On Change and Conformity

While talking to a friend this suddenly came out

If we’re not going to be able to stand up for what we believe in, if we’re always going to think about what the others would think, then what does that make of us? What does that say about say us? I tell you now, until we learn to take a stand for what we truly believe in, until we learn to take a stand for what we think is right, then that is the time when real change happens. If we continue to live by the norm, then we’d have to suffer living like this until we could manage to change every mentality of the Filipino people.

Change happens when you finally realize that you need, for once, to stand for what you believe in regardless of what might happen. Change will happen if every Filipino battles against the mentality of conformity and learns to stand on a ground that he himself built. Change happens when we look past the block that the media has created, the block that was built by the community, the obstacle that was built by your local church or your circle of friends. If we manage to get through that, real change will occur.

Real change won’t happen from the outside-in, but from the inside-out. If we truly want to change the society, if we truly want to change this nation, then we need to change things in ourselves first.