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A Me-ist to a We-ist: How We Can Change the World One Person at a Time

Chapter Two

Be kind to the planet

            Our Earth is populated with roughly 7.4 billion people as of August 2016, according to Wikipedia.com (World Population, https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population). By the year 2100, a United Nations report estimates that number will grow substantially to around 11.2 billion. The sheer numbers of our species will put even more stress upon our world’s environment, energy resources, and food supplies. While our future may appear bleak, there is also a source of hope when we change our attitude about being a Me-ist to become a We-ist. This can be a great moment in history as H.H. The Dalai Lama writes about our present circumstance, “This crisis in bringing us an opportunity to experience what few generations in history ever have the privilege of knowing: a generational mission; the exhilaration of a compelling moral purpose; a shared and unifying cause…to put aside pettiness and conflict…and the opportunity to rise” (George, 2009). Being kind to our planet is not just buying fuel efficient automobiles and riding bicycles; turning down our home’s nightly temperature and changing to more efficient light bulbs; or recycling and buying less manufactured goods. Author James George (2009) nicely sums up our present situation, “The real bottom line, then, is to see that we are in a spiritual crisis that is widely misperceived as an environmental or an economic or a social crisis.

            Earth Mother is screaming for our help to help ourselves: we can invent all sorts of new electronic gadgets; create unlimited social sites to consume our time; and design countless video games to distract us from being who we are or why we are here on the planet. These material goods cannot and will not help our environment…we must create new thinking to manifest as new people, a world of more caring and compassionate people that are kind to our planet. The shift in our fundamental thoughts, words, and actions towards ourselves and, hence, to others, creates new behaviours and values that are helpful to our environment and to us. As we have a spiritual awakening, our hearts and souls are also changed from being a Me-ist to a We-ist. What an extraordinary life it would be. Does each one of us have to change at the same moment to impact the world around us? No. The teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff (1991) reflect his ideas about what it takes to make real change on our world, “two hundred conscious people, if they existed and if they found it necessary and legitimate, could change the whole life on earth.” Once We-ists begin to change to Me-ists, a new paradigm is formed and then the momentum from such an occurrence will carry us to a new and better world.

The idea behind becoming a We-ist when you are a Me-ist at the present moment is to shift your focus from your Self to others, and your attention can be centred upon a person, animal or the environment. Let’s consider what happens as you focus upon another individual. When you shift your focus, you can help others feel important, self-confident, and worthy of love, success, and happiness. What single word leaves the greatest impression upon others…their name. Every time you meet a new person be sure to remember and use their name, nothing else is sweeter to your ear than your own name. We can help others become more self-confident by following these few steps. If we are supportive and not critical of others, this simple act is conducive to building a person’s self-confidence. When we spend time with someone else, this is when we can reinforce what they do well and not what they don’t do so well. These are ways to refocus upon others and not focus upon your Self.   

When you shift your focus upon the creatures that you encounter on a daily basis you help that stray dog or cat by supplying them with a loving home. Millions of people world-wide agree with your decision to have a pet; surely, we all cannot be wrong. Why? You win because research indicates that owning a dog, cat or other animal companion is beneficial psychologically and physiologically (Crain, 2013). First, when you have a pet you are more active and this aids in increasing your heart rate and boosts your energy. Since you are active, you have a greater chance of lowering your chances for obesity, lowering your blood pressure, and your cholesterol too. Second, having a pet increases your feeling of empathy, a positive reaction that is flooded with positive energy as you put their needs before yours, which increases your compassion. Third, your pet needs you to feed, exercise, and water them which increase your empathy. In turn, you feel needed; your dog is never ever judgmental of your actions. Last, petting your dog or cat releases huge doses of positive hormones, serotonin and oxytocin, throughout your system which reduces your cortisol (Niven, 2007). Do you want to become a We-ist? Adopt an animal… today.      

