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Sunday Story…Insanity
I recently attended a talk by a developer in our area extolling all the wonderful developments coming soon to our area. He said several things that got me thinking and wondering. One of the most disturbing things was his comment about the new freeway exchange being built. A mere 140 million dollars or so BUT (here’s the interesting thing) it isn’t costing us any money. The federal government is footing most of the bill with a little from the state government. Wait a second…whose money is that? Don’t I fund the federal government through my tax dollars? Aren’t the highway fees paid in part by gas taxes, road taxes and taxes on trucks and things? And don’t those taxes get passed back to me the consumer in the form of higher prices? So it seems to me that I am in fact paying for that highway improvement. Just like I am going to pay for the bailout package and the stimulus bill and the rest of the bills we are inventing. I find this kind of attitude more than a little disturbing. This is the kind of attitude that got us here in the first place. You know the one…I am not responsible for the things that are happening to me. They are just happening. We are responsible for everything that happens to us. We are responsible for learning the lessons the universe presents to us. It seems to me everyone is waiting for things to “go back to normal”. A return to rampant building and growth and non-sustainable living practices. And when things get back to normal then we can all go back to doing all the things that got us here in the first place. WHAT??? We are going to do the same things and expect a different result?
I am responsible for my life. I am responsible for the world I live in, the people, and the way it looks. Everything about my life is trying to teach me something. My job is to learn the lessons and move forward. Please, please, please, do not tell me the lesson is to see how many big box retailers I can get in my town or how large my house is, or how much stuff I can accumulate. Because if that is the lesson, I quit. Now. No mas, no mas. Come on folks, the lesson is about living in harmony. Living in ways that sustain you and me and the world around us. Get all the stuff you want as long as it is harmonious to the purpose your are living and the evolution of your soul. Make tons of money if that is harmonious and mindful for you and the rest of us. But stop eating just to eat. Stop buying just to have the next thing. Stop doing things because that is the way you have always done them. Do things, buy things, eat with intention. With responsibility. With knowledge that what you are doing today has an affect 7 generations down the road.
Remember the things about MY STUFF? About all the would’ves, could’ves, should’ves, if only this or that hadn’t happened. All the stuff you are have accumulated; all the stories about your life you keep telling yourself? Well, this responsibility thing grows from there. If I am responsible for my stuff, then I can start learning the lessons. And if we all start learning the lessons then our society and culture might have a chance at changing. Or I can keep living in my own small little shell blaming the rest of the world for what is going on. And continuing to do what I have always done, which will get me more of what I have already gotten.
This is insanity folks. Pure unadulterated insanity of the first order. Stop this merry go round, I want off. But Wait (you knew that was coming, right?)…I created this merry go round, I am the engine that drives this merry go round and I am the person who can stop, start, or change directions for this merry go round. ME. I am responsible. It’s my job to see that this merry go round is working for me. Not anyone else’s job. But wait…I am one voice crying in the wilderness, how can I change any of this?
First, start living in ways that are harmonious and intentional. Eat your food with the intention of nourishing your body and soul.
Second, start feeding your mind enriching literature and information. Eliminate stinking thinking by eliminating the dreck that passes for entertainment and information. Sit in nature. Sit in silence for a part of every day.
Third, live a transparent responsible, purposeful life. Like it or not you are a role model…for yourself at the very least. Your life is your legacy. Not the stuff you are going to leave behind. Let us see you. Let us see the choices you are making. Let us see how a life of purpose and harmony might look. We will all learn something from you.
Fourth, get out from behind your desk, off the couch, wake up from your hibernation and get involved in the world. It is your responsibility to make the world look the way you want it to look. If you don’t like something change it…Change it first in your heart, your home, your community and the world will change. Be the change you want to see in the world.
So…now what are you waiting for?
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
Join my blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com or find me on Facebook. More stuff coming soon…
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday Story...What's Next
Sunday Story…What’s Next?
I received a comment after last weeks story (go to http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ to read it) about what to do next? Basically it went like this…you’re right I have some stuff I have been dragging around that isn’t serving me. But what am I supposed to do about it. It isn’t like I can donate it to Goodwill or just flush it down the toilet! You know what my answer was right? Yes, I went there…I guess you will have to read the next Sunday Story! And here we are.
