Wanting to have a positive impact on the world has merit. Wanting others to be different is judging.

You cannot begin to influence others with words – or even actions – as effectively as you can by being you. Being you is the most powerful way to influence others. It allows others the opportunity to experience you from a place of non-resistance. If you start telling them who they should be or how they should think, they resist. If they sense you have an agenda to convince them of something, their guards go up. But just by being in your presence, they get to experience who you are to yourself. Because you’re not trying to convince anybody of anything, they get to see who you are in your genuine essence.

From this authentic you, others can pull whatever it is that resonates with them. They get to do it in exactly the way, at exactly the pace, and exactly to the degree they are ready for, and that provides value to them and moves them in the direction they are seeking to move in. You could never in a gazillion years orchestrate to so perfectly influence others than simply by being you.

The activist’s heart that believes so fervently in a cause is particularly prone to judging. It doesn’t matter how much you think you are right. Even if everyone else on the planet agrees that the merits of your cause outweigh another. Judging is judging. When people feel judged, they close up. They resist. You can never reach their hearts and minds if they feel judged.

Activism to get legislation passed may move matters in one direction or another in the short term. But it’s just a matter of time until the opposition regroups and counters with a different strategy to move the playing pieces in their favor. It’s a game of tit for tat. Everyone continues to force their views onto the other, but core beliefs don’t change. It’s just a game of legal chess.

You can absolutely pursue a cause without judging those who feel differently. If you lend your energy to a cause, examine your motivations to see to what extent, if any, judgment of others plays a role. If you can stay connected to unfiltered reality, you’re golden.

Remember, at the end of the day all judgment is self-judgment. When you judge others for having different views, you experience the energy of your judging in your mind and body first. You’re doing it to yourself. That is why when you forgive, you don’t forgive others for them. You forgive others for yourself.

Focus on yourself. Whenever you make your happiness dependent on the behavior of others, you are asking for a letdown. You live an anxious existence. No matter how much you try to control life, change is bound to come and you are bound to be disappointed.

Everyone is on their journey. They are learning and growing in ways that are appropriate for them. Focus on being you. Your greatest contribution to the collective energy field is to clean up your own.

Ultimately, the way to change the world is to change yourself. Being you is the ultimate statement.

How big of a statement are you?