Moving Beyond Resistance

I'm done resisting, and it's time to do more than persist. The truth finally dawned on me. Something I've heard many times before but could only conceptualize, was that all my feelings of outrage, grief, indignation and self-righteousness are not helping me achieve my desired outcome of peace, harmony, kindness, equality and justice in the world. I, like so many of my compassionate, kind, loving, inclusive, generous, passionate friends and acquaintances, was finding myself riding the roller coaster of horror, on a daily basis. Everyday was a new atrocity; a heart wrenching, senseless school shooting; a cruel tweet from on high; a dismissive, denigrating remark against a female victim of sexual violence; tax reform that leaves the poor poorer and the rich richer; a government that shows heartless contempt for the masses. The list is endless. Resist I hear and resist I have, since November 2016. But what we resist persists. Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I decided to pause, reflect, meditate and examine what I can change and make my best attempt to live that decision.

Here's what I decided needs to happen for the world to change. But first let's just look at what is actually happening every morning when we check in with the world through watching the news, checking facebook, listening to the radio. We are being bombarded with news we consider catastrophic. Our autonomic nervous system is constantly switched on and stays that way over a prolonged period of time. In this heightened state our bodies are in fear, fight and flight mode. It's as if we are being chased by a bear and running to save our lives. There is no time in this elevated state for us to pause, reflect, learn, create. This is purely survival mode and it is unsustainable. Eventually if the bear does not kill us our bodies will develop disease. We cannot keep running to escape the bear and create effective solutions to the problems we face. What we are doing is perpetuating a state of being that promotes no solutions, no healing, no creative thinking and we are pretty much guaranteeing the success of those we oppose. In this state we are physiologically, chemically, neurologically and hormonally unable to think straight. We are weak. We are disconnected from our power. We can only react impulsively. This is not how we create effective change that has lasting impact.

It's time for a paradigm shift, a quantum paradigm shift. It will seem counter-intuitive and may even feel like a betrayal but begin with the end in mind. The end being a peaceful world, a gentler world, a kinder world where we recognize each other's humanity and honor all of life on this little blue planet. So here's what I believe needs to happen. This is my prescription for truly changing the current situation.

1. Limit your exposure to current events. Don't worry, even if you don't go on Facebook or switch on the TV you will know what's happening in the world but you will discover it without the added dose of fear and drama. You control how you hear what's happening. I've done this, and its effects are quite remarkable. Watching the same tragedy over and over again means you are reliving the situation over and over again basically giving yourself post traumatic stress disorder. You've seen what happened, now move on.
2. To change the external we must change the internal. Develop a relationship with yourself. Connect deeply to your heart, your values, your hopes, your dreams. Recognize your fears and learn to love them and forgive them so that you are no longer controlled by them on a subconscious level. I believe practices such as meditation, contemplation, prayer, yoga, art, writing, hiking in nature and any other activity that gives you that sense of infinite possibility, will bring about a change in you on a cellular level. These activities lower your blood pressure, slow your heart rate, activate the creative centers in your brain that allow for new solutions, and fresh ideas to arise. These activities will bring your body to homeostasis and this in turn allows you to reconnect to your deeper self, creative solutions arise unexpectedly. You become less reactive and more responsive. You shift into your own power, which is far, far greater than your panicked reactions.
3. Do something. As my beloved Yogi Bhajan said, 'when the pressure is on you, just start". Doing something after you have connected to your heart, your values, your hopes and dreams is key. If you want the world to be kinder, practice kindness. If you want more peace in the world don't go to war with ANYONE. These are things we can do on an interpersonal level. On a larger level affect the change you want to see by voting according to your beliefs, no excuses. Donate to causes that you feel passionate about. Volunteer your time to feel empowered and proactive and to feel the camaraderie and support of like minded people. When you give of your time, money or whatever you have to give, you receive the greatest gift of all. You get to feel compassionately connected and powerfully alive. Recognize how powerful you are and don't shy away from that. Embrace it, stay centered, stay true and most of all stay focused on what you want, not what you don't want. Think of your attention as the powerful fuel that it is and chose carefully to whom and to what you give it.

As Marianne Williamson said "our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure". We are being challenged to step into that fear, dissolve it and act from a place of love. Keep choosing love.