SO…What’s Next with MY Stuff
Looking around…at My Stuff, I see a number of things that I really need to lose, shift, change or transform. And I see some stuff I really like, stuff I want to keep, stuff that is serving me. Let’s face it, My Stuff is comfortable. I like MY Stuff, after all it is mine! But if you want to get rid of some of your MY Stuff here is a way in 3 easy steps!
Step One: Take a look. Get some perspective and do some introspection. Get really, really honest with yourself. Here is an interesting little exercise…write down 10 things about yourself that you don’t think anyone knows and that you don’t really want people to know. Now, take a look at the list. The things are not important. What is important is WHY you don’t want anyone to know about them. Is it shame, guilt, fear of judgment? Where are those feelings coming from? What is the root of those feelings? That is where your MY Stuff is coming from. When you were 4 years old and you got your hand slapped for some infraction and you created “rule” that has informed your life choices since then. Does that rule really serve you? Really? For instance…When I was about 14 I wrote a poem about death and dying, about water and drowning and how it might feel to be dead. You would have thought I had just written the Communist Manifesto. Counseling, conversations with parents, teachers, etc. all ensued. I decided that telling people what I really felt was not such a good idea. And even deeper than that, I decided that being creative, especially in writing was a really bad idea. This served me in ways over the years. In some ways it served to keep me safe in places where it would have been dangerous to express myself. But the cost was the stifling of creativity that injured my soul every time I did it. SO…not really serving me.
Step Two: Figure out how to re-frame your story. Give people the benefit of the doubt, they are most often doing what they think is right and in your best interest. Create a new story around the event. You can’t change the “what’s so” but you can change the “what’s it mean”. So I was 14 and I wrote something that was provocative (hard to believe, I know) and threatening and scary and yes, I really did wonder what it might be like to drown and be dead. My parents were worried (and rightfully so). They reacted in a way that made sense to them. They did not do it to stifle me, or to create a schism in my psyche. So instead of saying to me that writing and being self expressed is not safe, my story now, is that when I write I elicit strong and powerful reactions in people. My writing is emotional and meaningful and creates a visceral response in my readers. See how much more powerful that story is than the other one. The one that has me running and hiding from my talent? This story empowers me and honors the talent and purpose I am here to fulfill.
Step Three: Give your old story a send off with gratitude and blessings. It served you and kept you over these last few years. Forgive anyone who needs to be forgiven around the event. Love the young you that made the “rules” in the face of incomplete and immature knowledge.
Start doing the thing(s) that your previous rules would not let you do. Take baby steps, be gentle with yourself as you rediscover a part of yourself that has been buried and protected for all this time. A large part of what you are reading these days is a result of this process. 5 years ago this effort would have been impossible. I would not have allowed myself the freedom to expose my thoughts and emotions in this way. By changing my story, by letting go of MY Stuff, I found my voice, my muse that propels me, and I healed that hole in my soul that needs to write and be self expressed.
Are you willing to let go of your stuff in 3 easy steps? There is the blueprint to start re-building the authentic and transparent self the world is waiting for. Pretty simple isn’t it? Here is the small print (no, my attorney didn’t write it!)---this is not an easy process, you will be scraping layers of gunk and debris away from parts of you, parts you have hidden for some time. This may leave you raw and irritated. The people around you might not understand why you are doing this. Side Effects may include soul retrieval, self love, return of playful joy and a childish giggle.
On the other hand…you can keep it the way it is (not!) Look folks; the world is changing, shifting, evolving. We need to find our purpose, the purpose we were put her to do and then live into that purpose. Your job is to live into that purpose. And it is going to be very difficult to do that if you are dragging all those old stories and beliefs around behind you. You get to decide who and what you are. You CAN change the past by changing the story you are telling about it. And you can live into the future the same way. Create your life by creating the stories you tell about it!
