articles @ sedonainformation.com

It seems that we’re all in the same boat these days. The Domino Effect of the world’s current economic situation has reached across all demographic categories and diminished everyone’s perceived wealth. It’s a wake-up call that has touched everyone on the planet, especially Western societies that measure wealth in terms of what one owns, possesses, and is owed.

Not everyone has the ability to respond fruitfully. Many people are simply reacting and failing to take a look at the bigger picture, as well as to use this time to examine what really matters to them and to decide what is truly important in their life. In simpler terms, many have neglected to perceive that this is an outstanding opportunity to think about what we’re doing during our visit to this planet.

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

- Teilhard de Chardin

Before this economic hurricane hit shore many of us were just busy doing one thing: making money. Our basic need for food, clothing, and shelter turned into the mindless task of seeking more and more. While the markets continued to reward us we curiously forgot why we were working so hard and merely focused on getting as much as we could. We forgot to be prudent. We neglected to question the rewards that were flowing so easily. After all, how much did we truly need to create our dream? When would we be satisfied? A mighty blow to our pocketbooks and pride has been delivered. It could be a planetary wake-up call. Hello?

“Too blessed to be stressed.”

Stress is probably the most powerful unpleasant and negative influence upon our physical health, far greater than environmental, genetic, or situational factors. The daily “fight or flight” survival stresses that were so common with our distant ancestors were remedied exactly in these ways: run away from the problem or stand and fight it. Once either course of action was taken the remedy quickly ensued and the physical self regained its familiar balance. In modern times, stress is not remedied so easily. Today the fight or flight reaction rarely leads to bodily equilibrium or a resolution of the situation that caused the stress. A reaction of this kind almost guarantees continued stress and increasing pressures upon the physical organism and is largely due to the way our modern society functions, especially in Western societies where we’re rarely in a pure survival mode. Our basic needs are relatively easy to attain. Get a job, establish and maintain credit, and stay at it for some years. Major screw-ups notwithstanding and you’ll have a life as we know it today: a family, house, cars, vacations, and the Dream.

“You never know what is enough,

unless you know what is more than enough.”

- William Blake

Our challenge lies instead within the frame of our desire for happiness, our attention being focused upon making our dreams come true. It’s here that stress finds a constant home in our lives. It’s not a result of running away or fighting to the death. It’s our body, mind, and spirit being hammered repeatedly based upon our wants and our attempts at fulfilling those wants. The stresses of modern life depend more upon our levels of satisfaction than our likelihood for survival.

“Live simply that others may simply live.”

It’s good to have cheap hobbies. To be easily satisfied is nice. Living simply has more rewards than are immediately apparent. In the next years, as the entire world works on ways to live in balance with our environment and one another, our American way of life will have to be adjusted in order to accommodate the rest of the planet. We consume too much, we need too much to satisfy our appetites, and we aren’t easily satisfied. We always seem to want more. Our founding fathers did not envision a country like this. They were concerned with freedom, however, not the endless freedom of growth without conscience, the “dream” that says material things will make you happy, that bigger homes are better, or that possessing a lot of things will make you secure and happy. Our country’s founders were concerned with truths that apply to all humans, truths that focus on a pursuit of happiness that takes our society and the entire world into consideration as well. We Americans have forgotten some of the most important teachings of our grandparents and forefathers. Our pursuits have cost too much on the planetary level. We have fallen asleep and allowed ourselves to accept a consumer model of reality that is not healthy. It’s not healthy for our bodies, not healthy for our souls, and certainly not healthy for our home, the Earth.

“There are no atheists on a turbulent airplane.”

- Erica Jong

One of the greatest international problems is how sincerely the rest of the world emulates America and wants the same unsustainable dream, if not for themselves at least for their children. We’ve unintentionally set an example that will be difficult to change. As the world’s resources are shared with more people on the planet and it becomes increasingly more difficult to meet the consumer demands of growing nations, our dreams will continue to collide. Will we be willing to share more if it means having less? Will we have the generosity to change our dream in a way that prevents strife, drama, and misunderstanding? Will Americans lead the way or will our stubbornness prevent us from being an enlightened example for the rest of the world?

“You are the people. You are this season’s people.

There are no other people this season.

If you blow it, it’s blown.”

– Stephen Gaskin

It’s time to look for our happiness in new ways. We do not really find happiness; we create happiness. It’s not in what we own but rather in who we are and what we do; it’s the simple joys of life, the little miracles, the experiences. I believe that we do have the ability to make the necessary changes if we look into our hearts and remember what matters. It’s not just about me, it’s about us. We can share a better planetary dream with all people through respect, generosity, and caring and still create our individual happiness. We just need to awaken to a new dream for the planet that puts sustainability and thoughtfulness ahead of material wants. We need to work on ourselves and accept others as they are. We need to create peace for all through living it ourselves.

That’s what we can do in the meantime.