How many people have ever watched Injustice on the news and did nothing but ask why and how someone could do that? How many people wished there was a better world? How many people did nothing about it? Chances are a lot of people, but do we blame them? No, what can they do? They are here and the problem is over there. Gandhi said “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” I understand how hard it is to truly live up to that, and Gandhi didn’t say it was easy. You have so many pressures and predicaments coming at you that sometimes you want to give up; that won’t help. Giving up is just saying that you tried and failed, but if you logically think out and understand the problems without a biased view and with courage you will find that you will have not only changed your life but the lives of many others around you.

Standing up to a bully, for me, was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was like an ant taking on an elephant, small, scared, and vulnerable.  I was angry and hurt and all I wanted to do was cry and scream! I hated the thought of being pushed around and made fun of, I wanted to stop it. I despised the very thought of what I was forced to endure.  They say that bullying can be easy to stop if you tell an adult, but it isn’t, not when the adult you tell thinks that your harrier is a perfect angel. Girls are complicated and sneaky, we don’t beat each other up with fists (well sometimes we do), rather we wage a psychological war with our enemy. I was pointed at one day when she was whispering to a friend of hers. They laughed, at what? Me, my shirt, my hair, WHAT?  I asked her, the response “nothing” made something snap, so I slapped her. I was now the bad guy, and the Adult knew it now. Was slapping her the best way to deal with it? No, however when you’re hurt you wish the same pain on them.

After years of constant tears, fighting, and being called a plethora of names I finally won, I finally stood up to her and the adult who was bullying me through the accusations of adolescent delinquency. The day I told them everything and had proof they were dumbfounded, and I didn’t need any violence. The people I made friends with were also disbelieved victims, but near the end we didn’t say anymore mean words about her. We just sat and thought of how we could be happy again, how we could prove that our stories were true. We cried no more tears, and felt no more pain from the scars the time left on us.  We didn’t let her get to us; she was livid. We took away her power by empowering ourselves, and being nothing but nice to her. Her proverbial castle came crashing down and her throne with it.

I wanted her to stop hating me for the clothes I wore, the way I spoke, the things I loved and all my other quirks. I became what I wanted her to be; just like Gandhi, refusing to lay a finger on the ones who threw the stones at him. It took three years of struggle, profanities and wishing for it to end. That was Gandhi’s vision, that’s why he protested the bigotry and un-touchability in India. He was a true leader and visionary; that’s why he is still remembered today. His words didn’t die when he did and neither did his teachings. They live on through his pupils and others that were there to hear his words. They are passed on and quoted to help us rationalize in this crazy world that we live in.

Gandhi, although dead, is still a man of magical words and mystic wisdom. Words can be said but actions will always out do them. Gandhi influences us all, even if we can’t see it. When you want change, be it. When you see change, don’t be afraid to hop on and row along with the other paddlers. Let your beliefs and values influence your decisions; who knows you might just be remembered like Mahatmas Gandhi.