When you shift your focus upon the Earth Mother you are helping her survive and therefore enabling your children, grand-children, and great-grand-children an opportunity to live a long healthy life upon our one and only terrestrial home. The focus of this chapter is how we can change from a Me-ist to a We-ist by being kind to our environment. Let’s start with the three R’s:  reduce, reuse, and recycle. It appears that the 3 R’s appeared on the first Earth Day in 1970, within the Environmental Handbook edited by Garrett De Bell and published by Ballentine/Friends of the Earth (www.urbanore.com). The 3 R’s are effective because they are simple imperatives, commands that leave an impression upon our minds to take action to do something positive for our environment. In the process, we benefit emotionally and spiritually from our selfless actions to save the world from pollution.     

First, according to Rob at the Green Guide for Everyday Living, reduce “…is dubbed as the mother of all 3 R’s and it should be the first rule to consider when making any task at home.” For example, it is important to work upon reducing energy, materials, and electronic gadgets where you live. Making these simple choices to reduce the waste and consumption in your home is a big step to caring for the Earth and taking the focus off of you and onto something bigger and more important than yourself. 

            Next, pay particular attention to what you buy and why you buy it; this prudent decision helps our environment. It is easy to say reduce buying clothes, mobile phones, jewellery, shoes and so forth for many of us; however, this attitude swims directly against the current of our modern-day consumer driven world. The government measures economic success by how much we spend. The neighbourhood gauges you on the size of your house, the make of your car, and the price of your toys. The media, in its many forms, pushes the idea that more is better and you are worth more because you have more. This is not true wealth and happiness in life; it is spiritual and emotional poverty that occurs when you face unbridled shopping. What can you do? If you have a problem, acknowledge that you have the problem; don’t deny it exists. Many of us have real problems and issues when it comes to being able to reduce what we buy. The problem is maybe that you are a shopaholic; but don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed of this condition because you’re not alone…far from it. The well-known New York psychologist, Dr. April Lane Benson, estimates that over 18 million Americans are shopaholics. It’s a staggering number of people who suffer from this dilemma, and this is why Dr. Benson created Shopaholicnomore.com. If you think that you or a loved one has a shopping or spending issue, you can visit the site and download their free self-assessment questionnaire to discover if there is a reason for concern as well as what to do about it. This site and its useful information could change your life forever.

You can pick-up your digital or paper copy of A Me-ist to a We-ist at Amazon. Enjoy the read and a review would be greatly appreciated to help get the word out and help save our planet and our species from the portal of extinction.

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Bad things happen to good people, however, in order to move forward, we need to re-channel our negative thoughts.

Photo by Karl Magnuson on Unsplash

Sometimes the road we’re on gets bumpy with roadblocks and potholes

As we travel along our journey, most will encounter rather rough times which can occur to ourselves, our family, our friends, or our colleagues. While we are not able to change the situation, we are able to control our reaction to the situation. With our thoughts, we can re-channel negatives into positives that are more beneficial to our mental and physical health in the long run.     

Grief is part of the healing process

When we have a loved one die from disease, taken by a sudden accident, or other unexpected trauma, naturally, we experience a great deal of grief. This is expected and is part of the healing process and getting past the terrible things that can happen to us throughout our life. However, we must not let our grief take control of our life, keep us under its control, and prevent us from living a full and productive life. 

We can accept what IS but we can’t change what WAS

Although we endure suffering and pain, we must accept what is since we cannot change what was.  Our inner resistance to the bad things that occur to us causes us more pain and we must realize that we cannot change the death of a loved one or the loss of a friend or colleague. Once we accept this fact, we can regain control of our thoughts, our feelings, and our life.

Accept grief for what it is and reject destructive coping activities

However, if we are unable to accept the grief that accompanies a tragic loss and bury our feelings in our subconscious mind, this can lead to a long list of coping mechanisms which are unhealthy and downright destructive. Being unable to cope, many have feelings of fear, anxiety and depression while others develop addictions to food, shopping, alcohol, and drugs. These choices are not good choices.  

