Changing the world

You ask a young adult from a decent family what on his/her mind, and these are one of the probable answers you will get- exams, college, grades, job, success, money.

Sometimes I wonder if our lives extend beyond that. That there is some purpose. Something more than following self centered notions deemed proper by society.

Ask any parent what they expect out of their children. Once again the probable answers would be success, good job, good salary, good spouse.

Sometimes I stand to wonder- does any parent expect their child to change the world?- or at least try to? Or does any child beyond the age of maybe 10 say anymore that they want nothing more than to make a difference?

We sit comfortably in our houses feeling proud of ourselves for having aced an exam. In the middle of dilemmas like Harvard or yale. The weight of the world on our shoulders with our first jobs.

And these are the moments when I question if this was all I was meant to do. We go to the theatres and watch films. We read books. And we believe we are the cream if we chose to read 'to kill a mocking bird' over a Nicholas sparks, or if we watched an indie film over a blockbuster. 

We read news papers regarding corruption and rape, about war and civil strife, about revolution and rebels. We read about Uganda and Sudan and Libya, and discuss it with part sympathy part disgust, but mostly with a sense of pseudo intellectualism that the society pushes us towards.

But does anyone ever think for a moment of going to these places an seeing what it actually feels like to be unsure if you will wake up and see the sun the next morning? We comfortably sit and comment of things we never have, and probably never will experience and believe ourselves to be the best kind of humanitarians.

I was always told I am too much of an idealist. That I always believe where there is no hope, that I'm too moral and stupid and for my own good. Im told that realism would be the best approach. Well now it's clear to me that maybe the world needs a bit more idealism. People need to step out of their oblivion of realism! Believing themselves to be prepared for the expected outcome, yet expecting nothing but the worst. People need to believe that things can change and go about trying to change them. We need kids who will say 'we want to change the world'