the beginning will be to share whatever we hold inside of us. If we can start from this deepest level, we will get into the game of life that is completely different than what has been in the past. If we can share our dreams, there is a greater chance to co-create a common vision that which we can hold dearly in our heart. Yes…….if we can start from here we can connect to build a better future other than what we had so far!!! After all, “we can’t go back in time and create a new beginning.” However, “we can start now and create a new ending.” Our past is written in the history book. Today, we can write a new history. It all depends on our will and optimism to transform what we have and do today into a beautiful future.

Each of us is working on our spiritual, financial, professional, family, health or many others dreams of our own. No matter how many personal dreams we are working on, our individual dreams can never be complete if we are not concerned with lives of others whom we care about. As Martin Luther King said, “a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity”… Fortunately, it is in our nature to care for others. In our culture and upbringing, we have developed a deepest channel to care and love our parents, brothers, sisters and other family members of our own. Can we extend our care and love to others in a very measurable way so that together we can create a better future?

In this society, we are above and beyond just being the African Americans group because, within us, we carry the pain, hunger, poverty and suffering of our people in Ethiopia. Most of us were born in Ethiopia. Therefore, we can never forget our origin no matter how life is comfortable wherever we live at this time. If this a fact for you, what comes to your mind as you reflect back in time and to the present moment with regard to our country and community here? What do you think we can do together if you know that you have friends who are willing to listen to your heart? If you can imagine the big picture of life, we are living in this moment just to leave memories behind to those we care so much. When the time comes for us to leave this world, there is nothing that we can take with us. What kind of memories would you like to leave behind for all those you deeply care about? By sharing our dreams, we will be ready to answer these and many other life related questions together. The greatest hope of life is that, you will never be alone in any action you take to improve the life of others when and if the source of your action is from the deepest place in your heart. In fact, caring for others is the doorway to experiencing one of the amazing marvelous feelings called LOVE. If you look deeply into the meaning of life, the ultimate destiny of mankind is to find ways to experience and become Love. As you can see, the journey of sharing our dreams with regard to our community may have its own rewards to your own life. If you sincerely believe that we can do or have better than what we have in the past, where other place do you think we can find the solution other than in our heart? So, would you let your heart speak?

Some of us may think that there is no hope to change our situation. However, as Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” If we can create our direction based on our dreams, we will have a chance to recognize when and if any opportunities come along that promotes our dreams. Without such dreams, we will just be ignorant in front of any opportunities that come in front of us.

In our silent hours, we all go inside of us and wish and hope that we give or have or do something before the end of our life. What is that something? We all think of our community and wish that we do this or have this and that. What is that you wish we can do or have as a community? When and if you look around other communities, don’t you wish that we come together and do like them? Yes, this article is about exploring what ever is inside your heart. What ever is inside your heart is called your dream. What ever is inside your heart may not be just about you. It could also be about our community and country. If we dare to dream, what would that be? If you knew that there is no limitation to achieve it, what would you like to share with us? If you knew that you are no longer alone, what would you share with us so that we can start working with you to bring your dream into a reality? When we bring our dream together, the outcome will be the creation of our collective vision. When there is a collective vision, which we hold dearly, there will be collective goals that will take us to the next level. When there are goals, there will be plans and action steps, which we all share and do. In the process, we will be in a journey of creating an island that is empowering for us and for the generation to come. If we can do this, we will be happy every single day of our lives because we will be engaged in doing what we are called to do in our lives!!!!

We realize that “sharing our dream” can be very difficult because it requires for all of us to soul search and bring what ever we feel inside of us. Talking about our dream requires that we take our time to think and connect within ourselves so that we can hear the voice from within. No matter how difficult it may seem to write and share our dream, it is from this difficult task we can begin to do something different and everlasting compared to what we have done in the past.

We hope that article will initiate a voice within you. If you have not written your dream about our community so far, get a notebook and start writing what ever comes to your mind. No need to think hard or worry or get confused about this. If you just allow yourself, your thoughts about our community will come out of you without any struggle. These thoughts have been with you ever since you were born and they will always be with you as long as you are alive. This time, you are allowing yourself to take them out of you and write them on your notebook. Assume that you are leaving your own life journal to your family or dear friends. With this state of mind, your thought will flow out of you naturally. Keep in mind that, it is never too late to change course, and draft a new beginning that we will treasure as a beautiful accomplishment in the future… Remember, “The life which is unexamined is not worth living.” Let’s examine ourselves to see what our dreams are. This time let your dreams speak.

Writer can be reached at selammegersa@yahoo.com