EMPOWER YOURSELF- BY FIRST STOPPING TO THINK
Every person on earth is 99.9% genetically identical to every other. All have the same basic needs, hopes, and fears and share many of the same values. We all bleed the same. We’re all part of the same human family.
As part of the essence of our humanity, we have the power to make choices and power to make things better. Choosing to respect our Shared Humanity is the antidote for toxic polarization – the foundation of community and peace.
But, what about justice? It is often said “There is no peace without justice.” Whose justice? Every group has their own narrative that justifies their version of justice. Respect for Shared Humanity and the human dignity/value of all people is foundational not only for peace, but also for a more fair-minded justice.
If people would focus more on Shared Humanity – on a spirit of brotherhood/sisterhood/siblinghood of all – and treat people accordingly, a higher standard of justice would naturally prevail for all.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Inscribe Shared Humanity into Your Heart and Mind.
Remember to empathetically remember the human dignity of every person, every hour of every day. Make our Shared Humanity a primary part of your identity. Help others acknowledge and remember it as part of theirs. Differences should not be allowed to eclipse the good that is shared in common. Agendas are not more important than our humanity.
Embrace the Liberating, Energizing, and Elevating Power of Humility.
Two major roots of discord and violence are the twin evils of ignorance and arrogance. They also hamper our own growth, quality of decision-making, and progress (not to mention our likeability/lovability). Don’t let them govern or limit your life. Don’t let them interfere with living your piece of peace. Focus a little more on humility. (Respect for others makes it happen automatically.)
[If you can use help with humility, try to imagine all the knowledge and experience contained in all the books and brains in the world Compare that to the knowledge and experience you possess. Enough said? Every person has value. Every person has experience. Every person has learned something]
Look at Life Through the Peacebuilder Lens.
Remembering our Shared Humanity, unselfishly picture yourself as a peacebuilder. Envision what you will do to build more respect, caring, cohesion, and peace in your home, your school or workplace, and your community. If you stop and think about it, you already know some more things you can do, whether they are changes to attitude, awareness, showing you care, or whatever. Write them down. Put them into action. Be true to the best that is in you.
We are blind until we see that in the human plan,
Nothing it worth the making if it does not make the (person)
Why build these cities glorious if (we) unbuilded go?
If vain we build the world unless the builders also grow.
Edwin Markham
LIVE YOUR PIECE
Peacebuilding is basically people-building (including ourselves) and community-building. The measure of a community (whether family, school, workplace, town, city, province, nation, the whole human family, or whatever) is the sum of the measure of its members – and the contributions of each to making it better.
If you are already being true to the best that is in you, we salute you, thank you, and say “Carry on”. We hope that something in this website stimulates your thoughts as to how you can be even more impactful in living your own piece and in engaging others to live theirs.
If you could do better, living your piece more impactfully doesn’t necessarily mean you have to alter the course of your daily life. It can be as simple as just being more mindful of your piece of peace as you go about your daily activities each day (at work or school, kid’s sports events, political discussions, driving, shopping, just walking down the street, or whatever) and being more engaged in living it. We hope this website helps you do both.
If your life could use a course correction, do it now! It will bless your life and the world. And we’ll thank and salute you too!
WHAT CAN I DO TO INCREASE MY IMPACT FOR GOOD?
Increase the Power/Impact of Your Resolve.
In addition to looking at life through the peacebuilder lens and writing your personal commitment down, magnify the power of your resolve by (i) telling someone close to you about your commitment (more), (ii) making it part of your life-centering activities and planning intentional reminders (more), and/or (iii) making a group commitment with family and/or friends (more).
Build People, Community, and Resilience.
Communities are made up of all kinds of people doing all kinds of necessary jobs/functions. All contribute to the strength and spirit of a community. All are needed. Do your part well. Be aware of the parts played by others. Acknowledge them. Help them do their parts well. Show appreciation. It can be as simple as a nod, a kind look, or a simple Thank you. Put your piece of Embracing The Human Dignity/Shared Humanity of Others into action by doing your part in building the strength and spirit of the “communities” you are a part of (home, school, workplace, faith, or whatever) – a spirit of brotherhood/sisterhood/siblinghood. Be part of the social glue that holds it all together.
Volunteer: Support & Strengthen Community At Home and Abroad.
Support the work of humanitarian, service, faith, interfaith, and other organizations that are working to meet the needs of your community and communities in other parts of the world – like projects that lift the poor and disadvantaged, enhance fairness, boost education, care for the Earth, and so forth. Or start your own project. (For ideas, see the free action resources at the end of this website.) Either way, your service/support will bless your own life as well – especially when you show up in person. (how?)
“You simply cannot experience the full richness and depth of your own humanity without respect and caring for the humanity of others.”
Volunteering can:
- give you a sense of achievement and purpose
- help you feel part of a community
- help you feel better about yourself by improving your self-esteem and confidence
- help you share your talents, learn new skills and create a better work-life balance
- help combat stress, loneliness, social isolation and depression
- help you meet new people, which can help you feel more connected and valued.
