There is so much anger, lying, cheating, shaming, bullying, fighting, killing and suicide going on in our world today, which only serves to pit one person against another, one group to fight the other, one nation to invade another. And a myriad of reasons are used to justify those actions: having the wrong beliefs, sex, sexual identity, looks, religion, color, income, wrong station in life, living in the wrong location, having an imperfect body, driving the wrong car … so many reasons conjured up to fear, resent, hate or kill someone.
This “me-against-you” thinking separates people – and often isolates, abuses or violates groups of people in the process – and that never leads to loving, collaborative, productive local and global communities. It doesn’t lead to feeling healthier or happier or having more love, joy and fulfillment in our lives. It only perpetuates more stress, disharmony, fear and inequality.
As long as we focus on trying to change, beat, eliminate or destroy the “opposition”, the battle will never end. We have a long history of nearly constant wars around the world, violence perpetrated by dictators, terrorists from abroad (ISIS, Taliban, Hamas), and our own homegrown terrorists (Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and those who sympathize with them).
According to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center
there are 917 hate groups currently operating in the US.
These groups inflict fear, hatred, violence, murder and, in some places, genocide in their misguided attempt to purge the land of those they deem unworthy, unclean, undesirable or a threat. Their targets can include Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, LGBT, Muslims, Jews, immigrants and any other group of people they’ve decided are inferior or need to be put down. It’s the Hatfield and McCoy feud repeating ad naseum, but on a whole new level.
We need to stop this insanity and get back to the core of who we are. We need to shine light into our own hearts and realize that the most important differences among people – the differences that make the biggest impact in life – are not physical, economical, social, religious, geographic or genetic. The differences that play the biggest role in creating life experiences are found in our minds and hearts.
The mind is the keeper of the thoughts, beliefs, filters and biases that distort our view of what we see, hear and experience daily. These also influence:
- the values we choose to live by
- the boundaries we set for ourselves
- how we judge what we experience
- what we think about other people
- how we see ourselves
- the choices we make
- how we justify our behavior
- the experiences that come our way
- how we experience life
The heart is the keeper of our emotions, opening wide with compassion, kindness and love when we are with people and things we love and accept, and closed and hardened with fear, resentment, jealousy, criticism, anger or hatred toward people and things we don’t like or want.
It is within the heart that we feel love from and for others and from the Creator, but truly, that love is felt throughout our entire body and emanates out for all to see and feel. Have you ever met someone who you instantly liked or loved? When you’re in a loving state, your body and mind recharge and regenerate.
When fear has nested in the heart that, too, is also felt throughout the entire body and emanates out for all to see and feel. Have you ever encountered someone who made you uncomfortable or made your skin crawl? In both instances, as soon as that person entered your sphere of awareness, you were flooded with the vibes emanating from their heart. When you’re in a fearful state, stress, especially prolonged stress, wreaks havoc on your body, immune system and mind.
All too often we lead with our mind, rather than with our heart, and it’s easy to see the results of that throughout our entire world. Lying, cheating, stealing, bullying, and killing is becoming the norm, and it’s time to make a change. A big change!
Unfortunately, nothing will change in our world until we change our minds and hearts. And the only way minds can change is for a higher mindedness to emerge that is connected to our heart. We must release the “me-against-you” attitude and adopt a kinder, empathetic, compassionate “we’re all in this together” approach to our encounters with all people. If we can get past the petty issues we’ll see that deep down inside we ALL want the same things:
- We ALL want to feel loved
- We ALL want someone to love
- We ALL want to feel valued and acknowledged
- We ALL want to feel connected
If we can recognize the tremendous value of diversity, then we can come together to create a better world for us all. Then we all win.
Diversity is the cornerstone of life on Earth with a profound breadth and scope of differences in all creatures that inhabit our little corner of the universe. Plants vary by texture, flavor, color, scent, growth patterns, survival requirements, invasive nature and more. Humans vary by body structure, eye color, hair color, skin texture, skin shade, body scent, athleticism, intelligence, emotional awareness, intuitiveness, skills, talents, knowing and more. No two people are exactly alike, and each person has unique talents and gifts they can offer the world.
More importantly, we each have a thread linking us to Creative Source and all the gifts that come with that link. What we do with that creative power is entirely up to us, so we can use it to fulfill our dreams of living heaven on Earth or we can squander it and experience a living hell.
If you want a happy life, then the right choice is to choose a higher-minded perspective that recognizes and acknowledges that we are all in this together and we have all come from the same Creator. That gives us all a common heritage to build upon, using our gifts of free will, creative energy, purpose, passions, talents and skills to create a better world for us all.
We need to throw out all the cultural, ethnic, political and religious biases that pit us against each other, and embrace our differences in the way we see life as evidence of the massive abundance of options in life. So the more time we spend surrounding ourselves with the things in life we want – and less time focusing on stuff we don’t want – the more joy we experience.
We are, after all, each and every one of us – no exception – connected to Creative Source, and the gift we have been given is the ability to create whatever life we want for ourselves.
Have you created heaven, purgatory or hell?
© 2017 Carol A. James. All rights reserved