Archived Articles: Soul
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Jacquie has many articles available for reprinting in your company newsletter or e-zine, or to pass on to your friends. You are welcome to reproduce these articles, provided the article is printed in its entirety, a link is provided to www.wiseways.com.au and the following acknowledgment is included at the end:
© Jacquie Wise – Coach, Counsellor, Speaker, Trainer and Author, specialising in personal, professional and spiritual development
What's the World Coming To?
To make sense of what we see as a crazy world, we're increasingly searching for meaning.
So we embark on a quest for where we fit into the picture. Or, indeed, to find out if there even is a picture to fit into.
Here's an inspiring perspective that might make sense of your own journey through life.
The election of America's first black President is a key turning point in an exciting era. The choice made by American voters confirms that they are ready to move beyond prejudice and make choices based on deeper values. What's this got to do with the rest of us?
Not only is Barack Obama our greatest hope for a better world, but his election confirms that we're on a very positive path towards a more enlightened approach to life.
If we take an overview of our journey over the centuries from the perspective of our spiritual evolution, we can clearly see the enormous progress we've made to date, and it reveals why we're going through such turbulence now. We're on a very positive track.
Let's put it in the context of what we now know.
Our understanding of how the universe works, backed by scientific evidence, is expanding faster than ever before. This brings with it an awareness that we, as individuals, can contribute on a much wider scale than we ever imagined possible. We're in the middle of a shift of consciousness which will help us prevent, or at least minimize, the dangers that currently threaten our world.
We know that we are beings of magnetic energy, as well as physical mortals. Each one of us vibrates according to our thoughts and actions. Our energy fields have been scientifically observed and measured.
Every time you understand something about yourself; every time you take one tiny courageous step towards overcoming a fear, you emit vibrations of awareness and courage that others will 'catch'.
The energy of our collective thoughts builds up, fuelled by more and more people thinking and acting a certain way, just as adding another log to the fire will build up heat. Eventually, when enough people are on the same 'wavelength', it reaches a critical mass and the whole of humanity is swept up in that vibration. So everyone evolves, or gets dragged down, depending on whether the majority of us are thinking positively or negatively.
Nobody knows how many people are involved in the critical mass. We have observed throughout history that similar developments occur at similar times, in opposite corners of the earth. This leads us to conclude that when the vibration reaches a certain level, the rest of humanity makes a leap in the same direction.
If we can acknowledge that there is a purpose to everything that happens, we can begin to see that there is something good that comes out of every negative experience, depending on how we respond to it.
Upheavals give us the opportunity to discover wiser approaches to life or to develop skills and strengths we never thought ourselves capable of, until put to the test. Just like a fire that clears undergrowth to make way for new seeds, there is always re-growth, often in ways we least expect.
Where we've come from shows us where we're going
In the first eras of our evolution as nomadic cave dwellers, we could only function on a survival instinct, clubbing others over the head for what we needed.As we domesticated animals into beasts of burden, we entered the agricultural era. We still had little initiative, preferring to follow whatever leaders dictated. Having established privileged groups through wealth, we introduced slavery.
In one of the leaps forward in history, all the great civilisations and empires rose and fell in roughly the same era: Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Roman, Greek, Mayan…
In the late 6th century BC, huge leaps were made in philosophy, science, art, and poetry. In this century, we reached a peak of human wisdom and achievement in all facets of life. Our thirst for learning brought to the fore great pioneers of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, optics, chemistry and science.
Exploitation was rife, yet social and economic systems were developing, leading to new concepts: city, citizen, civic, civilian…
Our world became more accessible in the age of discovery with the great explorers. Skilled craftsmen began to travel, bringing their expertise to others. This was an era known as Internationalism.
Once ideas circulated freely through the invention of printing, the progress of individual liberties became inevitable. Reformations and Counter-Reformations followed as we struggled to find and refine our truths.
As the sciences developed and explained our universe in very different ways to the dogma of the Church, Divine Authority was replaced with experiment and experience—something we could rely on.
We then took our first steps to balance rationalism with enlightenment.
The Age of Reason of the 17th century was based on the view that the universe could be understood in mathematical and mechanical terms, without any mystical intervention. But our search for higher meaning didn't stop there; Descartes was the first to realise there was a part of ourselves who is the conscious observer—'I think therefore I am'.
In the Enlightenment period of the 18th century, the pursuit of happiness and the improvement of life became a proper aim for mankind. With our search for answers, tolerance and freedom of thought became the new norm.
