Believe in the fundamental equality of humanity. Link hands with your brothers and sisters across the globe. Link hands with the poor and the disadvantaged and the rich. Don’t look down at anyone and don’t look up at anyone either. You are not better than the poor, nor inferior to the rich. The heritage of the earth is for all of us. Make this world one world, its riches and possibilities available to all.
Do not think for one moment that you are small, that you are powerless, that you have nothing to give, or that you are alone. I have not met a powerless person. You are only small and powerless if you think only of yourself, if you are selfish. The moment you think of humanity, of service to humanity, then you become powerful.
The heart is bigger than the earth. There are few things more noble in this life than serving humanity. If you ever suffer from crises of confidence, from doubt, from fear, from suicidal impulses, from loneliness, from existential despair, that is often because you are living only for yourself, your career, your dreams, your ego, your race, your family, clan or class. But the moment you think of humanity, all humanity, then your own problems become smaller, and then disappear.
We are here on earth to serve humanity, to take the human possibility forward, to create a better world. We are here to grow, to learn, to share our light, our gifts, our love.
There are people who are prepared to die for their limited racial and religious causes. They are a negative inspiration. You should be prepared to be the most wonderful person you are capable of being, and for the best causes, which are the enrichment of humanity, the promotion of equal rights for all, the provision of education, food and good life for the poor and wretched of the earth. This is a greater way to live than even laying down your life for your brother, sister, or your country.
Use all the intelligence, passion, fun, joy, and the blessings of your life to help make the life of all humanity sweeter, and you will not have to worry unduly about the state of your soul or about the meaning of life. If you do this alone, especially in this part of your life when you are young and free, if you give what’s good in you to raising higher the human story as best you can, then your life will be justified, and you will have transcended failure or success.
Open your hearts and minds to the beauties and possibilities of being human. Do not see people’s colour first. Do not see people in their material conditions first. We don’t know who or what a human being really is. Believe me, we are each one a great mystery. The person who dwells in great misery, in the gutter, alone, may well be an angel. The way you judge others––a person or a continent––judges you. And this judgement will bring you either the good or the evil you deserve.
So go out into the world. Transcend all the bullshit that your education, your history, your culture, your class has passed onto you. Learn for yourselves. Find out for yourselves. Question everything. Question the certainties fed you by your mothers and fathers and the great authority figures of your land and your age. Be always a question mark. Seek to know for yourself, so that you may grasp the deeper truths of life with a strong mind. Give of your soul. Feel the life and the suffering and the joys of the world. Feel! Don’t be afraid to feel, or to love, or to fail. So long as you are doing the little best you can to make this ruined world better, you are making good use of the miraculous reality that is your life.
For the rest, have fun. Laugh. Lighten up. Don’t be too serious. Play. Be inspired. Be your true self without being mean to others. And, by God, learn the wonderful art of happiness… How can we enjoy the happiness and growth of others, if we are not happy ourselves? It was Novalis who said: ‘I am you’ – in another form.
Let life inspire you, and teach you always how to be free and to encourage freedom in others, if they so desire.
All of humanity is really one person. What happens to others, affects us. There’s no way out, but up.
Let’s all rise to the beautiful challenges of our age, and rise to our true mysterious luminosity.
~Ben Okri
