Change the World by Changing Me

The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself:

I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: ‘Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’  

As I approached middle age and realised that half my life was gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in contact with me. Just my family and friends, and I shall be content.’  

Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, my one prayer is: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start I should not have wasted my life.

 SOURCE : “THE SONG OF THE BIRD” ANTHONY DE MELLO, S.J. (ANAND: GUJARAT SAHITYA PRAKASH), 1987