Lately, I’ve been thinking about sacrifice. At first glance, all I can think about is the noble person who makes a sacrifice for loved ones. And then I go to my textbooks and see human sacrifices in the name of deities, gods, and higher beings. The contrasting definitions of one word leave me questioning: how can one thing be seen in so many different ways?

We all see the world, but only from one perspective, maybe two or three if we’re lucky to find someone to share their perspective with us. They tell us to change the world, but change it from what perspective? If I go about only making the changes that I think need fixing, thousands of issues will still be there to be dealt with. Am I allowed to put my problems ahead of those that millions face every day? They tell me to be the change I want to see in the world. Maybe I don’t want to change because change implies a conversion of sorts, maybe instead I want to adapt and grow. It’s all about the definition.

I will define the world by its beauty and acceptance, not by its hate and corruption. If I let myself accept the definitions that others have put on the world that I live in, then I lose. I will fight for a world of infinite definitions, a world where no one is belittled for seeing their perspective of the world, but also a world where everyone is encouraged to look through other perspectives as well. This is the world that needs to grow into a reality.

We are not fighting over what the nation should be, we are fighting over what the nation will be. There is no time left to be afraid and hide your definitions from your neighbors. Defining your reality and world is essential to keeping you grounded. So, go. Chase your reality. Definitions do not necessarily make the world any clearer. Instead, they give you infinite possibilities of the worlds to explore. So, go. Wander the streets of home, whose home we don’t know, but go and see what that home can teach you. Run across the bridge that goes somewhere, or nowhere. You’ll never know until you cross it. Talk to each stranger who gives you a glare or a smile, each one has a new definition to reveal to you. Most importantly, live. Live through your perspective, through the sky’s perspective, through the old woman’s, through the young boy’s perspective, through the worried father’s perspective, through the happy baby’s perspective, through the world’s perspective. Never stop chasing a new reality shaped by another perspective.

Go define the world, then continue to redefine it each year, month, day, hour, minute and second…