Is there really going to be a revolution?

Though often accused of being terminally cynical, I have, deep within me, quite the optimistic streak. And when I tap into it and think about the revolution I've been going on about, there is only one answer that keeps coming up: no. No, I don't think there's going to be a revolution. It saddens me to say this, believe me, but I have to be honest with you, and with myself. Why? Why have I come to this conclusion? I can sum it up in two words: "conscious change".

Yes, "conscious change" is what I have been talking about for the last half-a-dozen posts. The deliberate, aware, recognized and acknowledged changing of oneself: conscious change. We may do a lot of things in our lives, but most of them -- too many of them, unfortunately -- are not conscious choices. And, when it comes to change, well, let's be honest: that's something for everyone else, not for me.

Let's face it, taking a good, hard, impassioned look at oneself is anything but easy. In fact, it's downright hard work. It requires, strength, patience, endurance, courage, tolerance and the ability to forgive. That's how we like to think we are, but that's how the fewest of us are, really. Most of us put on a pretty good show, but at heart, we're pretty much lost and pretty much overwhelmed by the world around us. So what do we do? We puff up our chests, beat upon them, if necessary, and bluster our way through the everyday. Things would be so much better, so much simpler if others thought like we do, or so we say, and acted like we do, well, as long as those others don't act toward me like I act toward others. Yes, everybody else has every reason to change, every reason to need to change, but me, well, I'm not such a bad person really, I'm pretty much OK the way I am.

Whatever change happens, of course, happens to us, certainly not because of us. The world keeps getting worse, the problems bigger, the threats darker and more horrific, the dangers graver, and the outlook bleaker. We fail to recognize, let alone acknowledge, that things are the way they are because we allow them to be that way, we make them that way.

Oh, we have our lucid moments when we decide for ourselves ... to move house, get a new car, go to the movies or the pub, watch football with the guys, or buy new shoes. But that's about it. Big issues, real-life issues, issues that affect us and everyone around us ... those we leave to others, not because they're more qualified to deal with them, but because we then have someone to blame when things go wrong.