The Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying that the "Western woman will change the world" and I believe there is some truth to that although I don't think we can do it alone and I definitely welcome the support of awakened men to share in this process. One thing that I have found is that in order to make the changes that need to be made we first must engage in a process that I call Raising the B.A.R.
Here are the three steps I take to Raise the B.A.R. in my own life and business:
1) VISION IT: In order to have, do or be anything you must first be able to SEE it as a possibility -- I was sitting on the plane with a retired soldier recently and was speaking in to my vision of a world where there will be no need for us to take up arms against each other because we will see, know, believe and acknowledge that we ARE each other. This is a world that will arise and crystallize when all the soldiers on every battle field put down their weapons and look deeply into each other's eyes and hearts and EMBRACE because they have awakened.
2) VOICE IT: Once you BELIEVE you must set the vision into ACTION by pairing it with your creative power -- the power of the WORD -- all religions and spiritual traditions around the world agree that SOUND is a creative force -- the bible begins with the phrase "In the Beginning was the WORD" VOICING what it is we want -- using words and other forms of creative expression such as art, dance, song, performance, poetry, making music, writing will start to CRYSTALLIZE the Message that you are transmitting from your inner world into the outer.
3) VALUE IT: This is where you have to invest -- money, time, energy, breath, life force, commitment, faith, trust into your belief. It is also here where I think most people get STUCK because part of VALUING what you want is ALLOWING YOURSELF to actually HAVE it! Which means that you have to ALSO VALUE YOURSELF and BELIEVE that you are able to ACHIEVE AND RECEIVE!
In case you didn't notice the three major energy centers associated with this process are the third eye (vision) the throat (voice) and the heart (value).
If women are going to lead in this process of changing the world we also must remember to carve out time and space for creativity, dreaming and visioning. This includes getting plenty of sleep and making sure that we guard our precious time, energy and life force. It's also crucial to know yourself -- your own cycles of dreaming, creating, manifesting. There is a cycle that happens whenever you want to initiate change either in your own life or in the larger world. It is much like the life cycle of the butterfly, and this cycle is organic and cannot forced or directed in a linear way -- much as we'd like to believe that we can create in a linear fashion life just doesn't work that way! Man plans and God Laughs (I am not sure who to credit that statement to but I have consistently found it to be true!)
When we honor our own cycles then we open up the space for our Spirit to meet us and to provide the inspiration and vision to shift the reality we have created in the areas where it is no longer working. We must give ourselves permission to drop old roles, to let the past go, to forgive ourselves and others, to ask for and let ourselves receive what our hearts desire. Humankind has consistently evolved and quested for the solutions to the challenges that life has offered. We live in wonderous and remarkable times - where many of us have the capacity to access and connect with people around the world. We can co-create with each other a new vision for right relationship with all of life. We can gather in communities small and large to energize new visions, to put our collective powers to work at solving or addressing the challenges that we face as a planetary family. We can communicate and give voice to our vision and attract others of like mind who share the same passions and beliefs. We can take action by valuing what we claim to believe in and re-distributing resources to those causes and initiatives that are in alignment with the manifestation of peace and harmony, well being and health for all, free expression and creative license and equitable distribution of the wealth of resources that our lovely planet has to offer us.
One final piece of advice and guidance -- have a relationship with your MOTHER (the Earth) and ground yourself in to her core so that you can activate her magnetic power and align yourself to her massive and generous capacity to attract and create. The Earth is our home and it's time for us to remember that we are the stewards and have been given the power to create - it's time to create H.O.M.E. (Heaven On Mother Earth) for H.O.M.E. is the sacred garden where we can rest and feel safe and play and be in love and practice the art of joyful living and when we each create a life for ourselves that brings our best qualities to contribute to the bowl of life then the world will naturally change right along with us!