Subscribe to my blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ . For personal focus coaching, goal setting, physical, nutritional, and emotional transformation, and storytelling contact me at jmariotti@gbis.com.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
I received a comment after last weeks story (go to http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ to read it) about what to do next? Basically it went like this…you’re right I have some stuff I have been dragging around that isn’t serving me. But what am I supposed to do about it. It isn’t like I can donate it to Goodwill or just flush it down the toilet! You know what my answer was right? Yes, I went there…I guess you will have to read the next Sunday Story! And here we are.
SO…What’s Next with MY Stuff
Looking around…at My Stuff, I see a number of things that I really need to lose, shift, change or transform. And I see some stuff I really like, stuff I want to keep, stuff that is serving me. Let’s face it, My Stuff is comfortable. I like MY Stuff, after all it is mine! But if you want to get rid of some of your MY Stuff here is a way in 3 easy steps!
Step One: Take a look. Get some perspective and do some introspection. Get really, really honest with yourself. Here is an interesting little exercise…write down 10 things about yourself that you don’t think anyone knows and that you don’t really want people to know. Now, take a look at the list. The things are not important. What is important is WHY you don’t want anyone to know about them. Is it shame, guilt, fear of judgment? Where are those feelings coming from? What is the root of those feelings? That is where your MY Stuff is coming from. When you were 4 years old and you got your hand slapped for some infraction and you created “rule” that has informed your life choices since then. Does that rule really serve you? Really? For instance…When I was about 14 I wrote a poem about death and dying, about water and drowning and how it might feel to be dead. You would have thought I had just written the Communist Manifesto. Counseling, conversations with parents, teachers, etc. all ensued. I decided that telling people what I really felt was not such a good idea. And even deeper than that, I decided that being creative, especially in writing was a really bad idea. This served me in ways over the years. In some ways it served to keep me safe in places where it would have been dangerous to express myself. But the cost was the stifling of creativity that injured my soul every time I did it. SO…not really serving me.
Step Two: Figure out how to re-frame your story. Give people the benefit of the doubt, they are most often doing what they think is right and in your best interest. Create a new story around the event. You can’t change the “what’s so” but you can change the “what’s it mean”. So I was 14 and I wrote something that was provocative (hard to believe, I know) and threatening and scary and yes, I really did wonder what it might be like to drown and be dead. My parents were worried (and rightfully so). They reacted in a way that made sense to them. They did not do it to stifle me, or to create a schism in my psyche. So instead of saying to me that writing and being self expressed is not safe, my story now, is that when I write I elicit strong and powerful reactions in people. My writing is emotional and meaningful and creates a visceral response in my readers. See how much more powerful that story is than the other one. The one that has me running and hiding from my talent? This story empowers me and honors the talent and purpose I am here to fulfill.
Step Three: Give your old story a send off with gratitude and blessings. It served you and kept you over these last few years. Forgive anyone who needs to be forgiven around the event. Love the young you that made the “rules” in the face of incomplete and immature knowledge.
Start doing the thing(s) that your previous rules would not let you do. Take baby steps, be gentle with yourself as you rediscover a part of yourself that has been buried and protected for all this time. A large part of what you are reading these days is a result of this process. 5 years ago this effort would have been impossible. I would not have allowed myself the freedom to expose my thoughts and emotions in this way. By changing my story, by letting go of MY Stuff, I found my voice, my muse that propels me, and I healed that hole in my soul that needs to write and be self expressed.
Are you willing to let go of your stuff in 3 easy steps? There is the blueprint to start re-building the authentic and transparent self the world is waiting for. Pretty simple isn’t it? Here is the small print (no, my attorney didn’t write it!)---this is not an easy process, you will be scraping layers of gunk and debris away from parts of you, parts you have hidden for some time. This may leave you raw and irritated. The people around you might not understand why you are doing this. Side Effects may include soul retrieval, self love, return of playful joy and a childish giggle.
On the other hand…you can keep it the way it is (not!) Look folks; the world is changing, shifting, evolving. We need to find our purpose, the purpose we were put her to do and then live into that purpose. Your job is to live into that purpose. And it is going to be very difficult to do that if you are dragging all those old stories and beliefs around behind you. You get to decide who and what you are. You CAN change the past by changing the story you are telling about it. And you can live into the future the same way. Create your life by creating the stories you tell about it!
