Nervous Energy and Superpowers! 10/10/2008 2:48:07 AM
On a Zen level (I’m fond of saying), I find the current national situation quite remarkable. The election, the bailout. Call it a National Restless Leg Syndrome (NRLS).
Nervous energy. On a national level.
I find it far from anything so blithely labeled as “coincidence.” Everything happens for a reason. Here we have a dissatisfied population wanting a change. No longer satisfied in the direction of our leadership, and definitely not happy with the way the economy is/has been going. Much has been made of skin color and gender in this presidential race. It’s one thing to give an idea lip service, quite another to put into action.
Our candidates represent multiple levels of what’s going on during this intense wave of NRLS: youth versus age, old versus new, “maverick” versus status quo. Black versus white (and NOT just a comment on skin color). Specifics versus gray area. War versus peace. Male versus female. Control versus lack thereof. Change versus same.
Change, most change, comes about slowly. But here we’re all at a point, in less than a month, of choosing a new direction for our country. Feeling we have a say, a direct hand in our collective destiny. It’s absolutely rabid. Change is on the way, but what I’m feeling is a general sense of frustration and angst within everyone about how Life Events have unfolded. That we’ve all felt we have had no control over our lives, and here, suddenly, we can finally have some say.
Why is there—“all of a sudden”—an apparent collapse in our way of life (economy)? Why did someone out in the global community have to pick a fight with us, did we really have to go to war, and just how does one “win” a war like this, anyway? How does the rest of the world view us? Look at the carefree lives we’ve been living: flagrant spending, predatory financial practices, ungodly stress. We’ve all fed off each other, each of us allowing the events of today to unfold. It’s all based on MINDSETS. If we all feel we have to “cheat a little” to get ahead, the logical conclusion will eventually befall us. “Business ethics” I’ve mentioned before. Never being happy with what you have. It’s not so much that we have to regulate the hell out of ourselves, as we have to change how we THINK.
This is the superpower we ALL have. And with great power comes great responsibility.
All else will fall into place. This is not just academic theory. It’s not something OTHER PEOPLE have. It’s something we all have. After all, if we all behave responsibly, take individual responsibility for our lives, trust ourselves, what more regulation do we need? We get no better if we don’t change the behavior we give so much lip service to not wanting.
Example: if you get up in a bad mood, we all know it colors not only how we look at the world, but how we DEAL with it. With people. Grumpy behavior carries over into everything. How you greet your children in the morning and send them off to school. How you greet that Starbucks barista who cheerfully gives you your morning latte. How you feel about dealing with your daily office workload and all its politics. AND...how your children, that barista, and your coworkers will react to you. Pass on that attitude you just sloughed off on them, consciously or unconsciously. It’s all related—and that’s just on a superficial level. Your attitude—your INTENT—affect all your decisions, your attitude, your outlook.
Do a good act, and watch how that propagates. Treat people with respect, and watch how that changes the world. Perform acts of kindness with the intent of bettering the world, and watch how THAT spreads across the world. How it impacts absolutely everything you do. How these seemingly small acts CHANGE things. We can’t all be sickeningly happy every second of the day, but how we choose to live life, how we think—our INTENTS—are the overarching principle that will color the umbrella of our lives. We all pick up the spoken and unspoken of everyone we meet. Try to radiate the better qualities we all talk about.
Nervous energy.
Superpowers.
Let’s not let this opportunity pass us by, and let us continue this beyond the election. No matter who we vote into office, we to need change our mindsets, our intents, how we THINK, to effect real, lasting, and positive change. Something no amount of regulation will ever correct. Change—all change—originates from one common source we all have—our minds. Everything we do originates from there.
