Advocacy is Born

This is especially disappointing because the dumb mistakes I’ve made in life could be considered “loses” for humanity. Additionally, I adopted “winning victories” as a personal goal nearly fifty years ago after first reading the Horace Mann quote shown above. Please don’t get me wrong, it is not that I have failed to do anything toward achieving that goal.

I talked my brother into performing a song I was inspired to write because of the Golden Rule. And I did after all create two guides to help encourage greater appreciation of the Golden Rule. I created these guides on the premise that if they led more of us to treat others as we wish to be treated that would surely be counted as a victory for humanity.

And with tens of thousands of copies already distributed the guides have enjoyed some success. But now that I clearly have many more days behind me then ahead, the fact that my accomplishments pale compared with the lofty goal I set many years ago weighs heavily on my heart. My goal was to somehow have an impact on world peace.

In retrospect, it was probably foolish to think I could win a truly meaningful victory all by myself. I was younger and more than a tad optimistic back then. I’m not making excuses, but it is difficult for an individual, working alone to win any kind of major victory for humanity. Sure, we can all win small victories by following the Golden Rule, by showing kindness and consideration to those we encounter in our daily lives. And that is very important. But back when I accepted Horace Mann’s challenge I really believed I could do something to increase world peace.

Unfortunately, unless our everyday economic needs have been taken care of by an industrious ancestor, life leaves little time for winning major victories for humanity. A majority of us devote most of our waking hours to keeping a roof over our heads, feeding and clothing ourselves and our loved ones, educating ourselves, and maintaining at least a modicum of physical fitness.

Additionally, we must do our civic duty to stay informed about the contemporary issues peculiar to our time in history. All of this takes time and that explains why, most of us working alone will likely leave this earthly domain never winning a significant victory for humanity.

It was the realization that an average person grappling with life’s myriad challenges is not likely to win a major victory for humanity that motivated me to create the Golden Rule Advocacy and a website where like-minded individuals can combine efforts and in so doing, increase the likelihood of winning major victories for humanity. “Strength in numbers” leverages individual efforts.

If you want to join this effort to win victories for humanity, a good place to start is to take the Golden Rule Pledge, i.e. to formally pledge to treat others as you wish to be treated.