“Monkeys are superior to men in this: when a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey” -Malcolm de Chazal
I am a perfect person. Everything I do and say should be written down in history as the most intelligent contribution to mankind, and all people should strive to be like me. If I was the first human in history then everybody would worship me and write songs and sonnets about my greatness. Even as I put on my shoes it’s flawless; every knot in my shoelace is a work of art and even slipping my foot into my footwear is an effortless graceful movement that cannot be replicated. If I taught a class it would be called: Perfection: The Tao of Hamed Fakhro.
Perfection is relative, and belief is reality. So if I choose to believe in my perfection then it must be real. Correct? The only thing that makes my previous paragraph unreal is the perspective of others; and their cumulative opinion of me is what destroys the ego trip I’m on; in fact it makes it laughable and a joke. What I’m trying to say is that society dictates the definition of good, bad or ugly: And that definition is what dictates reality. The benchmark is not what I see, but what society expects. Well, at least that is the way it goes in Bahrain.
I had an appointment at 9:50 am with a doctor in Salmaniya hospital today, and as I waited in the corridor other patients accumulated to an almost unbearable amount. The doctor was nowhere to be found and we had no idea when he was coming back. As we complained to each other about the inefficiency of doctors, one of his regulars told me that I should never come based on my appointment and should just come early and be the first in line. It took me three months to get this appointment (there is a supposed queuing system) so I asked him what the point of an appointment was. He replied that I just need to make my way through the system, and that nobody came on time anyways so the doctor doesn’t stick to his schedule accordingly. I answered that if the doctor refused to see those who were late then they would learn to come early next time, like in civilized nations. As he raised his eyebrow, I added: We need to fix ourselves first before trying to change the system. He nodded in agreement but looked at me like I was crazy.
Sometimes I feel like I’m insane because I still have hope that our system can improve or change. I know that it won’t miraculously transform overnight; because it isn’t JUST the system which is flawed: It’s our society. Like I said to my fellow patient, all I can really do is to change MYSELF. That is the only thing I have total control over.
We all find flaws in people, companies, governments, and countries on a daily basis. It’s true that many of these issues are real and must be fixed. But we need to consider improving ourselves first. How? We need to practice what we preach; which means we must respect other people’s time, we should be honest, we should be reliable, we should be efficient, we should be honest, we should be straightforward, we should pick up trash instead of throwing it, we should work hard, and most importantly we need to correct people or issues around us as well. If we see a stick in the road we should remove it instead of driving around it. Improve yourself before complaining about other peoples’ imperfections. Look in the mirror my friend, and you may find the answer staring you in the face.
