Nero fiddled while Rome burned and we are arguing, continuously trying to be right while our worlds falls apart. On every newscast, talk show, and yes, even here on the Huffington Post, it seems most of our energy is expended trying to be right, rather than finding solutions to the ever-increasing problems our world faces. We all have a position we want to defend! As journalists we are rewarded for creating controversy. Talk show hosts yell and try to put each other down, instead of using their wisdom to explore together to find the answers. Once someone, perhaps you, has decided his or her thoughts are right, it is impossible to see what is really going on. The need to be right feeds our adrenaline rushes while it blinds us from seeing reality. What makes it worse is our media feeds the whole cycle.
Our Thoughts Are at Best an Approximation of Reality
Thought is at best an approximation of reality, not reality itself. Yet we fight and die for our thoughts, beliefs and values: Right Wing, Left Wing, Conservative, Liberal, Christian, Atheist, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, fundamentalists of all kinds -- pro-choice, anti-choice, trickle-down, supply-side, socialists, government healthcare, and privatize everything. Can all the prophets of blabber just take a break? We may speak the same language, but we are now becoming the modern tower of babble. We are all intelligent on some level, and surly we know that what we are saying is not exactly real. In our hearts we must realize that we have painted ourselves into a corner.
We all see "our own reality" because of the effect of thought and our egos that are made up of thoughts, but there is a reality that has momentum outside of our thoughts and speculations. Over history, those who have ignored the flow of this reality have suffered and perished. It is like we are standing on the beach as the bay empties on soapboxes screaming our theories into the wind as the shadow of a great wave comes over us.
Our Children Are Watching
Sadder yet, some get caught up in these proclamations and believe one point of view or another, or they just check out with bizarre behaviors crying out for love as we argue. If you have any inkling that your thoughts might not be exactly right, just stop and reflect. Look beyond both sides and see if you can make contact with the flow of the greater reality.
Absorb and Integrate the Flow Before Speaking
There is a flow of cause and effect that has momentum and rhythm and informs all creation, you know it as you look upon nature's beauty, or find yourself like an athlete in "the zone," responding effortlessly to the movement of a complex game. The only way to understand the complexity of life is to absorb and integrate in the present. Great leaders can feel the flow and rhythm of the market or world events, and being informed by this flow their thoughts lead people to peace and understanding. They see the sea empty out and lead their people to higher ground before the wave crushes them.
What are we doing with our words? Are we leading people to higher ground or are we creating rhetoric to draw attention ourselves? Test what you say with your heart's deepest desires, instead of your ego's needs, before you speak or write. Don't follow the herd; lead them to greener pastures.