November, 2020 I had a wonderful conversation with a friend who voted "across the aisle" from me. I asked her, "What is the good you were seeking with your vote?" She gave me a thoughtful reply, and I, too, agreed with her about concerns related to Constitutional Rights and more. We ended up talking for 90 minutes, always kind and thoughtful, and realized that even though we generally vote for different political parties, WE AGREE ON ABOUT 80%. Sometimes we agreed on our values and not on how to accomplish them. We both felt so peaceful and grateful to have had this heartfelt sharing.
That brings me to now, September, 2021.
Perhaps the greatest commonality all of us have right now, regardless of our political party, work, gender, or other category is FEAR. Folks are afraid of the virus, afraid of the vaccine, afraid of losing Constitutional Rights, afraid of losing friends, family, and employees, afraid of financial stresses, afraid of not being able to get life saving meds, afraid the meds are not safe, afraid of being honest and open, afraid of lies, afraid of censorship for speaking one's truth, and so much more.
Ahhh... so WE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON!
WE ALL WANT TO FEEL SAFE, INCLUDING SAFE TO BE HEALTHY AND TO BE FREE TO MAKE DECISIONS RIGHT FOR OUR BODIES, OUR CHILDREN, OUR COMMUNITY. We may not agree on How to achieve this common need for safety, but / and we seem to agree on this common value. That's a start... yes?
WHAT IF each of us following our truest guidance, which varies greatly from one to the next, can open up more hope, respect, love, compassion, and creative possibilities? What if we are not meant to be all alike? What if we each contribute to our world by being our true forthright and kind selves?
If nothing else, we know that Fear greatly reduces our Immune System's ability to do its best job. What if we can take the fear down a notch and the Love and Safety up a notch? At the least, we'll probably enjoy Life more, and we'll be healthier all around.
I have decided to listen to my internal guidance and follow it moment by moment. I've been doing this consistently for 3 weeks, and I am way less fearful and much happier. This does not mean I don't have very clear boundaries. It just means that they arise in the moment when they are needed.
The rest of the time I can experience life thru the metaphor of a city fire fighter*. Until the time of the alarm, I can relax, enjoy my colleagues, be creative, enjoy life, and when there's a need, I can spring into action and fight the fire. This way, I have more energy to effectively address the concerns when they are front and center.
The only time that WE HAVE POWER IS IN THE NOW. How is the power in your Now guiding you?
In addition to taking action as guided in the moment, I have found these prayers or intentions help me to get thru the day with greater usefulness, more hope, and more joy:
May everyone involved or affected...
~ be able to receive their greatest guidance each moment
~ have the willingness and ability to follow their truest guidance
~ have all the resources they need
~ know and feel they are deeply loved for their true authentic self right now and every now.
With all this in mind, I can stay in centered presence and follow my guidance moment by moment. If we each did this or our version of guidance, I wonder how OUR LIVES AND OUR WORLD MIGHT TRANSFORM FOR THE GOOD.
What do you think? JOIN ME? And WE'LL SEE WHAT'S POSSIBLE!
Choosing AllGood,
Jeanine
https://www.compassions-doorway.net/blog
*I'm not a fire fighter, so please know that I have great respect and appreciation for these wonderful first responders. I'm just using a metaphor that might speak effectively to our nervous system.