Re-channel negative thoughts, words, and actions with positive thoughts, words, and actions

How do we then take a negative situation and put a positive spin on it? We need to re-channel our negative thoughts and actions into positive thoughts and actions. If we have a loved one die from cancer, in order to re-channel we can volunteer are at a nearby cancer center and help those who are suffering from this terrible disease.  

Forgive those who have done you wrong

Or having been betrayed by a loved one, in order to re-channel after the initial shock and disbelief, you can immediately forgive that person and see only good things happening to them in their present and future.

Regain what was lost times 10…you’ll be healthier and happier in mind, body and spirit

A close friend borrows a large sum of money and never repays it, in order to re-channel you can forgive your friend right away and then vow to regain that amount of money, plus another 25%, within 60 days.

Re-channeling creates growth of the inner you, your forever spirit

Re-channeling your negatives into positives helps you grow spiritually which then results in a happier and more fulfilled life. 

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Shinier, costlier, and larger toys cannot provide long lasting fulfillment in your life.

 

What do you fill the void in your life with? 

Some think that chasing that shinier, costlier, and larger toy will fill the void in their life. While they expend much energy, perhaps even their entire lifetime pursuing these elusive goals, in the end, any material object cannot fill the void since the void is not the cause or the effect of a lack of material goods.

Are you pursuing spiritual fulfillment or material fulfillment?

Rather, the lack they experience in their life is from a lack of spiritual fulfillment. Somewhere along their journey in their physical form, they neglected their spiritual fulfillment at the price of material fulfillment. After a lifetime of chasing goals that cannot and will not bring true fulfillment, it is of little wonder that these people cannot look in the mirror and honestly believe that they are happier and healthier in life with their shinier, costlier, and larger toys.

What is your main focus in life?

Living a fulfilled life does not mean that a person should give-up the pursuit of material goods, this idea is in of itself a direct contradiction to the Natural Laws of the universe where expansion is the rule and not the exception. And so it should be with humankind to grow and expand like the physical universe we inhabit. The real dilemma is when the main focus in life becomes the pursuit of material goods which ultimately define you as a person.

Am I an Italian sports car? An expensive watch? An exclusive purse? 

Hence, I am powerful like an exotic Italian sports car; I am exclusive as a one-of-a-kind watch; I am smarter since I wrote a top selling novel. However, the success you experience in life depends upon balance: the balance between your health, your wealth, and your spirituality. When you focus solely upon material goods you cannot possibly achieve balance and balance in life is what results in a truly fulfilled physical existence here upon planet Earth.

Do you crave material goods only?

Another problem which frequently accompanies our obsession with material goods is that some of us do not have the economic resources to support a life of extravagance and exclusive cravings for these costly items. If we are unable to pay the price of these goods outright, then we use credit and there is a high cost we must ultimately pay for living yesterday.

There is a high cost for living yesterday

Such a purchase – when you are not able to meet your monthly obligations – can lead to a negative vibratory state and you will struggle to get out of this state, however, you are not able to since you allow your present state to dictate your future state. Once, I owned an expensive European automobile when I needed it; I needed it since there was a void in my life and it became my identity, but, I could not afford it at the time and used credit to fund this expensive toy for my own vanity and self-worth.

What do you need? What do you want?

Many years have passed and now that I can afford this brand of automobile, I do not need it, I do not need my automobile to define who or what I am since what I drive is not who or what I am. It was a costly lesson, however, since my focus in life is now not upon impressing anyone or anybody with the set of wheels I drive, my focus is now upon spiritual fulfillment and to no surprise I now have the economic resources available for me to purchase such a vehicle without using any form of credit.

A positive vibratory state manifests what you desire 

When you take your focus and life’s mission off of material gains, you will receive the material gains you want since you inhabit a positive vibratory state where all that you can imagine will be delivered to you from the Source.

