There’s A LOT going on in the outer world right now isn’t there…
If I focus for too long on what’s happening all around the world, I begin to feel overwhelmed with it all. I feel the despair and pain that so many are going through right now and compassion for all that is going on for each individual. Few of us don’t know someone or several people, if not ourself, whose lives have been totally turned upside down from the pandemic. Then there is current situation in Afghanistan and all those that are directly impacted by it, the fires, floods and earthquakes around the globe, the shootings, racism, and everything else that is going on globally and individually.
If we focus on it all at once, it’s no wonder it becomes overwhelming and yet in some way it’s also easy to generalise it all because it might not be happening to us personally….let’s never forget that these are individual people experiencing overwhelming challenge, pain and uncertainty.
Perhaps, the question is, what does it stir up in us individually? Is it more empathy and compassion towards ALL other human beings? Understanding? Action? Denial? Detachment? Judgement? Anger? Love? Overwhelm? Guilt? All of the above?
I recently posted this beautiful piece about the two wolves inside of us all because it at these such times in the world when our decision to feed fear or love is so critical. When so much in the world is seemingly beyond our control, it’s even more important to own the bits that are in our control. It is down to us all as individuals as to whether we contribute thoughts, feelings, choices and actions from love or whether we add to the fear by sending out our own vibrations, thoughts, feelings, choices and actions derived from fear.
That choice is ours.
We might not be able to impact every individual in the entire world….but we all choose what we contribute to the world we live in.
We can choose what kind of human being we are.
We can choose to feed fear…or we can choose to magnify and live as love.
I have long been talking about the importance of learning to navigate the normal positive and negative thoughts, feelings and emotions that arise for us all as we navigate life. When we don’t have the ability to do this, the effects can be devastating both to ourselves and to others.
If we wish the world, as well as our own internal one, to change then it has to start with ourselves. We have to become more disciplined at owning our thoughts, feelings, choices and actions. We have to decide whether we want to choose love, even when we feel pain, or whether we abandon ourselves to the devastating effects and impact of unresolved fear and pain. It’s often easier said than done.
Choosing love is a practical day-to-day choice. It takes effort.
Choosing love is being more disciplined to address our own anxiety, pain and fear. It means choosing to be more patient with each other. It means choosing to spend our time on the things that contribute to bettering our own lives and the lives of others. Maybe that’s being more present with loved ones, a few kind words to a stranger, or honest feedback to a work colleague or friend. Choosing love means being more determined to move past the things that get in the way of achieving greater success and wellbeing, whether that’s at work, how we work, or in how we live. It means choosing success and wellbeing for ourselves AND others.
Choosing love means being more loving, kind and supportive with yourself. It means being more disciplined in catching the moment-to-moment thoughts that arise from that harsh inner-critic holding you in lack and fear. I recently did a free 30-Day Becoming Your-Own-Best-Friend-Self Challenge to support those of you that struggle with this, so you can check that out HERE.
I say this with the most loving respect and compassion….you really can’t blame what you choose for yourself on others. The reality is that it’s on you! As what I choose is on me. We can choose to feed the fear of our own-worst-enemy-self or we can choose to support yourself more with love. It’s a moment-by-moment choice. That’s why getting present in the moment is so key.
The very point of learning to be more present in the moment is so that we can recognise what we ourselves are bringing to it. To recognise this is TOTALLY life changing. It helps us to see where we ourselves create much of our own suffering and it moves us out of a victim mindset into an empowered one.
The time to choose is NOW. The time to act is NOW.
We can all do our bit in our own way. When I look at the events of the world, it inspires me to do better myself. It inspires me to help others more, not only so that they can improve their own lives for themselves, but in knowing the ripple effects of me, and them, and you doing so. This is why I am literally obsessive about all the work I do!
For those of you that like the way I cover these topics in our everyday life then do check out my new Ultimate Resilience Programme where I have literally pulled together the best tools and practical knowledge to help you to manage your inner-world so that you can better navigate your outer-one.
On this subject, someone whose work I really resonate with and am so grateful that he continues to do, is that of Joe Dispenzia. He explains so eloquently what I mean when I talk about the importance of managing our internal world because of the fact it creates our outer one, so I encourage you to check out his work on how we change and just how powerful we are in our ability to change anything in our lives. I came across this seminar he did a while back that I think explains it well…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bosWJ2DsY4o
To choose fear is effortless….to choose love takes focus, effort, courage, commitment, and stepping into the very potential that we all have.
We all have our own personal buttons that trigger us into fear or pain. I too have those moments. Every time we get triggered into pain or fear; every time we feel depressed or anxious; those feelings and reactions are showing us where we need to do more work, where we need to be more loving, honour how we feel, and to dig deep into trying our best into choosing who we want to be rather than who our pain or fear would invite us into being.
It takes effort. It’s hard sometimes. But we must never lose sight of what it is we wish to create or who it is we wish to be. It’s catching ourself in those moments when we abandon love for fear.
It’s one choice at a time.
The world events continue to invite us more and more into overcoming our own personal fears and limitations to live, in a practical and embodied everyday-life-way, of being more wholeheartedly LOVE.
If nothing else…..I really don’t like the evidence of the alternative….I definitely don’t always get it right, though I never want to lose the courage to at least try….
How about you?
As Viktor Frankl so wisely said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Do you choose fear or love?
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