Don't like what you see in the world? Be the voice of a generation that is bringing Love back. Speak out against hate. Reject violence as the answer to divisiveness. Actual change starts within you. Never underestimate the power of one person to create a ripple of love in this world. I know how it feels to think you are helpless to effect change, but you are not helpless. You are a powerful being of Love created by God, who is pure Love. Love has the power to cancel out fear and hate.
Change happens when we do our own personal work by noticing the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that are less than loving and decide to do something to challenge these barriers to love. We effect far more change when we address ourselves with an open, honest inventory.
We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.
– Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi urges us to change ourselves, because the fear and hate we see around us most likely exists in us. We are a product of our environments.
The single greatest thing we can do for our world is to rectify the fear that pervades our mind and replace it with love. Love, joy and peace top the frequency scale of emotions, meaning these emotions have the greatest positive impact on us and the people around us. Once we have transformed our negativity, we bleed love that is not just influential but actually has the power to lift the energies of the world.
The process of questioning our beliefs leads to unraveling the fear that a corrupt societal system instilled in our mind during our impressionable childhood (along with the experiences within our own family circle). When fear is put in its place—rectified by the truth of our nature—we begin to step out into new experiences that reflect the truth of who we are: Love.
These experiences—when defined by an open, courageous and vulnerable heart—lead to new awareness of the power of love. We then turn this awareness into understanding that we take with us into every new encounter. Our beliefs inform our every action.
The Consciousness of Love
Consciousness is the awareness of ourselves and our environment. Love has the potential to transform our experiences into expansive, limitless possibilities and to change the world around us. These experiences help us adopt a higher consciousness (or understanding) of love.
With newfound awareness of the power of love, we begin to say, do, think and feel based on higher consciousness. Eventually, we begin to question our fear-based beliefs, abandon the feelings behind our fear (feelings that arise from beliefs instilled in us throughout our lives) and take strides to transform our inner world. This is how we begin to create change: by returning to our nature of love, we become aware of how we show up.
Being Over Doing
It is so important to be cognizant of how we do what we do, rather than focus on what we do. We can do anything with the higher understanding of love attached to it. In doing so, we are being the very love that can and will change the world.
The outer world will always mirror our inner world; an attitude and perspective of love has the power to shift our world. The energy we put out will be returned to us, further nudging us along on our path to transformation.
Understanding the monumental impact behind our own personal growth empowers our potential to make a huge difference in this world. We don't change the world on a massive scale, we change the world one loving word, action and thought at a time.
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.
-Mahatma Gandhi
Be a Part of the Solution
If everything we do, think, say and feel is motivated by love, we will uplift the collective consciousness of the world. This process begins by opening up to the dark parts within ourselves that prevent us from revolving our life around love, kindness, tolerance, acceptance and compassion.
If you could open yourself up, dissect the darkness that hides within, remove the memories and thoughts that birthed negative beliefs and sew yourself back up—only to leave behind the love that you've always been—how would you show up in the world? Who would you be as you go about your life and do the daily things that make up your existence?
Would you be kinder? Would you have more patience for people who aren't like you? Would you forgive freely? Would you have more compassion for the darkness others face in their lives? Would you manage to smile more often to strangers? Would you develop tolerance of other world views that do not align with yours? Would you see that the innocent people who suffer in this world have done nothing to deserve it yet still find reasons to be joyful? Would you appreciate what you have and start to serve others who aren't as blessed materially? Would you make choices in your life that support your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others? Would you explore your potential to make a difference even if it meant leaving your comfort zone?
These are only a few of the possibilities that await you once love's potential starts to sweep through you to lift your perspective and reveal your true power.