Find balance in your life for true fulfillment

Focus your life upon achieving true balance and in the end you will find that the toys – all the shiny, costly, and large toys will find their way to your doorstep since you are not attempting to fill a void, rather, you are attempting to live a fulfilled life based upon a strong connection to the Source. And this, my friend, is true fulfillment in our present physical manifestation.

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Your habits manifested your life in the past and now they manifest your life in the present, however, your habits are malleable which allows you to manifest a change in the future.

Success begins by forming habits of success

Success in life, be it spiritual, physical, or material begins by forming the habit of success. And there’s a wise saying which encapsulates the paths we end-up taking in life, “At first you make your habits and then your habits make you.” There is absolutely no one who would deny that your day-to-day habits will not manifest a life of success or failure.

Create your habits, don’t let them create you

If you want to pass a course that will earn you more money at work but watch television and never do your assigned homework, your lackadaisical habits form your present and future failure. If you want to purchase a larger home for a growing family and work overtime to start a home-based business, by saving the extra money, your saving habits will insure that your family will live in a larger home in the present and in the future. Naturally, you may not have the money, or automobile, or peace of mind that you want today. Still, you must see, believe, and say that success is yours due to the good habits that you have formed in the past, the present, and the future.

Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world 

Years ago, perhaps you started a new job and at first worked diligently, but, somewhere along the way you became disinterested or unhappy with your employer, job conditions, or monthly income. As a result, you reacted accordingly; your thoughts, words, and actions reflected your inner world. On the other hand, a friend began the same job, however, this person excelled and enjoyed the job and as a result of their thoughts, words, and actions, they became a leader in the company. Both of you were conditioned by your inner and outer environment – both created and lived by habits that conditioned success or conditioned failure.

Your past can shackle your future 

The past then manifests your freedom or shackles your present in chains. Your old habits either support your thoughts, words, and actions towards your goals or your thoughts, words, and actions haunt you and lead you away from your goals. We are unable to relive our life in the past, nevertheless, we can act accordingly in the present to change the future.

We are given a gift to change what is to what will be 

The Source has provided a temporal gift to change our Self. Every new day presents itself to us to make the changes necessary to alter the paths we take and the destinations where we eventually end-up. And along with this gift, we have received the spiritual gift of choice.  Each of us has an equal opportunity to create a new Self which in the end depends upon our focus and our awareness in and of life.

The only constant is change…control this inevitable truth for the betterment of all

The Source has also freely provided an infinite physiological gift. Our present human forms are created in such a miraculous way that they allow us to maintain old habits or create new ones. When we look at our loved ones, we identify them by the physical forms that they have: hence, we see black eyes, we see black hair, and we see a body 165 cm. tall. While our physical bodies appear to be solid objects, they are as ephemeral as the waters that flow in a stream. It is this constancy of change which is one of the greatest gifts provided to us by a benevolent Source.

 

Our cells are the pathways to change and success

Scientists have estimated that the human body has somewhere between 50 and 100 trillion cells. Since each cell has 24 pairs of chromosomes, this translates into roughly 2,300 to 4,600 trillion pairs of DNA. It is well documented that each cell reacts to situations and feelings by a chemical change. This chemical change occurs in waves throughout our bodies as we instantly react in fear or love, hence, there is a corresponding chemical elixir that mirrors our feelings and attitude. While this is fascinating, even more intriguing was an experiment completed by the US Army.

Our emotions live on in our DNA, even IF separated by 350 miles

In 1993, the US Army questioned if a cell (DNA) responded to emotions once separated from a human donor. A subject’s DNA sample was taken, isolated, and measured to see if it responded to emotions. The donor watched a number of movies that resulted in a variety of emotions. When the donor was watching the videos, the DNA responded in electrical currents that mirrored the emotions which occurred when the subject viewed the different videos. Miraculously, the DNA was separated not only by a room, but, by as much as 350 miles away. At this distance, an atomic clock gauged that the person’s emotions and the response of the cells were simultaneous – there was no time lag between the two even separated by such a great distance. This is indeed a primordial gift which helps us survive in the physical world.

