Be the Change

BY D.J. VANAS

Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” He didn’t say hope for change, wish for change or wait for change. He said to be the change. Gandhi walked his talk as he influenced millions worldwide by showing the power of unity, discipline and peaceful protest in freeing his people.
Leading others to change by being the change is the singular key to improving success and education across Indian Country. It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes or stumble. It does mean we will continue to fight to raise the conditions and expectations of our people and we won’t quit. It does mean we’ll actively participate in positive change and not hope, wish or wait for change. It means we’ll commit to lead by example and inspire others to not look at our situation as it is, but as it could be. After all, visions are regarded as powerful and sacred in our culture because they are what really move people to change and improve.
Medical studies explored what it takes to truly create changes in attitudes and actions. When working with cases of very unhealthy people, they said “If you continue to live like this, you’ll die in two years.” Do you think this was effective in changing people? A handful, motivated by fear, made temporary changes but most made none. A much better result came when the doctors said, “If you change the way you live, imagine how you’d feel, how you’d look, what kind of example you’d be setting for your kids.” Do you think this approach worked? You bet it did! It took sharing a vision of what success looks like, feels like and tastes like. This is the key to change.
Across Indian Country we know that we’ve got problems on par with the scenario above—unhealthy situations including the meth epidemic, a crisis highschool dropout level, violence, abuse and hopelessness infecting our communities. What will it take to change it? Surely not focusing our time and energy on criticism, highlighting the flaws or getting bogged down in the negative—we’ve done that in the past and it doesn’t work. What will create a change in the minds and hearts of our people is to inspire a new vision of what we could truly be and achieve as a people! I believe, like those at the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), a key to opening the door to change is through the power of education.
I also believe we can play a vital role in creating this positive change by actively sharing our stories with others—in person, in print and online. By sharing our successes, our failures, the wisdom gained through struggles, the fears overcome and the thrill of accomplishing big goals. This is not to inspire and impress others with what we’ve done, but to inspire and impress upon others what they could do for themselves, their families and their tribal communities! Our oral traditions that taught lessons, values and virtues worked the same way—they inspired others to change, to live right and to succeed—by sharing stories. We can lead by example and play a critical role in supplying what is often in short supply across our communities—hope. We can make things better—and it can start with us.

D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas, Odawa, is an internationally acclaimed motivational storyteller, success coach and the author of the celebrated book, The Tiny Warrior: A Path to Personal Discovery & Achievement and audio CD series The Warrior Within. Vanas is an AISES Sequoyah Fellow. He can be reached at (719) 282-7747 or at www.nativediscovery.com.