Making the world a better place

On facebook I have been receiving postings from "Save the Children" promoting their Syrian refugee appeal and I looked at some of the comments and was horrified to find such hatred, fear and negativity.

So many of the people making comments are disgusted that "Save the Children" is raising funds for Syrian refugees - they feel the cash should be used for UK children and they are convinced that the majority are terrorists who are going to take over Europe.  The language they use is full of anger and hatred towards Muslims and the comments are just plain nasty.

It saddened me and left me feeling a little weary.  How on earth can people turn their back on those suffering just because of their nationality or religion.  And it was with some relief that I came across this quote from Louis Pasteur, "One does not ask of one who suffers: what is your country and what is your religion? One merely says: You suffer, that is enough for me".

Do people really not realise that we are one?  That what I do affects you and what you do affects me.  The affect may be minimal but add up all the minimal affects and well...we have a world in trouble.  It reminds me a little of this fabulous quote, "When a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world it can cause a hurricane in another part of the world" (Author unknown).

The thing is we want a peaceful and happy world and yet so few of us are actually peaceful and happy within ourselves.  We can be our own worst enemy, we can be damn right nasty to ourselves at times what with the often endless berating and judging and considering we are just not good enough compared to others in this world.

And then what about in our relationships with those closest to us, with our friends and family members, and with those we interact regularly, our work colleagues and those we see in our daily lives. Are these relationships and interactions always peaceful and happy?  Or are they sometimes angry and tense, frustrated and fearful, irritated and volatile.

Because you see the thing is, it really has to start with us.  We have to wake up.  We hear it all the time at the moment huh, "being mindful", "a new consciousness", "being awake".  Well this is what it means.  Waking up, being aware of US, of out thoughts and our behaviour patterns and how these affect our interactions with others and the energy that puts out into the world.

It is one thing to sit on our cushion each day and meditate or to move on our mat practicing yoga asana and quite another to bring it into the real world.  This is where the practice really becomes the practice. In the real world.  With us. With how we are and what we put out into the world.  I mean how can we really hope for a peaceful and happy world, when we struggle to find peace and happiness in our own lives.

And it is very easy to drop into a blame game - it is easy to make our shortfalls and our unhappiness someone else's fault, those refugees or those terrorists or that person who looked at us that way, or that family member who didn't do or say what we wanted them to do or say, that work colleague who wasn't very pleasant to us and on it goes, but ultimately it is up to us to choose how we react to people and events in our life.  And we need to take responsibility for that.

Life is not always easy, there are challenges all over the place, and people can be nasty to us and we can feel wounded and hurt, but we really have to dig deep to love and forgive and let it go.  So easy to say I know.  It keeps appearing in my life too.  There are some people who really challenge me, their actions are not always pleasant and their interactions with me leave me feeling frustrated and exhausted and I know that I need to dig deep and learn to forgive and appreciate their Divine light within and love, love, love.  Sigh. 

And really this is the only way that the world is going to heal.  If we heal.  And there is a lot of darkness, I get that.  But that is the reason it is so important that we make ourselves light.  That we resonate love and compassion so that we can overcome all the anger and fear that is so very, very prevalent in our world at the moment.  We have to let go of the fear and forgive the darkness, forgive the fear and the darkness within us then. Honestly the more you can let go of, the more you can forgive within yourself, the lighter you will feel and indeed resonate and the lighter the world.  Seriously.

And this is where we come back to the need for us all to take responsibility for our SELVES.  Our soul. Our Divinity.  It is time to embrace our light and embrace the Divine in our lives. As Marion Woodman writes, "The point is that the loss of soul connection, loss of connection to our femininity, may be the real cause of our anguished condition. Living without our soul leaves an ache in our belly that nothing else can fill. When you connect more consciously with your soul, her wisdom and grace will help you with everything in your busy life. Soul wok isn't another "thing" to "do" in your life. It is your life".

Furthermore, as written by Sera Beak in her book, "Red Hot & Holy" (a fascinating read if you are into the Divine), "According to Woodman and other experts, our lack of soul connection is projected into the world around us. We can witness it in environmental devastation, rampant consumerism, political corruption, economic crisis, 50 percent divorce rate, body-image disorders, poverty, abuse, rape, and a host of other unhealthy epidemics we are currently facing. Sufi teacher Anat Aughan-Lee says, "What we deny ourselves we deny to all of life. In denying the feminine her sacral powers and purpose, we have impoverished life on personal and global levels in ways we do not understand".

The polls are in: if we dare to continue withour our souls, life as we know it will end. There is simply no more time for denial....In this day and age, more than any other time in history, we need to be consciously connecting with our soul as much as we need to be breathing air...As the world continues to change, she is our wisest adviser, our natural-born leader, communicating the best course of action for us and for this planet. She is our inner reality check. Learning to follow internal divine direction before external direction is not just an airy-fairy spiritual ideal; it directly affects human and planetary survival. It is the most practical and more compassionate thing we can do - and the most natural".

It really is time.  To listen. Deep. Within.

Time to be quiet.  To sit and to be still. To practice yoga and focus on your breath. To take time in nature and feel its energy. To get our feet on the earth. To open our hearts.  And to be fearless and courageous and have the strength, have the STRENGTH to LISTEN, to truly listen to what your soul is saying. Because sometimes that is the hardest part because quite often the soul is trying to tell us that we need to make changes.  And quite often we have to be prepared to face our SHADOW SIDE (more about this another time).

The Divine, the Divine, the Divine.

And we can talk about what we need to do.  And we can get all spiritual and all "love and light" and use a million superlatives in our dialogue. And we can read a zillion yoga and meditation books.  And we can wear Mala Beads and expensive yoga attire. But we need to do some work.  We need to incorporate all that we know to be true, our deepest truth as compassionate and loving human be-ings, our longings, into our life. 

I just love what Caroline Myss writes, "Talking about spiritual teachings, and reading about them, is not a substitute for living them on a daily basis in the arena of your life. You must be willing to incarnate your theology and illuminate the world around you with the power if your soul, a power that ironically may not even require your voice at times. Such power comes through even in silence. Your sole/soul requirement is to commit to being devoted to your inner authority - to the divine. That devotion will give you the will to follow through on all that you are guided to do, say, and become in this life."

So truly, it is time. It is time to turn off the TV, turn away from the fear that the media are creating and indeed promoting, and turn to the light instead.  YOUR inner LIGHT. Your SOUL. Forgive yourself where you need and forgive others too (it does not mean you condone their actions only that you no longer wish to carry that weight and anger and bitterness around with you anymore (after all, the only person you are harming is yourself)).

Try and love yourself a little bit more (not in the ego, "I am so wonderful look at me" way, just in the, "I accept myself just as I am" type way instead) and try to wake up to how you interact with others and the world around you. Are you doing your best to be kind, compassionate and loving? Are you living in alignment with your inner truth, or are you just doing a huge amount of talking?

Wake up. Being conscious. Yoga. Going within. It is here. Now. This moment. Love. Forgive. Compassion. Every single way of being you would like to see in the world you need to bring forth in YOU.

A HUGE THANK YOU to those who have supported the Save the Children Syrian refugee charity today by joining the fundraising yoga class and sharing your light and helping to raise the vibration of the world through your practice, opening your heart chakra and increasing your sense of love and compassion and the energy of love and compassion in the world - we have raised £516 thus far! 

Love xx