Our body changes but remains the same as new cells replace old cells

While we have such a large number cells, our bodies are not the same since our cells reproduce new cells which replace the old cells and so on and so on as long as you occupy your present human form. We may appear to be the same person, when in reality we not the same person as we were in the past. Although we may appear to be the same, nonetheless, we are ‘different’ persons since our old cells have been replaced by new cells.

The shamans of Peru and indigenous tribes of Australia knew what science has just discovered

Scientists have been able to measure the rate of change in the human body and many of our major organs, and as such, it is estimated that the cells in our liver change completely about every 6 weeks; our skin in roughly 7 days; our skeleton replaces every cell in around 7 years; and our heart cells 1% per year. At one time scientists believed that our brain did not grow new cells over time, nevertheless, the experts now refute this claim as they have discovered that the human brain can in fact grow over time. Even though these facts are supported by scientific findings, they are not new since the shamans of Peru and the indigenous people of Australia have known and practiced this since time immortal. Once again, ancient knowledge is being proven by modern technology.

Our cells have memories

The fact that our bodies’ cells change over time is invaluable when we apply this knowledge to changing our old, poor habits to new, good habits. As miraculous as the constant changes that occur within our bodies, is the fact that our cells have a ‘memory.’ This may sound like science fiction, yet, this idea has been supported by many experiments. For example, there was a great plague in the early 1900’s which killed a large number of people. The survivors of that pandemic illness, which cut short the lives of so many, even after 50 years their cells kept the memory and they were immune to a future tragic illness.

Our cells are pre-programmed for success

While our cells change, there appears to be an exchange of information – the primordial universal information which helped to keep these survivors safe from a future outbreak. Furthermore, a liver remains as a liver and your skin remains as skin, and do not morph into some other major organ due to memory. If our cells and our DNA can save us from future illnesses and reproduce an exact organ due to having a memory, then it is entirely consistent there can be an exchange of our wants, our needs, and our desires with our DNA molecules as well.

Our habits are encoded on our miraculous cells 

Our cells change over time and since our habits are encoded in our old cells, the new cells must unquestionably ‘accept’ the encoded memory of those habits whether they are good or poor. Your habits remain the same and do not become discarded with the replacement of an entire organ over time. The key then is to encode good habits at the cellular level at the expense of poor habits to receive what you want and desire in this life. You can start the process of replacing old habits with new habits by visualizing the encoded change upon each of the trillions of cells in your body. Sit quietly and ‘see’ the new habit replacing the old habit – make this a habit for 21 days and then you will ‘see’ the difference in the way that you think, act, and talk about your life and the goals that you have set for your Self.

Live FROM the future and not FOR the future

Most live FOR the future and not FROM the future, there is a big difference in your thoughts, words, and actions when you live FROM the future rather than FOR the future. When you live FROM the future, you are already experiencing the achievement of your goal. Hence, you are already experiencing a live of spiritual enjoyment; you are already experiencing a beautiful relationship with your soul mate; and you are already experiencing a life of abundance on the spiritual plane of existence although you have not achieved what you want on the physical plane.

Think, believe, and act I AM and not I WILL 

And when thinking about your new habits, think I AM and not I WILL, there is a great deal of difference between these two words and how they interface with your Self. I am not just playing with semantics here, I AM is right now while I WILL is somewhere in the future. These few simple suggestions will help you to remove old, poor habits and replace them with a set of new, good habits.

We have the spiritual and physiological means to achieve success 

Each of us in our present human form has been provided with spiritual and physiological means to achieve our goals and also make long lasting changes in our lives. These are the miracles that the wise ancients wrote about, spoke of, and practiced in their daily lives. When we fully understand and accept the miracles freely given to us by the benevolent Source, we are fully capable of creating our new realities as we rid our Self of our past and present negative habits. By the same processes, we can reinforce our past and present positive habits as well.