
Make the world a better place. A rabbit taught me that.
Mar 22, 2016
As featured online @ Daily Telegraph on 22 March 2016
A profound message was delivered to me recently from the most unlikely of characters.
Judy Hopps — a rabbit in Disney’s latest film, Zootopia — forced me to hold a mirror to my attitude and take a long, hard look.
“I thought this city would be a perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything,” she decreed from the big screen.
“Turns out, life’s a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means, hey, glass half full, we all have a lot in common.
“And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So, no matter what kind of person you are, I implore you: Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognise that change starts with you.”
Now, Ms Hopps is someone everyone should go out and meet.
Her words made me realise that doing and saying good is easy. Which is why I can’t work out why I still too often do and say bad.
I’m not here to preach, I’m not here to proclaim. I’m here to profess... to say what I’ve found lately — that the right message can come from the most unusual of places, like:
During long walks on the beach
I like them. I take them on my own because I haven’t found that someone special yet.
Sometimes I sulk about it. On this particular day I was. As I walked I saw this elderly woman ahead of me. She was writing something in the sand with a stick. She coughed a few times, finished writing and walked off.
I was curious, so I continued on and read what she wrote: “Stuck in bed self-pitying with the flu, I suddenly realised helping others is helping you.”
It was pleasant to read not just because it rhymed, but also because it was true. Helping others is helping you.
While shopping
I’m not going to lie; I hate shopping for myself. But I have a sister I’ve always liked buying stuff for. I look like a loser in an accessories store looking at bangles and bracelets but it stops me thinking about myself and puts someone else first.
Written on a bracelet I came across was the inscription: “Leads to a hand that will never let go.”
I actually didn’t buy it. I wish I did, because it’s true. It was a bracelet that leads to a hand that will never let go.

At the movies
I love them. I watch movies to escape if I’m having a terrible day, especially if that terrible day has caused me to be rude or judgmental.
That little monologue at the start of this column was delivered near the end of the Zootopia film.
I will repeat some with the hopes they sink in.
“The more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be.
"Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognise that change starts with you.”
Yes, these words were spoken by an animated rabbit but that doesn’t make them any less profound or relevant.
I find it almost symbolic with Easter just around the corner that this message comes when I most need it. The right message from the most unusual place.
As with the words in the sand, and the inscribed bracelet, Ms Hopps has made me realise where I can improve: I need to say and do more good.
Change starts with me.