Working towards peace and harmony benefits all

We can be excused for sometimes thinking there is no point in trying to contribute to peace and harmony in our world.

Conflict seems to be an endless stream of events, always getting worse, and efforts at improving this often seem doomed to failure.

Our social media activities may show a similar pattern, and certain sections of our culture will use that despair and tell us to simply look out for ourselves, to be as confrontational and even rude, as others are.

But this approach to our lives, as understandable as it may seem, simply makes things worse, for ourselves and others.

We become each other’s excuse and justification for bad behaviour and an ever-spiralling conflict cycle.

Over the next three weeks we will look at some practical measures to bring peace and harmony into our own personal and professional environments.

We will see that the idea of personal peace-building in our community is far from an idealistic concept, far from a soft and fuzzy idea, that it can be achieved by each of us, and that it brings direct benefit to our communities, our workplaces, our families and ourselves.

First though, we need to take that important and difficult first step accept that these small steps towards peace are possible; that we can each make a difference.

Refusing to accept this is often an easy way out, we get to excuse ourselves from the hard work that practical peace-building entails, it gives us the perceived justification to not even attempt this hard work.

In the process, we become a part of the problem and contribute to the conflict cycles we all live with.

This first step of starting the work necessary is to simply imagine what your personal life, family, workplace or community will look like with even a slight reduction in negative conflicts.

What if you can play a role in showing the people in your life, simply through your everyday life, that conflict can be a positive encounter, and can lead to a respectful and dignified resolution of problems?

What if you can inspire someone to start this work in their lives? What if 10 people can learn this from you, and take this skill into their families and communities?

You are not powerless, you can and should make a difference.

Think about this during the week, and join us next week for the start of your role in active peace-building.