An article I ran across today and thought I'd share. Here's a snippet:

It is smarter and less destructive to aim your peace efforts no further than yourself, because your authority can never extend beyond that, unless you’re prepared to use force. Changing yourself is the work of a lifetime anyway; let’s see if you can eliminate every hint of dysfunction and ill-will in yourself before you start working on everyone else.
As motivated as Avatar may make us to GO OUT THERE and CHANGE THE WORLD, I think it's important to remember that we can really only change ourselves, because we can only directly control ourselves. The best we can do is be a living inspiration to others, for them to change.