In my life I come across people with whom, for lack of a better term, I fall in love. They are amazing, kind, generous, brilliant people. I expect big things from them. I have been waiting for them to fix the world. That sounds like a lot of pressure, but I am always available to help and support them should they ask.
No one has asked for my help. No one has fixed the world. I am ready to take the responsibility on myself. How do I approach this? Not alone. I need those I have fallen in love with and others I will fall in love with to join me in the Hour of Peace.
What is the Hour of Peace?
To answer that, we need some background information on human circadian rhythm. Before the invention of artificial light, people went to bed when the sun went down, affording them a longer night. In today’s world, man tends to extend the activities of the day into the darkness, compressing the time available for sleep. In the long night, sleep is segmented--two periods of three to five hours of sleep separated by an hour or so awake. Unfortunately, many who awaken in the middle of the night fret over insomnia and have difficulty going back to sleep. The insomnia problem often has more to do with the attitude towards waking in the middle of the night than the actual waking. The wakeful hour between two periods of rest should not be dreaded or cause anxiety. Look forward to this hour as a time of peaceful reflection and meditation. Look forward to it as an Hour of Peace. If you want you can read more about segmented sleep.
So, how can waking up for an hour in the middle of the night fix the world? Suppose I give up one or two hours of stuff in my day so I can get in bed by 9:30 or 10:00. Then I wake for an hour or so sometime between 1:00 and 3:00. In that peaceful hour I do nothing but think of what I can do to help someone in need or solve a problem. Maybe I don’t come up with anything good the first night, the first week, or even the first month. Eventually, I stumble across an idea—a good idea. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, maybe it will only impact a handful of people, but it makes a difference. It makes things better for someone somewhere. Soon I have another good idea, then another and another. Eventually, maybe I come up with a big idea—but maybe not.
How much influence can one person have?
Now imagine that you give up some of the stuff in your day (we both know you have too much stuff anyway) so you can get in bed by 9:30 or 10:00. Now you get up for one peaceful hour of reflection and meditation in the middle of the night, and you spend that hour thinking about what you can do. Now there are two of us, our influence for good has doubled. Maybe you have friends who are interested in the Hour of Peace. Maybe you have friends who need the Hour of Peace in their lives. Maybe they have friends and their friends have friends. Soon we have an army of people giving hours a week to make things better. And maybe—things get better.
More than Ideas
Now, even hundreds of thousands of people merely thinking about what they can do cannot accomplish much. The best idea can do nothing for anyone in and of itself. An idea, regardless of its virtues, must be put into action before much good will come of it. In order to change the world we must do something with the ideas we discover in the Hour of Peace.
What resources do we have?
Our most important resource is each other. I tell you my ideas and you tell me yours. I help with your ideas and you help with mine. There are others who will help us; people are good. If we get enough people, then everyone only has to contribute a little. Ideas are up on the Action page. Find one you like and use it to make things better. You can report back on what you did. If you don't find the type of idea you are looking for, submit your own on the Ideas page. You can see how others have participated on the Accomplishment page.
Your Own Hour of Peace
Perhaps you like this, and you want to help, but you just cannot commit to an hour in the middle of the night every night. Okay. Maybe you want to, but you try going to bed early and you sleep through the night anyway. That's fine. Or maybe you wake up for an hour or so, but are not lucid enough to come up with good ideas or to remember them in the morning. Not a problem. You can still participate. You can choose a different hour for your Hour of Peace. Perhaps it is your hour in the shower. Maybe it is the first thing you do Monday morning so you only have one a week. Maybe you can only work it in every second Tuesday or third Sunday. It does not matter. Choose an hour to focus on what you can do to help. If you see my idea, or someone else’s idea and you want to be involved, but you are not interested in the Hour of Peace, that is fine. No one will turn you away, but consider the purpose of the Hour...
The Real Purpose
The Hour of Peace is not for the ideas for changing the world; those are just happy byproducts. The Hour is about changing you, a culture shift. The Hour is a regular reminder that you have decided to stop waiting for others to fix the problems you see. Likewise, the good that results from putting your ideas into action is not what will change the world. Good rubs off. You cannot do good without becoming better. It is the good that grows inside you that others will recognize—that others will desire for themselves. It is the good inside you that will change the world. The Hour of Peace is about changing the culture starting with the good inside you. Are you ready?
“The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.”
--Frederick Buechner
