“My Life is my message.”

-Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian independence movement in British-ruled India

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was always helping and concerned about others. His aims in life included truth, non-violence, spirituality, honesty, discipline, and loyalty. His name, Mahatma, means “a great soul.” He was chosen as “Man of the Millennium” by the BBC.

Once, while Gandhi’s train was pulling out of a station, a European reporter ran to his compartment window. “Do you have a message I can take back to my people?” he asked. It was Gandhi’s day of silence, a vital respite from his demanding speaking schedule, so he didn’t reply. Instead, he scrawled these words on a scrap of paper and passed it to the reporter: “my life is my message.”

EXERCISE:

If your life were your message, what would the people around you say about you? Given, hopefully, many successful and meaningful years ahead, what new or different messages would your legacy include?

Please consider reviewing the links below to examine Gandhi’s extraordinary message in greater detail.

http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898
http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/mahatma-gandhi
http://www.mkgandhi.org/