Source: Australian Government Health Department
Telling someone close to you about your commitment (and even committing to them that you will do it) can increase your resolve and your power to carry it out. So, tell a family member or trusted friend. If you believe in God, make a commitment to God. Ask for God’s help. If you believe in something else that beckons you to the best within you, commit to that something else. Lock on.
Make your commitment part of daily meditation, prayer, or whatever it is that you do to center your life and focus on things that matter most. If helpful, post your list or other reminders in places you will see them daily – like a sticky note on your mirror, a background on your phone or computer, a magnet on your fridge, a bookmark, or a note inside your planner. (Some free downloadable resources posters/screensavers etc. you might like and find helpful are available in the Resource Section at the end of Click #3.)
With family member(s) and/or friends make the pledge to yourselves and each other. Then support each other’s individual efforts and work together as a group. Make your efforts upbeat and fun. There is great power in group commitments and ideas that flow from working together and supporting each other.
ENGAGE OTHERS – with
VISION/MISSION.
Engaging individuals is great, but it’s much more powerful when they are engaged in cooperatively working together – and most powerful of all when all are infused with a vision/mission and work together for the common good.
As to vision/mission, peace has been defined simply as “the existence of peaceful cultural beliefs and norms” (normal social behaviors). That’s the target. That’s the objective. That’s the vision/mission. That’s what we’ve got to do if lasting peace is ever to prevail – build peaceful cultural beliefs and norms- beliefs and norms that include, at a minimum, (1) individual responsibility for civility and peace and (2) respect for the human dignity and freedom of opinion of others – and that are more powerful when they also include (3) intergroup friendship and cohesion. (Why these 3?)
And that’s a central purpose of this website.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Simplify. Unify. Engage.
Help start (or join and support) an initiative in your organization or community based on the principles of 3Clicks. The 3Clicks focus on individual responsibility, respect, social cohesion, and bringing out the best (the basics of peaceful cultural beliefs and norms) can add strength to any organization or community. Your initiative can start in a single service club or group, a faith or association of faiths, a school or school district, the business community, or wherever. Use this website to help get it off the ground and/or strengthen it – to help educate and engage. Start big or small, but start.
Be a catalyst to help spread the initiative to as many organizations and individuals as is possible in your community. Build the initiative into a community movement for a more respectful, caring, and peace-filled community. [See the Action Resources for Click #2 at the end of of this website for guidelines and suggestions. You may adapt the free downloadable resources to fit your community and culture and/or create some of your own resources – possibly even tee-shirts, hats or pins.]
Help build community infrastructure for a culture of peace. One great way is to build an action coalition for your community’s movement made up of representatives of the participating organizations and groups. Work together as suggested in the guidelines linked in the prior paragraph to engage members of the community in building a stronger and more caring, connected, and peace-filled community for the benefit of all. Create a coalition website or communications platform to inform members of the community regarding community-building activities of the coalition members and opportunities to volunteer and get engaged in efforts to address community needs and improve the community. (Click here for a free downloadable communications platform.)
Make Things Better
Make sure
The Human Dignity/Shared Humanity of Others
is sealed into your core values & peace mindset.
Stop and reflect,
or
(If you leave, when you return use the Menu on the Welcome page to get to where you want to be quickly.)
Three beliefs and norms are foundational to peace:
1. Respect. The leading marker for violence in a society is lack of respect for the human dignity and freedom of belief of others.
2. Intergroup Friendship. The leading marker for peace in a society is intergroup cohesion.
3. Personal Responsibility. Respect, friendship, and peaceful cultural beliefs and norms can only be built by individuals. Peace is an individual responsibility. Leaders are especially responsible.
Coming Soon!
It can be part of an ERG (Employee Resource Group) or other corporate social responsibility efforts – or maybe even part of a positive approach to DEI.
3ClicksToPeace is:
- A source of empowerment and plan of action to address the plague of division and polarization that infects so much of the world.
- A repository of core foundational principles of peace – a potential anchor and connecting point for peacebuilding initiatives advanced by a variety of humanitarian and service groups, faith and interfaith organizations, businesses and foundations, women’s organizations, youth and young adult organizations, and others – an invitation to magnify success exponentially in the great cause of peace by working together under a unifying standard as each organization and individual advances their unique piece of peace.
- A tool for community-building, organizational team-building activities, and corporate social responsibility – a positive approach to DEI – a mindset for both inner and world peace – a mindset we hope you embrace and are building on.
- A call to action for each one of us to step up and live our piece of peace more fully, make our own little world better, together move the world closer to the world we all yearn to see, and find more richness and meaning along the way.
What’s “The Ask”?
3ClicksToPeace is a volunteer effort powered by the website’s vision for a better world and by volunteers working individually and with faith, interfaith, humanitarian, service, education, business, and other organizations and institutions. The only “ask” made in this website is to more impactfully put the simple website principles into action in your life – to make a commitment to yourself to be more aware of your piece of peace, more fully live it, and encourage others to do the same.
To that end, there is an invitation at the end of the website to join with others who have also made that commitment, help turn hundreds to thousands – then millions, and be part of a great global movement of people of goodwill of all races, religions and beliefs, cultures and nations that together can change the world.