As some posts point out, we’re all driven by a combination of love and fear. Some of us believe more in love while others believe more in fear. You could say some of us live more out of a love for being and creation, while others live more out of a fear of suffering and death, the Impulse to Be in the moment versus the Impulse to Survive over time. Finding a healthy balance between the two is the challenge we all face, individually and collectively.
If we want to know where we stand on the continuum between love and fear, we must observe how we react when we see a blade of grass bursting through the concrete in our driveway. Do we react in disgust over the cost and inconvenience it creates for us, or do we marvel at the power of the Will to Be that is demonstrated by that tiny blade of grass, bursting through solid concrete and breaking it asunder? Do we see the glass as half full or half empty? Love sees it as half full and fear sees it as half empty.
The American Conservative worldview is essentially fear-based. It is defined by a distorted view of life in the jungle. Unlike men, animals do not kill for fun or to maintain their lifestyle, they kill to survive. Conservatives often express the belief that we all have one life to live and that every man is an island. This belief forgets that all islands are connected to, and dependent upon, the stability of the land below the surface of the water. This limited view of reality breeds fear and supports the common belief among Conservatives that their ends justify any means. Always in fear of their security, enough is never enough.
When individuals project fear into the world, is it any wonder they want to spend so much money on defensive aggression? Is it any wonder they find ways to do it at other people’s expense? When we let fear and an overly demanding and controlling culture prevent us from seeing the magic and wonder of who we are and what reality is, we lose confidence in ourselves and put our faith in others. Our vision becomes clouded and we fail to see truths that are right in front of us.
Think of the universe for a moment. What else but the love of being and creation can support and maintain such a massive construction? What else but the love of being and creation can support the health and well-being of a human body over a lifetime, despite whatever mental or physical abuse we may visit upon it? Love opens our eyes to the magic and wonder of All That Is, while fear blinds us to it.
Change begins within. By understanding the difference between love and fear and the reality each creates, we can become conscious creators of our reality, not the victims of it. Instead of mucking about on the surface of consciousness, which is too large and complex to gain meaning from, it’s easier if we go to the heart of what drives human behavior: love and fear, the Will to Be versus the Will to Survive. Like seeds in the ground, the attention we give to one or the other of these two creative viewpoints will germinate and grow into the reality we experience, buildings, people and all. Until we change our relationship with love and fear, we will continue to create the same kind of reality we have been creating.
During childhood, many of us learn to think we’re bad, untrustworthy, inferior or undeserving. Failing to love or trust ourselves, we accept dependence on outside authority and external judgments of right and wrong, good and bad, guilt and punishment. We do less thinking and imagining for ourselves and do more following. Instead of examining and changing old beliefs that no longer serve us, we defend them as if they are us!
From a spiritual perspective, there is no right or wrong, good or bad, guilt or punishment; there just IS! There is what works for us, and what doesn’t, what makes us happy and what doesn’t. When we stop making judgments based on external values that define good and bad, right and wrong, and start paying attention to what works for us and makes us happy, our powers of observation and discernment improve, as well as our imagination. Our awareness and understanding expands and we become more conscious of, and responsible for, the role we play in creating our personal and shared reality.
If we stop to think about it, we’ll see that we all want to organize our lives in terms of what works for us and makes us happy. It’s what we want to do, but fear of judgment (social disapproval) makes us suppress our natural impulses by labeling them “bad”. They are not bad and we are not bad; it is our ideas about who we are that are bad or less than ideal. We all want to love and be loved. In a psychological environment of fear and competition, however, that is difficult to do. Love is the only way we can create peace in our minds, and the world; it is the light and the way.
If others don’t love, trust or believe in us, we must love, trust, and believe in ourselves, and them. We must provide each other encouragement and give ourselves room to grow. Fear and judgment imprison us while love and understanding set us free.
Seek the greatest understanding and serve the highest good, is an excellent motto! It encourages us to look for our own answers and, in the process, discover the power of imagination and inner awareness. This is another natural inclination hidden inside all of us. When we learn to listen to the whispers of the soul instead of the voices of frightened men, we will evolve beyond the experience of unnatural, self-induced fear, competition and violence. Making sense out of life and developing a healthy perspective is the greatest gift we can give ourselves, and the world.
What can be more exciting, or worth doing, than changing ourselves, and the world, for the better?
Roger “Pete” Peterson – http://realtalkworld.com
RightThinkingOne, on Alternet wrote, in response to Roger Peterson:
You have articulated precisely why we should get back to our Founding principles.
Remember the second word in the phrase, “the PURSUIT of happiness.” This is not any guarantee, and no person or entity can tell another what his or her happiness is. Or whether his idea of happiness fits in with another’s. What has misdirected this, in large part, is a specific role of government that changed: Today, the government is expected to become involved in the economy. This should remain something private, not public.
In other words, the expected role of government is something that has changed. The people are actually expecting something from government that IT CANNOT AND NEVER WILL be able to provide: Economic security, guarantees and stability.
So, when the inevitable changes come, the people ask for MORE government. But government will never be able to fulfill this role, and the promises of the socialists never will, either.
So, why are people so willing and eager to want the government to take this role that should be in the private realm? We want the government to stay out of our bedrooms, but why not out of our economic lives as well?
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
How you define yourself, and the world around you, forms your intent, which, in turn, forms your reality. – Seth
We create our reality from what we choose to believe about ourselves, and the world.
If we do not CONSCIOUSLY choose our own beliefs, we UNCONSCIOUSLY absorb them from our surroundings.
If we must live with the consequences of our beliefs, can we afford NOT to question them?
The more we love and appreciate ourselves, the better we treat ourselves, and the world.
Blessings of love and understanding be to us all.
The secrets of the universe lie hidden in the shadows of your experience. Look for them!
Change yourself, and the world, for the better with Philosophy On T-Shirts! POTS
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