Are you willing to change?
I am willing to change, are you?
We are all individuals who have contributed to building the society that we live in. We are part of a greater world, yet we don’t seem to realise that. Blaming society has become a habit and is used as a punching bag by most of us when we dislike the actions of a few. We are bound by our culture, religion, faith and beliefs. We are the society and our society is what we make of it. With that in mind, it is our responsibility to care for it. A society cannot be bad or judgmental of the things that you do, however you and I, as individuals, can be.
“I assume”, “I think” or “I’m pretty sure” are all used on a daily basis in various conversations, but what we don’t realise is that these are just assumptions. We are just assuming that he or she did this or that. However, by doing so, we decide to forget or disregard the fact that there is a slight chance that what is said might not be true. As a result of this, we speak before thinking of the people around us and by doing so, we fail to realise that these words we throw around, affect people deeply.
The atmosphere that has been set for us, or what we have set up for ourselves since we were younger encourages the idea of being prejudiced. Not believing a child or just the assumption that they did something, in turn, encourages them to do the same to others. They might even go as far as to lie about it. Adults are affected by this behaviour, too. On a daily basis, highly educated people are rejected based on their appearance. Why do we do that?
We judge people based on what they choose to show us, and again, we fail to realise that a person is more than a pair of jeans, a red shirt, a designer purse or cheap slippers. The great question is: Do I judge? I am not going to lie, I do, and most of us do. However, this can definitely be changed. We need to give people the benefit of the doubt and the excuses they don’t have. It is time that we let people be whoever they want to be without interfering in their lives.
I am willing to change and to contribute to my society but the question remains: Are you willing to do the same?
— The reader is an Emirati student based in Sharjah