During the various rebellions, civil wars and great revolutions of the 17th to 19th centuries, we took action to correct imbalances and fight oppression. Common people learnt that they could change the world through direct action.
The great reformists came to the fore in the same era. Humanitarianism was the greatest achievement of the 19th century. We forget too easily the conditions we tolerated only a couple of hundred years ago.
The Nobel Prize was established 'for those who shall have conferred the greatest benefits on mankind in the fields of physics, physiology, medicine, chemistry literature and peace', marking a turning point in our value system.
If the 19th Century was the century of chemistry, the 20th was the century of physics: so began a shift towards thinking of the universe as having an intelligence of its own.
Developments such as biofeedback showed us that our minds are capable of influencing bodily functions, formerly thought to be controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
The Human Potential movement showed us how we could liberate ourselves from repeat patterns of behaviour and reach self-actualisation of our inner potential.
The evils of the first and second world wars gave birth to a greater community spirit and the development of welfare systems. With the League of Nations and the United Nations we were learning the power of unity.
As we embodied our new values, we were to bring in an era of individual rights, civil liberties, personal freedoms and democratic participation.
Our need for security led to the materialism of the 1950s and '60s. In the '70s, the Hippy Movement was a revolt against conformity and materialism, and a search for greater meaning. Eastern philosophies were embraced in the west, unifying varieties of spiritual experience.
Non-violent social activists worked to liberate black Americans from segregation, and white Americans from centuries-old hypocrisy about race.
Wars were now more about liberation than domination. Truces, friendship treaties, peace talks, and fragile cease-fire agreements were attempted during this period, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. But we keep trying. We are seeing more peace summits and negotiations than ever before.
The '80s was a decade in which we developed greater interest in and understanding of health and wellbeing. We were ever more ready to accept responsibility for our own lives.
New social reforms included banning discrimination against homosexuals. Australia focused on the entitlements of the Aborigines, including land rights. Germany banned Neo-Nazi groups. Cambodia's first democratic elections took place with the help of Australian troops.
The 'Caring and Sharing 90s' as that decade has been called, brought job-sharing, employee profit-sharing, and shared decision-making through industrial democracy. Even in sales, the emphasis shifted from 'hard-selling' to 'relationship selling' to 'value selling'.
Many of our familiar structures were now breaking down, in many cases replaced by better structures, in some cases leaving a vacuum for us to fill. Economies have floundered or crashed; traditional religion has lost followers; the family unit is changing.
All experiences leading us to question, re-evaluate our values and seek more appropriate structures.
The Way of the Future
We are expressing an increasing desire to embrace more holistic values. The stresses of materialism are pushing us to seek balance and create an environment that will provide a more peaceful and harmonious way of life.
Environmentally, we've demonstrated an increased respect for our world with the development of sustainable and cruelty free new products and technologies, often driven by consumers insisting on change.
I'm not saying we've got it all right, but you have to admit it's a marked improvement on what has gone before.
All the changes and insecurities we have experienced are shaking us out of our complacency.
As individuals, we realise we can at least contribute to constructive action rather than to negative criticism and doomsday speculation.
It's up to us to pressure our governments and corporations to ensure that ethical, moral and sustainable dimensions influence policy.
The catch-cry of this new era:
'I have made a difference' reflects our yearning to contribute constructively to our own lives, to others, and to our world.
As more of us make the right choices as individuals, we can establish new codes of behaviour and have a big impact on our societies. In turn, societies can have an even bigger impact on global transformation. And that's not taking into account the spiritual impact we can have on our evolution, through contributing energetically. It will continue to spread.
We are learning not to rely on those in positions of power to show us the way. Our scepticism is teaching us to be more self-reliant.
If we're serious about creating a better future for us all, then we have to face the fact that the only way it's going to happen is the only way it's ever happened; you and I have to be the ones to make sure it happens. We have to be the ones to create the future.
If every thought and every action influences others and contributes energetically to the evolution of the human family, then it is the responsibility of each one of us to ensure that our actions are motivated by the highest integrity, and that we choose thoughts that are fair, compassionate and positive. Are we helpless victims, or can we learn to choose our responses? Even that is a choice.
We often think 'somebody' should do something, but we forget to say
'I am somebody'.
In the words of Barack Obama: '…out of many, we are one; … while we breathe we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can't we will respond with that tireless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.'
Wise Words
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things.
Robert Brault