In light of current events both personally and on the greater global stage, I find it increasingly difficult for me to approach my everyday existence in a positive manner. The onslaught of national and international news that is almost always negative can really affect my outlook on life. As such, I have been in pursuit of a new perception of the tumultuous happenings across our globe . Quite recently I found a solution. Instead of seeing things as catastrophic, I choose to see that we are changing and growing. Like breaking in brand new shoes, the process can be painful and harsh.
We, world citizens, can no longer walk through life with blinders thinking everything is working in our governing systems. We are being forced to see the resulting perversion of our founding ideals in favor of corporations and religious fundamentalists who ultimately do not consider the needs of populations as important as their agendas. We are being forced to deal with the hoarding of wealth, religious intolerance, institutional limitations on individual freedoms based on gender and sexual orientation. There is a systematic breakdown requiring us to re-examine who we are as humans and which is taking millions prisoner with poverty and ignorance.
I know it is hard to be grateful for this devastatingly difficult period, but I am overjoyed. Not necessarily for the difficulties we are facing personally and as a global community, rather for the opportunity to grow and evolve. Many people’s fundamental beliefs surrounding wealth and freedom have been shaken. We have gotten to a point in our evolution where we are better able to contemplate not just ourselves but others. We have yet again, another opportunity to define who we are through our governments. What makes this time around so interesting and intense is technology. It has allowed us to see first hand and in real time the plights, failures and success of other nations. We learn second hand what the consequences are of specific decisions. The global classroom is in and we are being forced to learn in trimesters rather than semesters. While many desperately cling to ideals from a long gone era, many still are rising from their slumber. And that is a good thing.
Once you are exposed to a new truth it is impossible to return to the limiting belief you had before. You know too much. The number of different protests around the world and the myriad of different causes illustrate an awakening and a willingness to stand for us. Peacefully at times and with forces others.
I can’t wait to see the result of current non-linear thinking in terms of: government power, gender and sexual orientation civil rights, religious tolerance, and living standards for “the average person.” Who said 2012 wasn’t going to be a transformational year?