Subscribe to my blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ . For personal focus coaching, goal setting, physical, nutritional, and emotional transformation, and storytelling contact me at jmariotti@gbis.com.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sunday Story...My Stuff
First a note:
To all of you who comment on these stories…THANK YOU. I live for your comments. And I am not always able to answer each of you, so my apologies. I will get better. Please keep commenting.
Sunday Story…My Stuff
I have stuff. Lots of stuff. We all have stuff. Lots of stuff. Look around your life and check out all the stuff you have. In a world where having more than one pair of shoes makes me wealthy I am a millionaire and some of my friends, well, let’s say they are on the Warren Buffet/Bill Gates scale. The same goes for cars, clothes, TVs, and electronic gadgets (including the one I am using to write this on!). How much stuff do we really need? Do we really need any more stuff? We all know our stuff can’t follow us past this life. Most of our stuff won’t be any good in a few months or years. What do you have today that you had 10 years ago? Not much I would guess. And of the stuff you have had more than 10 years how often are you still enjoying it?
BUT…this is not the stuff I want to talk about today. The stuff in the paragraph above is the clutter and detritus of your modern life. My stuff is the stuff I am carrying around with me every day. My preconceived notions and ideas about the “way things should be.” My beliefs about myself and the world around me. It was not that long ago that the majority of people believed the world was flat. That is the stuff I am talking about. Humans are “meaning” making machines. We love to have things with meaning. Over the course of my life things have happened. All kinds of things. I have chosen to interpret or create meaning for those events. The meaning I assigned to those events becomes My Stuff.
How much of My Stuff is still serving me? In my garage, I have a pair of polished cow horns. You know the kind I am talking about…huge, about 4 feet from tip to tip, highly polished, the sort you might see in a ranch house over the fireplace, or on the front of a big ole Cadillac in Texas. These horns were pretty cool and very decorative when I lived on a ranch in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Now they are collecting dust in my garage, as they really don’t fit in with the asian-buddha décor in my current home. Those horns are no longer serving me. The opinions of myself I formed when I was 4 years old no longer serve me. The attitudes I created to protect my ego when I was 13 may not be the best attitudes for my adult self to be walking around with. This is the My Stuff I should be inspecting and jettisoning if it no longer serves me.
We often say “seeing is believing”. I want to see it in front of me before I want to believe it. So why, when you look in the mirror and see an adult looking back at you, do you let the little child hiding in the back of your psyche control and manipulate your life? We live in a world with abundant resources for knowledge and personal growth. There are so many places for you (and I) to go to create new meanings for the various events in our lives. There is no reason for any of us to stay mired in the mud of self pity and infantile attitudes. Actually now that I just wrote that…there is reasons for you to stay stuck in your My Stuff…it’s easy and it’s comfortable. It does not require you to do anything. If you want to lose some of your “My Stuff”, you will have to get off the couch, put the remote down and DO something. And the first thing you will have to do is take a look and see what sort of “My Stuff” you have been carrying around all these years. And then decide if any of it is really serving you, helping you create the life you want to live. After you open that door the rest is simple. Not easy but simple. Create new stories for the things that happened in your life. Take responsibility for what happened; it is your life after all.
This is part and parcel of the work required of us as humans. This is the evolution of your soul. How many stories have I sent you of people doing amazing things in spite of challenging things in their lives. Remember Nick the man with no arms? Amazing. The kid with cancer whose “make a wish wish” wasn’t Disney land or a Sports figure but to create a foundation for an orphanage in Africa to have a school? By the way, Make a wish had a real problem with that one…apparently they just had a hard time getting their stuff around it. What makes those individuals Stuff different than the next person with the same challenges? It is the story they are telling themselves…the Stuff they are carrying.
My Stuff is mine. I get to decide if I am going to keep it and let it run my life. Or not. Maybe My Stuff needs to be thrown out in favor of some new “My Stuff”. Get some modern stuff that will serve the person I am today and the person I want to be tomorrow and next week and next year. I get to work on My Stuff. Or not. My Decision. Your Decision.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
To all of you who comment on these stories…THANK YOU. I live for your comments. And I am not always able to answer each of you, so my apologies. I will get better. Please keep commenting.
