Shift.
Control.
Option.
Command.
Powerful words.
How do we shift our perspective, release control, be open to options, and take command of our energy?
These are questions that many of us are probably asking ourselves right now, and for good reason.
It is crucial, especially in times of upheaval like we’re living through right now, to recognize the importance of shifting our perspective. When we get too stuck in seeing things the way we have become accustomed too, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.
When we raise our voices, take to the streets, call and email and fax, and still feel like things are getting worse not better, we can come to question what we can actually control, what our actions actually amount to, if anything, and that can drain us quickly.
Moments like these can lead us to think outside the box (or sometimes within, like those who got messages to their Senators by sending pizza delivery with a note), and this can be empowering because we get to explore beyond our preconceived limits.
We have the power to take command of our energy, and if we want to continue to have the energy for the battles ahead, of which there will be many, we must.
Now for the how.
Before we can shift our perspective, we must know where we stand. We must have awareness of where we are gathering our information (is it from our Facebook feed or reputable news sources?). We must have awareness of what we value and how those values impact how we see the world. We must have awareness of what is underlying the beliefs that run counter to our own (fear, misinformation, racism and misogyny that are embedded in the DNA of our country). We must have awareness of what has come before and what we desire for our collective future.
Once we have this awareness, we can see from higher ground. We can view the situation from a broader perspective, and this can help us to recognize and acknowledge that in some ways this is not about the individual battles we are fighting on so many fronts. It is about learning how to sustain this work over time.
In order to release control, we must recognize where we have control. We have control over the words we choose, the actions we take, the behaviors we model for our children. We have control over how we spend our time, our energy, our money. We have control over what we choose to value, what we choose to learn, and what we choose to teach.
When we start to recognize the ways that we do have control, the emails and phone calls and faxes that are dismissed as inauthentic matter less because we realize that we cannot control those who are already controlled by the forces of money, greed, and power. Speaking as a Pennsylvanian, I am not going to change Senator Toomey’s mind. That may not mean I stop calling his office, and it may not give me more respect for him, but it does make me realize that if I release control where it cannot be gained, I will have more energy to focus elsewhere.
We have the option to be courageous or complicit. We have the option to go to the protest or not, to make the phone calls or not, to create the art that inspires or not, to offer our gifts of healing modalities or not – and we have all of these options. No matter what the choices look like, we are choosing to be courageous when we stand up for our values and for others. We are choosing to be courageous when we take a break from social media because it is wearing us down instead of filling us up. We are choosing to be courageous when we talk to other people about the issues that matter most to us. We are choosing to be courageous when we do not look the other way in the face of injustice. We have the option.
We take command of our energy by recognizing what we need. This will look different for all of us, and that is good because we need all of us and the unique gifts that we offer. We find our strengths and we offer them to the fight. We understand what drains us and while we may not avoid those actions completely, those will not be at the forefront of how we show up in this. We rest. We nourish ourselves. We treat our bodies as sacred. We go within and learn to trust our intuition. We lean on one another. That is one of the incredible things of this moment – there are so many of us that we can afford to take a breath, to sit this day out, to go to yoga or have a massage or simply zone out in front of a movie for a little while. The work is not going to go away anytime soon, so let’s take good care of ourselves.
Shift.
Control.
Option.
Command.
Are you ready to prepare yourself for what’s next?
