All my life I have heard of what separates people. I have heard how different you are from me. I have heard how different this person is from that one. How beliefs and customs are so very different amongst countries. Religions that divide by thinking their way is the only way.
When do I start to hear how similar people are? Where we are at now, we have more similarities with each other than ever before. Actually, maybe we have always had similarities but have been unable to acknowledge how similar we all actually were.
Sure people may look different, act different, externally seem different. This is what makes people individual, special and unique. However, there are underlying principles, wants and needs that are all so similar. Right now people are hungry! Not only for food. People are hungry for connection. They are hungry for meaning. For purpose. People want love. They want support. They want validation. They want to be able to express themselves freely and creatively.
When will we start to look at what we have in common with others instead of how we are different? How many times have you looked at someone or heard someone talk and after said to yourself…”wow, I am nothing like them!” The truth is, to be a whole person, you have to have a little of that in you. When you can recognize that place in you that is able to identify with the other person you seem to think you don’t have anything in common with, then you can feel compassion.
In times that seem as challenging as the ones we are in, how can we bring people even closer? Let them in so we can all be vulnerable together instead of standing tall when some may feel short.
The feeling of us all being connected is one of the most powerful things on this planet for you would not do to another what you would not want for yourself. Would you? How would you treat yourself walking down the street? Would you look up and say hello? At work? Would you lose your temper or have more patients? Sitting in traffic when someone has to cut in front of you to get to the other lane? If you saw yourself homeless on the street, would you think twice about giving them a dollar contemplating what they would use that dollar for or would you part with it thinking if that were me, I would want my fellow man to help me out?
I ask these questions to evoke thought. I ask these questions to bring our hearts together for the only way I know how to change separation is to be the connection. Connection, contrary to popular belief is not a noun; it is a state of being.
Have you ever felt separate from something or somebody? Do you remember how that feels? Well, this is how the world has been for a long time now. A way that we can all be the balance of this for the world is by starting with ourselves. When we feel connected and are being connected, there is no room for separation. It is just an illusion. If you knew that there was no separation, would you feel differently about a dearly departed loved one? Would you even experience loss in the same way? Maybe you wouldn’t experience loss at all because if there is no separation, then you are not separate from any thing or any body.
Today, be aware of any places you feel or see separation. When you do, be the polarity. Be the balance that you wish to see. Gandhi said to be the change you wish to see in the world. This holds so much power for you are already what you wish to become. It is already within you. Feel the power of this. Take a deep breath and breathe that in! You are already what you wish to become.
Channel it to remember who you already are…and watch the world change before your eyes!
