A chat with a wise friend

Went to my uni to visit a close friend of mine, Mustafa, which I havent met for a while. We had some discussions, and I always like to listen to him since his wisdom and knowledge transcends his age.. and his words are always contemplative, whether its about religion or life in general (but often, the two are the same).

He told me something that could potentially cause the paradigm shift that I've always seek for. A few statements so simple, so succinct... yet so darn explicit in its delivery.

I can't remember his words to the dot, but here is the gist of it. Imagine each one of us as spheres with layers of shells and a core. The outer shell represents our physical appearance. The next layer represents our mannerisms, speech, etc. Finally, the inner core represents what is within us, like our intent (one can say our heart or soul).

Now, to change to be a better person, there are two possible ways. Going from the outer shell towards the inner.. i.e. work on our physical appearance. However, that does not guarantee that the next shell can be changed, since mannerisms are not always based on physical appearance, and so on.

However, how about starting from the core itself? Our inner self? If one can change the core, the rest of the shells will automatically be changed.. since, those shells are dependent on the core.

So how can we quantify what is within us? We can't, I guess. All your actions and deeds are a manifestation of our principles and intentions.. which resides within our heart and soul.

I know I said that the concept is short despite this long explanation, but it all boils down to this:

use what is inside you to guide your actions

Whenever you are faced with something that you know is against your principles or intent, but your desires are tempting you otherwise, take a deep breath and try to "feel" your heart. Sounds corny? Its the same feeling when you apologize sincerely to someone "from the bottom of your heart". Use that power to guide you to choose the right course of action.

The moral of all this is, to change oneself.. one has to do it from the inside out. That is the only way that can guarantee the propagation of change to the rest of yourself, such as the way you treat yourself, as well as interact and treat others. I've always tried to change myself to be a better person, but I've always rebounded back to my old habits. Procrastination is the biggest one of all. I think this shift in thinking is what I've been missing all along.

=)