Sunday Story…My Stuff
I have stuff. Lots of stuff. We all have stuff. Lots of stuff. Look around your life and check out all the stuff you have. In a world where having more than one pair of shoes makes me wealthy I am a millionaire and some of my friends, well, let’s say they are on the Warren Buffet/Bill Gates scale. The same goes for cars, clothes, TVs, and electronic gadgets (including the one I am using to write this on!). How much stuff do we really need? Do we really need any more stuff? We all know our stuff can’t follow us past this life. Most of our stuff won’t be any good in a few months or years. What do you have today that you had 10 years ago? Not much I would guess. And of the stuff you have had more than 10 years how often are you still enjoying it?
BUT…this is not the stuff I want to talk about today. The stuff in the paragraph above is the clutter and detritus of your modern life. My stuff is the stuff I am carrying around with me every day. My preconceived notions and ideas about the “way things should be.” My beliefs about myself and the world around me. It was not that long ago that the majority of people believed the world was flat. That is the stuff I am talking about. Humans are “meaning” making machines. We love to have things with meaning. Over the course of my life things have happened. All kinds of things. I have chosen to interpret or create meaning for those events. The meaning I assigned to those events becomes My Stuff.
How much of My Stuff is still serving me? In my garage, I have a pair of polished cow horns. You know the kind I am talking about…huge, about 4 feet from tip to tip, highly polished, the sort you might see in a ranch house over the fireplace, or on the front of a big ole Cadillac in Texas. These horns were pretty cool and very decorative when I lived on a ranch in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Now they are collecting dust in my garage, as they really don’t fit in with the asian-buddha décor in my current home. Those horns are no longer serving me. The opinions of myself I formed when I was 4 years old no longer serve me. The attitudes I created to protect my ego when I was 13 may not be the best attitudes for my adult self to be walking around with. This is the My Stuff I should be inspecting and jettisoning if it no longer serves me.
We often say “seeing is believing”. I want to see it in front of me before I want to believe it. So why, when you look in the mirror and see an adult looking back at you, do you let the little child hiding in the back of your psyche control and manipulate your life? We live in a world with abundant resources for knowledge and personal growth. There are so many places for you (and I) to go to create new meanings for the various events in our lives. There is no reason for any of us to stay mired in the mud of self pity and infantile attitudes. Actually now that I just wrote that…there is reasons for you to stay stuck in your My Stuff…it’s easy and it’s comfortable. It does not require you to do anything. If you want to lose some of your “My Stuff”, you will have to get off the couch, put the remote down and DO something. And the first thing you will have to do is take a look and see what sort of “My Stuff” you have been carrying around all these years. And then decide if any of it is really serving you, helping you create the life you want to live. After you open that door the rest is simple. Not easy but simple. Create new stories for the things that happened in your life. Take responsibility for what happened; it is your life after all.
This is part and parcel of the work required of us as humans. This is the evolution of your soul. How many stories have I sent you of people doing amazing things in spite of challenging things in their lives. Remember Nick the man with no arms? Amazing. The kid with cancer whose “make a wish wish” wasn’t Disney land or a Sports figure but to create a foundation for an orphanage in Africa to have a school? By the way, Make a wish had a real problem with that one…apparently they just had a hard time getting their stuff around it. What makes those individuals Stuff different than the next person with the same challenges? It is the story they are telling themselves…the Stuff they are carrying.
My Stuff is mine. I get to decide if I am going to keep it and let it run my life. Or not. Maybe My Stuff needs to be thrown out in favor of some new “My Stuff”. Get some modern stuff that will serve the person I am today and the person I want to be tomorrow and next week and next year. I get to work on My Stuff. Or not. My Decision. Your Decision.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Sunday Story…Progress
Get to the bottom of this!
Lately, we have been inundated with interesting economic news. Disaster after disaster looms. And not just here…the entire world seems to be in turmoil, economically. I just heard from someone in Europe recently who said and I quote: “I am a bit gutted but I work for the higher end of the business and bookings are low yada yada recession blah blah blah…” The Chinese this, the Indians that, Bonuses for Bankers, Wall Street continues. We need growth, economic growth to continue to fuel our lives. BUT WAIT there’s more…it sounds like Ron Popeil hawking the next great fishing thing or a cook set all coming with that really cool ginsu knife that cuts cans and tomatoes and stays sharp all the time!
