Se daadaa ni? (Is all well with you?) I pray that you all have peace & good feelings swirling within and around you as we move from the weekend into another week. Anyone who is close to me knows of my love for Michael Jackson’s (iba e) music. Whatever earthly frailties he may have exhibited, his music spoke volumes on so many themes: love, peace, understanding and of course, getting down and having a good time!

"Man in the Mirror" from Michael’s “Bad” album is one of those songs that will forever touch my soul each and every time I hear it. As I listened to it today, I realized once again how the very simple mantra within the chorus rings so timelessly true:

“If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”

It is exceedingly easy for us to point the finger at others, to say “he should be more [fill in the blank]” or “she should be less [fill in the blank].” As an oft-quoted proverb reminds us, however, every time we point a finger at someone else, there are 4 fingers pointing back at us, urging us to rephrase our criticisms, challenging us to make ourselves the subjects of our inquiry. This doesn’t mean that the people and things around us are perfect and that we should never offer any criticism or commentary. But it does remind us that we aren’t perfect either and that as we are the only individuals we truly have control over, we are much better served asking “What changes can I make?” and making those changes rather than attempting to enforce our will on others.

Today and every day, let us each strive toward self-enhancement and lead by example. Let each look in the mirror (which I know some of us do quite often! *laugh*) remind us of our never-ending journey of inner transformation. Ase!