Live a life of loving kindness

In a world where we can feel powerless against the ruling ‘elite’ or idiot men bombing each other’s countries and displacing millions of people, we might wonder what we can do when the ground beneath our feet feels so unsteady.

Someone posed the question recently about what do you do when all around the world is going crazy?

My answer is not one of denial, but recognising where my true power lies: to keep my own corner of the world cosy. This doesn’t denote lack of care for others but honours the truth that, unless I’m at the front line or making legal choices or supporting charities who are making a logistical difference, and so on, my humanitarian efforts need to find a different way of expressing.

We are all connected; all drops of water in a large ocean. One person’s words and actions impact another, for better or worse. What is in my power is to create images of a world where all sentient beings are free from suffering. A world where kindness is always the first choice. This constant vision creates a ripple in the quantum field. When enough of us choose to engage in this level of thinking and being, the tide turns. The tipping effect comes into play. Rather than feel helpless, look at what you can do. Choose to elevate your feelings. Show kindness to strangers as well as loved ones. Rather than let flares off if someone has wronged you or you disagree (personally or professionally), breathe into your centre and allow calmness to shift the energy. We don’t have to engage in war, whether that’s home-made human dramas or on a global scale. Power comes from self control. The one thing we always have control over is how we choose to react.

It’s important to ‘fight’ for what you believe in, but you can use a gentle candle flame to illuminate rather than a gas torch which razes everything in sight.

True leadership is not oppressive or controlling but is a wayshower, a holder of the light.

I’ve long held the view that it’s not survival of the fittest but of those who can adapt. So when the world around you feels like a dystopian nightmare, bend like a willow towards utopian values of peace, equality, harmony, cooperation, fairness, sustainability, knowledge. You can let those values lead you, and others, to a kinder world.

Morning sky as viewed from my bedroom

There’s a saying that ‘charity begins at home’. I would say that so too does world peace. We don’t have to be like the so-called ‘leaders’ of this world who think it is ‘fun’ to bomb another. Why is hurting another individual (or country) considered a pleasure? How do we shift the pendulum from war to peace? By making choices that come from that place of loving kindness. That, my friend, is true leadership.