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| The Meaning of Change |
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2010 is a year of change in JCI, but what does change really mean?
The 2010 JCI President, inspired by the wise words of the remarkable leader Mahatma Gandhi of India, has challenged young people around the world to be the change they want to see in the world. But what does change mean to you?
Change could mean anything: change in diet, change in boyfriend or girlfriend, change in driving patterns, change of dress code or style, change of jobs, change of station in life. But for an organization like JCI, what does change really mean?
United States President Barack Obama ran his campaign based on the idea of change with the phrase “Change you can believe in.” Some believed he had a magic wand that was going to change the world on January 20, 2009. Few realized that change did not necessarily need to come from the President, but rather from the millions of people who believed in the change he intended to lead.
Not one individual can change the world, and not one young person can change this organization. So what does change really mean?
Seeking Perfection
Certainly the world is not perfect, and neither is our organization. But as young people, we must strive to make our world perfect, and the same is true for our organization. This desire to find perfection is the real meaning of change. As Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
The last decade of this new millennium brought unprecedented challenges across the world: the growth of extremism, the outbreak of wars, the threat of nuclear proliferation, refugee crises, the outbreak of disease, corruption, rising food costs, increasing climate change concerns and a huge failure of the global economic systems. Hardly any predictions foresaw these crises at a time when the world witnessed an expansion in technological know-how, increased globalization and dramatic socio-political changes.
The last decade was a clear indication that a changing environment – political, social, economic, climate and technological – must include a change in human behavior. The future belongs to young people, and as the world navigates increasingly complicated circumstances, we as young people must take part in the important debates. There is wisdom in age that cannot be ignored, but the young must actively participate to determine their own destiny. Young people have an obligation to act.
Change Begins with You
Change begins with you. It means you have the ability to change what is not right, or make better what exists. It means improving ourselves, our community and, to a larger extent, our world. Change means not seeking only personal benefit from an organization, a position or a job, but bringing value to improve the organization, the position or the job.
What does this mean to you as a JCI member? It means challenging the status quo and not settling for the mundane things of the past, but reaching for the extraordinary things that will build the future of JCI. Single-handedly, our scope is limited, but by extending a hand and working with people of difference races, cultures, religions and ethnicity, we can overcome the common challenges of mankind. It means standing for the values of this organization and questioning any action to the contrary.
Membership in JCI is not sufficient. We need to act by targeting solutions to community problems and taking action to create impact.
Back to Basics
In 2010, JCI is going back to basics with the JCI Mission and the Values as guiding principles for our action at every level of the organization. JCI will empower young people around the world to create positive change, and we will set out on our journey to be the largest network of young active citizens.
JCI members will reach out to friends, colleagues and neighbors and ask them to join forces with us to create an impact. JCI Members will collaborate with our partners to help the world eliminate malaria. In this new decade, JCI members will lead their communities, their countries and the world to a better place.
JCI President Kwemain is calling JCI Members and young people around the world to take the destiny of this organization and the future of the world into their own hands. He’s calling on you to take ownership of this organization and make it the best organization it can be to impact change in the world. Believing in change is important, but being the change is what will change our organization.
It is not the leaders who will change JCI, but the hundreds of thousands of young people who believe in our core values and are making tremendous sacrifices every day in thousands of communities around the world.
Change begins with you, today.
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