We are in trouble as a society and a culture. And we are trying to solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. No offense to our new president but putting a new wrapper on an old idea is like wrapping old fish in new newspaper. Looks good, still stinks. And it is not going to solve the problem long term. How about we do some 180 degree turns? Since you cannot have peace while preparing for war…let cancel the Department of Defense and start the Department of Peace. Instead of the consumer price index, let’s have the consumer happiness index. When it goes up we all benefit! Cancel public works in favor of good works. Instead of bailing out businesses lets educate our children to solve problems instead of taking tests. Federal Bureau of Investigation becomes the Federal bureau of Instigation…how can we instigate new ideas and thinking? Central Intelligence Agency? How about an Emotional Intelligence Agency? Department of Commerce? Maybe Department of Character? Department of the Interior….OK, but only if the Interior refers to the landscape of my soul. Hmmmm…Homeland Security? Maybe Global Security? How about the Surgeon General? You have got to be kidding…no wonder our healthcare is a mess…Maybe we should have a Minister of Health? A department where our health is paramount not our sickness. A Department of Restorative Justice rather than the Department of regular old justice. And we need a Department of Mediation and Reconciliation instead of the Department of Corrections. Internal Revenue? How about a little External Revenue? Attorney General? Czars of this or that? Fighting the war on drugs, poverty, and crime? Maybe we should declare the war over. Stop the bellicose talk and begin the peace talks. Quit naming departments and their heads after out dated martial systems. It isn’t working folks. It is broken. All our efforts to fight this and that epidemic of badness have failed to eradicate it. Oh it changes a little from time to time but really it has not changed.
I am tired of constantly hearing about growth…growing jobs, growing the economy, growing green technology. I want progress. I want to hear about companies that are progressing with their communities through partnerships with people instead of lip service about giving money away while not providing benefits and caring for their employees. I want government to be about people instead of things…like bombs and planes, and humvees. I want government to be progressive about changing the landscape of our minds and souls interior instead mining our mountains, rivers, and valleys.
We have grown. Our population has increased. Our GDP is larger. Lots of things have grown but have we progressed? Do we only measure progress by the size of our Gross Domestic Product? By the size of our revenue stream? Whether or not we have a trade deficit, a balanced budget or a peace hinged on mutually assured destruction? We have traversed into bizarro world. Maybe we should look at the least of us…the elderly, the children, the homeless, the sick, the tired, and the poor. How are they progressing? Are their lives getting any easier? And don’t start the “pull themselves up by the boot straps” conversation. People are living in the canyons west of where I live and other people are mad because “Those People” don’t have any way to dispose of their trash and waste? Shouldn’t we be mad about the fact that they don’t have a place to live? Shouldn’t we, as a society, as a community, want to help those around us who can’t help themselves? This is not progress folks.
Progress is when the least of us is cared for and loved. Can you look at that homeless man and see the little boy he once was? Running playing, hoping and dreaming? Or do you see your own fear and loathing? “Oh God not again. Don’t THESE PEOPLE know any better? Why doesn’t he get a job?” Progress is when our communities are clean and well cared for. Where people can live sustainably, be happy and grow up and old together. Progress is not just when I get to worship the way I want to but when you get to worship your way right next to me and we both smile. Progress is when the elderly are respected as wisdom keepers and the link between generations; their stories are carried forth as learning tools. Progress is when no child goes to bed hungry, scared or in pain. Progress is when a helping hand is there to teach and create an environment of health and healing. Progress means we are becoming the human “being”. Progress meant the entire planet belongs to the family and the family is all of us. Progress is when the Power of Love is more important the love of power (Thanks Jimi).
Oh and by the way…Happy Valentine’s Day…send some love to someone you have a hard time loving.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
Get to the bottom of this!
