It would be encouraging if people that you met
Gave all a cheery greeting as they came,
And everyone whose contact on the worldwide internet
Took open kind relations as their aim.
If the people of all nations would support their fellow men
As they deal with human challenges each day,
And the leaders of the nations would speak courage now and then
And seek to use more care in what they say.
If the parents of the world would place their children’s interests top
And nurture them and teach them how to live,
And children mind their parents knowing when the fuss should stop
And learn it’s not to get, but how to give!
If religious leaders learned to be inclusive not divide,
That saints are much more numerous than they thought,
And the losers of this world felt safe in others to confide
And justice issued rightly wasn’t bought.
If the teachers in their teaching put their own agendas last
Remembering that little people see,
And the “peaceful” disaffected demonstrate without a blast
How tranquil would our daily living be?
But I know it isn’t easy to solve all our worldly woes
To make life full of happiness and fun,
But starting to address these, as the age old saying goes
Begins with me, you have to start with one!
“© Ian Grice 2013 all rights reserved”
ianscyberspace 
As I sit here reveling in the utopian dream painted by you in “How nice it would be”, I recall that other famous lyrics by John Lennon.
“You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one.”
The question remains , how many of us are prepared to join in to make such dreams come true.
Shakti
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You have an excellent name. Shakti means strong! Glad you enjoyed this blog.
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This is truly thoughtful and quite telling. If only, but it is us first, idividually that make all the difference.
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Yes, it is by tolerating the negatives in society, and not living what we believe to be for the best in society that we find ourselves accused as individuals.
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Oh My this is stunning and so heart warming
every word so beautiful and so wise
a wish list to make this war ravaged sphere a healthy Happy perfect world
amen to all that
Ian sending big hugs and love your way
just loved this post 🙂
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Thank you Soma. I’ve navigated through your page and am glad I found this gem on the internet. It is a serious and humorous work of art all wrapped up in one. I love it!
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This does for society what Kipling’s “if” did for the individual. Poignant message, but as you write it starts with us which is a sobering thought as it is so easy to blame others when we ourselves are imperfect and ought to be pioneers.
Cheerio, Jane
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Yes I came to that conclusion long ago. There could always be a reason why people are dysfunctional and we need to see how we can help them through their problems before bringing down the heavy hand. Perhaps they can be encouraged to change? But even if that’s not possible we don’t have to sink to that level ourselves.
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Amen and well said Ian x
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Thank you Jane
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BRAVO!!!! Fantastic post sweet Ian. I would love to see the people of the world like you speak of. What a wonderful world that would be. It would not be a difficult thing to do if everyone would do their part and it would cost nothing. I believe it is possible but will we ever see it? In our time if ever I fear not. Hugs
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I think we are headed in the opposite direction unfortunately.
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This is marvellous, Ian
Every single line rings with resounding truth – a post that needs to be copied and pasted on every wall and read repeatedly.
Without diminishing the merits of your previous posts – for me, this is your best post ever!
Peace and blessings,
Eric
P/s Like those shades too – cool 🙂
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Well thank you Eric. I’m quite moved by what you wrote. I guess you would know as a professional writer that sometimes ideas just burst out and you have to pen them. We write mainly to reinforce our own belief systems rather than to impress others don’t we?
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yes, it starts with us
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I guess it’s easier for us to blame the system, the politicians etc, etc, but ultimately it’s us who put the people in place who put the systems in place we don’t quite like. LOL.
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I’ve always felt a nation gets the government it deserves.
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