“I felt it was important to be there. It was one of those moments where the usually silent majority made it’s voice heard. The core principles of freedom of expression, humour, togetherness, stoic resolve to move on, desire to better ourselves and others remain and still underpin French society. We might forget it most of the time, but in that hour, we remembered what makes us great.”
– Hendrik Eijsberg
A few weeks ago the world witnessed the tragic events in France with the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. It sent shock-waves throughout the nation and the wider world.
Today we wanted to share how this relates to everything we have been speaking about recently about how the principles of life apply in every situation…
One of the key points to remember about principles is they always apply, we are either using them unknowingly to get what we don’t want or knowingly to get what we do want. We can use them to create, but they can also be used to destroy. The situation in France was an example of this.
A Warped Personal Vision vs One of National Togetherness
One of the most fundamental principles of living is the principle of Personal Vision – what you think, understand and perceive about yourself and the world around you. It’s everything from your thoughts, to your attitude, to your outlook, to your behaviour. The people who committed these horrific crimes against humanity had a very powerful Personal Vision. However, it must have been a very negative and destructive one which lead to these horrific and tragic events occurring.
A National Breakthrough Experience
These events galvanised 3.7 million people in France to take to the streets as well as 40 world leaders united in support of freedom. A nation changed the way it saw the situation, the Personal Vision of every individual came together as a collective.
As the quote above expresses, it re-ignited the Personal Vision countless people across the country had of the nation. It reminded them of the need to have a positive and progressive outlook for the nation through these difficult times. They saw and felt that they all had a responsibility to do something, to send a message of peace, togetherness and strength to themselves, each other and the world.
Not only that but Palestinians, Egyptians and others from all over the world held candlelit vigils in support of freedom. It has brought Muslims together to speak out about these crimes and there are countless stories of ordinary heroes through these events.
“London Remembers Paris Victims” – Trafalgar Square, courtesy of Loco Steve @ Flickr
What Does This Mean for You?
As we can see from the acts of both the terrorists and the nation’s response, a strong Personal Vision evokes very powerful outcomes. This all reinforces that principles exist in our lives, it just depends whether we are unknowingly using them to get negative outcomes or for the positive, upbuilding outcomes we want in our lives and in society. Principles are always at work so in order to take your life where you want it to go you need to understand what they are and apply them. We’ll be sharing more about this over the coming weeks and months, but if you have any questions or comments for now please feel free to get in touch.
The World Unites for Charlie Hebdo
Video courtesy of Associated Press Je Suis Charlie image courtesy of Sébastien amiet;l @ Flickr