Lately, we have been inundated with interesting economic news. Disaster after disaster looms. And not just here…the entire world seems to be in turmoil, economically. I just heard from someone in Europe recently who said and I quote: “I am a bit gutted but I work for the higher end of the business and bookings are low yada yada recession blah blah blah…” The Chinese this, the Indians that, Bonuses for Bankers, Wall Street continues. We need growth, economic growth to continue to fuel our lives. BUT WAIT there’s more…it sounds like Ron Popeil hawking the next great fishing thing or a cook set all coming with that really cool ginsu knife that cuts cans and tomatoes and stays sharp all the time!
We are in trouble as a society and a culture. And we are trying to solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. No offense to our new president but putting a new wrapper on an old idea is like wrapping old fish in new newspaper. Looks good, still stinks. And it is not going to solve the problem long term. How about we do some 180 degree turns? Since you cannot have peace while preparing for war…let cancel the Department of Defense and start the Department of Peace. Instead of the consumer price index, let’s have the consumer happiness index. When it goes up we all benefit! Cancel public works in favor of good works. Instead of bailing out businesses lets educate our children to solve problems instead of taking tests. Federal Bureau of Investigation becomes the Federal bureau of Instigation…how can we instigate new ideas and thinking? Central Intelligence Agency? How about an Emotional Intelligence Agency? Department of Commerce? Maybe Department of Character? Department of the Interior….OK, but only if the Interior refers to the landscape of my soul. Hmmmm…Homeland Security? Maybe Global Security? How about the Surgeon General? You have got to be kidding…no wonder our healthcare is a mess…Maybe we should have a Minister of Health? A department where our health is paramount not our sickness. A Department of Restorative Justice rather than the Department of regular old justice. And we need a Department of Mediation and Reconciliation instead of the Department of Corrections. Internal Revenue? How about a little External Revenue? Attorney General? Czars of this or that? Fighting the war on drugs, poverty, and crime? Maybe we should declare the war over. Stop the bellicose talk and begin the peace talks. Quit naming departments and their heads after out dated martial systems. It isn’t working folks. It is broken. All our efforts to fight this and that epidemic of badness have failed to eradicate it. Oh it changes a little from time to time but really it has not changed.
I am tired of constantly hearing about growth…growing jobs, growing the economy, growing green technology. I want progress. I want to hear about companies that are progressing with their communities through partnerships with people instead of lip service about giving money away while not providing benefits and caring for their employees. I want government to be about people instead of things…like bombs and planes, and humvees. I want government to be progressive about changing the landscape of our minds and souls interior instead mining our mountains, rivers, and valleys.
We have grown. Our population has increased. Our GDP is larger. Lots of things have grown but have we progressed? Do we only measure progress by the size of our Gross Domestic Product? By the size of our revenue stream? Whether or not we have a trade deficit, a balanced budget or a peace hinged on mutually assured destruction? We have traversed into bizarro world. Maybe we should look at the least of us…the elderly, the children, the homeless, the sick, the tired, and the poor. How are they progressing? Are their lives getting any easier? And don’t start the “pull themselves up by the boot straps” conversation. People are living in the canyons west of where I live and other people are mad because “Those People” don’t have any way to dispose of their trash and waste? Shouldn’t we be mad about the fact that they don’t have a place to live? Shouldn’t we, as a society, as a community, want to help those around us who can’t help themselves? This is not progress folks.
Progress is when the least of us is cared for and loved. Can you look at that homeless man and see the little boy he once was? Running playing, hoping and dreaming? Or do you see your own fear and loathing? “Oh God not again. Don’t THESE PEOPLE know any better? Why doesn’t he get a job?” Progress is when our communities are clean and well cared for. Where people can live sustainably, be happy and grow up and old together. Progress is not just when I get to worship the way I want to but when you get to worship your way right next to me and we both smile. Progress is when the elderly are respected as wisdom keepers and the link between generations; their stories are carried forth as learning tools. Progress is when no child goes to bed hungry, scared or in pain. Progress is when a helping hand is there to teach and create an environment of health and healing. Progress means we are becoming the human “being”. Progress meant the entire planet belongs to the family and the family is all of us. Progress is when the Power of Love is more important the love of power (Thanks Jimi).
Oh and by the way…Happy Valentine’s Day…send some love to someone you have a hard time loving.
Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
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