Live the World You Want

This is a book that grew out of a poem. Live The World You Want If you want people to be loving, be loving;If you want people to be understanding, be understanding;If you want people to invest themselves in relationshipsAnd make an effort to make them work, invest yourself;If you want a world in which people are less greedy, share;If you want a world with less war, be more at peace with yourself and others;If you want a world in which more people contribute, give;If you want a better world, be a better person.Even if others do otherwise, you can know That you are doing what you can doTo make the world a bit better rather than worse;For the world is simply you and I multiplied, and multiplied,Throughout time and is no better or worse than you and I make it.The poem had developed from an extemporaneous speech at one of Colorado Mountain College's graduation ceremonies when I was honored as Teacher of the Year. Within a few days of graduation I was asked for copies of the speech. Having none, I turned the main idea of the speech into a poem which became popular as refrigerator philosophy.Over time, the poem grew in my mind and finally became a book, a book based on a lifetime of observation, thought, and study. The major focus of the book is that the individuals we remember and glorify or vilify are not the only humans who make a difference in the course of our world. Each individual makes a difference. And since anonymous individuals far outnumber the famous and infamous, they make a much larger difference than they realize.I have seen too many people, college students and older adults, even teachers, become overwhelmed by the problems of the world and feel helpless.