AnEmotionalTeetertotterI am teetering between absolute hope and uncomfortable doubt. The vacillating between these two emotional perspectives sometimes leaves me perched somewhere in the middle. A place of almost no movement. A neutral zone where both possibilities exist and hold sway when given attention or weight.

I read a short message from someone who has been a promoter of the awakening spiritual journey for some time now. Suddenly they are questioning everything. They feel betrayed by their beliefs in the ongoing journey of mankind to something more harmonious than what we have been able to muster in the last few thousand years. They doubt whether it is possible for us to save ourselves before the complete destruction of sustainable life (for humans!) on this planet. They are questioning their faith in their spirituality and their guiding principles. It is all up for grabs for them.

Their message puts my own doubts on the loudspeaker. Their message resonates with the part of me that does not trust our ability to shift from war, greed, anger and despair to co-creation, co-existence, compassion and care. The journey between these two polarities seems so far apart. When I allow this aspect of myself to hold my attention, there is plenty of fodder in our news cycles to confirm our spiral downwards and commitment to violence and destruction.

Still.., there is another part of me that believes we are at a crucial turning point. A tipping point that represents the final stage of our need for separation. Where we realize that our true differences has little to do with the color of our skin, gender, nationality, religion or who we love and more to do with how we behave and treat one another. Perhaps this separation is no more obvious than in the hoarding of wealth and resources. Where those ‘with’ exploit those ‘without’.

When we begin to see and realize that we are all in this together, perhaps that is when the great shifts will happen faster than any of us can imagine.

But it means breaking down centuries of ‘dividing up’ the preverbal pie! Claiming as much as we can for ourselves out of fear or scarcity. That belief that if we don’t ‘take it’, there will be none left. If we don’t dominate, we will be dominated. Energetically we are embodying these beliefs because the systems we have developed, model these behaviors to us everyday. So much so, that they feel normal. Governments, corporations, industry, financial, medical, pharmaceutical, legal, educational, cultural, and religious organizations and systems feed us this ‘us against them’ dogma.

But we are culpable. These are systems that we build. We have been the ones who have not only allowed them.., we have nurtured them! We have given our personal authority to them. We have made them more significant and more important that we are. We treat them as ‘more important’ than the individual. We have created separation between ourselves and the systems we created.

This awareness is where my absolute hope lives. It may not be as obvious as all the dark, self-centered and manipulative stories we hear and see. But there are a lot of us who our finding our way back to our own authority. Choosing what feels right and aligned for us, even when it goes against the status quo or what we’re told. Looking for meaning, embracing uniqueness, celebrating our connection and oneness with those around us.

There are tons of these stories of awareness and change that are out there too. They are harder to find because the media as it currently exists, serves the systems we’ve created instead of us. Yet, we are finding these beacons of hope and inspiration. And this is how real sustainable change will occur. Within each of us.

I may be experiencing an emotional teeter-totter… But I am putting my attention and weight on the side of hope. Where are you putting your focus?

With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles