by Oluwakemi Gbadamosi

               “It is not in the big things my friends, it’s in the seemingly little things we choose to ignore.”

On the 20^th of July 2012, as I turned on my television to watch the day’s news, I saw breaking news that made me stop to think deeply. It was a day ardent fans and critics of Christopher Nolan’s super hero movie (Batman), gathered in Cinemas all over America for the premiere of the third and final installment of the Batman series “The Dark Knight Rises” .

In Aurora, Colorado, fans thronged the Century 16 cinema to watch Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway do justice to the final part of a movie they have all followed so passionately, but little did they know what lay in wait. Halfway into the movie, a masked young man came out from nowhere and opened fire on innocent movie goers. Eventually, 12 were killed and 50 seriously injured.

My heart sunk and my stomach tightened, as I tried to make sense of this horrifying massacre; Man’s inhumanity to man, wars and chaos, the wickedness and hatred that rules our world and the rapid devaluation of the human life. With tears in my eyes, I muttered “how did we get here?” As the question echoed in my ears, three answers came to mind that making it crystal clear that we are all to blame.

First of all, we have forgotten/ignored the basics. We are so carried away by the rat race that we fail to remember the three most important things: Love, Faith and Hope. With Love being the greatest and most powerful force on earth, subduing even the strongest of men.

When was the last time you reached out to someone in need?

When was the last time you baked a cake and sent to the old man/woman down the street?

When last did we remind our children that bullying is not an act of strength or supremacy, rather an expression of weakness and cowardice?

When was the last time you sent a ‘get well’ note to a neighbour who was sick or flashed a genuine smile to a colleague who outdid you in a task?

It is not in the big things my friends, it’s in the seemingly little things we choose to ignore. Mother Theresa puts in succinctly “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great Love”.

Secondly, turning a blind eye. You may say to yourself, “I am not evil, I don’t go about carrying guns and killing innocent people”. “I am not a bully, neither am I the government that declares war on innocent citizens”. Before we get too sanctimonious let’s not forget that knowing something is wrong and pretending not to see it or do anything about it, is as evil as evil itself.

That we are not affected today is no guarantee that we won’t be affected tomorrow. As Dr Seuss will say “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better”.                                      

Thirdly, shifting blames: It is interesting to see how people love to take credit for the good things but are quick to shift blames when things go wrong. We blame everything and everyone else but ourselves for the sad state of the world. We blame the powers that be, we blame our past and we blame the devil. Let me ask, when will we start to tell ourselves the truth? That no excuse is good enough to sabotage humanity and the world. Everyone is fighting some demon, but is that enough reason to unleash those demons on others? If only we dare to take responsibility, the world will be a better place.

We got here either by what we did or have failed to do and it requires us to make it right again, a world where we would not be afraid to leave our children and generations unborn behind because we gave our best to make it work. As I penned these words, I reflected on one of the most poignant messages ever embedded in a song, sung by the late Michael Jackson and I knew there was no better way to end this note than with that message:
“I am starting with the Man in the Mirror. I am asking him to change his ways, no message could have been any clearer,If you want to make the world a better place, Take a look at yourself and make that change”.

Change can only begin with the man in the mirror!

Love…

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<strong>Oluwakemi Gbadamosi is a Lawyer , with Masters degree in Communications and PR, currently handling Advocacy & Marketing  for a leading HIV/AIDS International NGO in Nigeria. She sees herself as a voice of hope and a catalyst for change , which led her to starting her own blog : https://spokenwordsofstrength.blogspot.com. Her hobbies are writing, speaking, reading, dancing and sleeping. She hopes to rise to the top of her career and also be a renowned Motivational/Inspirational speaker.  She tweets from @Kemi_7

 30 Days, 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians from across the world to share their stories and experiences – creating a meeting point where our common humanity is explored.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija