6 Steps to World Peace
World Peace (properly capitalized to convey more importance than "world peace" and less rhetoric and misplaced anger than "WORLD PEACE") does not happen in a vacuum. It doesn't happen "out there". It happens in you first before it can ever exist anywhere else. How can there be World Peace if it doesn't include you? It cannot exist without you, therefore, starting it with you makes perfect sense. Now that YOU have it taken care of (no rhetoric or misplaced anger, I promise), the rest of the world can follow in your footsteps.
I highly encourage you to own that World Peace starts with you. If we all did this, think where we could go with it.
The steps are numbered in the order I feel is best for us to follow when creating love and appreciation for our fellow traveler. They are shared in reverse order so as to help you keep the end goal in mind. They are also GUARANTEED to work if you follow them to the letter. If they do not work, then please contact me for a refund on whatever you sent my Patreon. Also, what is Patreon and how does it work?
How to truly understand and connect with people with different views:
Step 6) Find and become present to your appreciation for them and become something new - friends.
I have a family of differing opinions. There are five of us in my family of origin and six of us in my family of creation. There are over 25 in my extended family of cousins I interact with semi-regularly and over 100 family members I'm aware of but don't keep in contact with. I think, if I did a little research I'd find that I have a blood relation to a few other people. I cannot say absolutely but I can say with some probabilistic authority that I am least related to over a million people by blood.
I only shared that to give you an idea of how small my family is. It is relevant to what I will be sharing. You may not have a family that small. Yours may be upwards of 7 billion.
Because my family is so diverse in their opinion and family is important to me I sat down today and promised myself I wouldn't get up until I came up with a solution to a recurring problem. You see, I have two siblings who I love dearly that can't communicate because of their difference of opinions. I hurt when I think of it. I've hurt when I've been a part of the same emotional distance. I have been there and know the feeling of disconnect and isolation. I don't wish it upon anyone. It can show up as judgment, embarrassment, fear, sorrow, angst, resentment, rage - you name it.
This hurts for me to share and i hope not to be judged by it but there have been cases of emotional horror in my family that have led to suicide, murder....even mass murders.
I wish I could have been involved more to help them see options of self expression that didn't hurt others. In some cases I knew something was up and didn't act. In some other cases I had no idea and was as shocked as the general public. In still other cases I did get involved and no one got hurt. I will never know for sure if my involvement helped prevent pain but I sure feel like I have at least contributed to some family members over the years. Writing this is an example of me getting involved. I feel what I have to say can make a difference right away with some of my siblings.
I need to restore some integrity here. I also have a hard time communicating with some of my siblings. I realized I may sound like I am now above all of the emotional distance. I am not. Back to the regularly scheduled exposition.
I sat down to solve this when a flash of an idea hit me on what could help my family.
Step 5) Talk about what is important to you.
You see, we have a reunion every two years where we focus on family. We spend time together. We reminisce. We lower voices. We raise voices. We play games. We drink. We eat. We sleep. We love. We dislike. We withhold. We share. You name it. It happens.
This can be the perfect time to connect and we do connect but sometimes we don't and I'm left with what can only be described as a hole in my heart, or maybe the part of the mind that wants to trust and to love. Even when we focus on family we don't always have the time or make the time to speak to everyone we can. The disconnection is a function of time and effort. It became clear to me that of those two, time cannot be controlled by me explicitly or by any of my siblings. Effort, on the other hand? I sense a little wiggle room there. I think there is space for more effort on our part.
So, if I were to want to maximize my time and effort around connecting with family there's a little housekeeping I feel we should do first. Although I can't control time I can control what I do with my time and that starts with preserving time.
I've found that just because we are related that doesn't mean we are both in a space to communicate at any particular point in time. Assuming my sibling is ready to relate just because I am isn't fair or smart, really. A bit of agreement is needed sometimes and even when it isn't needed, making sure we are both open to connecting can't hurt. In fact, I've found it makes connecting much more sound and fulfilling.
The alternative is that two siblings may enter into a conversation with different intentions or goals. Sometimes those differences get in the way of accomplishing anything and sometimes they don't.
Ever finish a conversation and realize what a waste of time it was? You could have avoided that and I'm giving you the ability to do just that next time. Pay attention.
So clearing all that junk (if it exists) would help save time and squeeze more juice out of the short enough time we already have with one another.
Step 4) Agree on what you're up to before connecting. Do not proceed to the next step without achieving this.
What does this agreement sound or look like? It could be anything really. "We need to arrange a kennel for the dogs for our upcoming trip," is perfectly acceptable. If both siblings agree then they are off to the races. However, I propose family reunions not be about logistics unless absolutely necessary and be more about learning of one another, so what kind of agreement is best suited for that?
Step 3) Go big or go big. Only one of you have to go big. No agreement necessary.
How about an agreement around connecting? If one sibling wants to learn about another and it isn't mutual there will likely be at least one obstacle to that goal being achieved. Really getting to know someone is going big. If one of you doesn't feel like you went big after the conversation guess what? No one went big. Going big makes obstacles small or non-existent. Going big makes molehills out of mountains. Going big allows you to step over what were once mountains or better yet, allows you to navigate as if nothing were there. This is the space where the label of impossible or improbable becomes immediately laughable.
Step 2) Acknowledge that you and your sibling have different views on at least something and that that difference is OK and welcomed (short of a belief in violence as a means of communication). Don't proceed until it is truly OK and is truly welcomed.
Why do this? For a couple of really big reasons. First, if you don't, you're likely to assume a lot of things in your conversation, like what is and isn't significant to them. They, at the same time may do this to you. You could acknowledge this almost universal fact verbally. Why verbally? That brings me to the second big reason.
Speaking aloud shakes you awake and gives you access to power and authenticity. These human tools don't exist in the mind. Hearing it uttered brings it out of the realm of the sub or unconscious and reveals an ugly truth - we all continue to think our way of thinking is or should be universal. It is as far from universal as possible. If we are lucky we are emotionally mature and are only different from one another in minor ways, realizing we are all having the same (human) experience.
If, on the other hand, we are living quiet lives of desperation, we are selfish, insecure, fearful bags of stimuli responders that rarely take responsibility for or know why we do what we do and live in constant anxiety of being found out as the cowards we believe ourselves to be. This can show up as the feeling that the world is unsafe, or the world is messed up, or the world is full of idiots, or the world is best left alone. Notice that it involves the world. What do you think is wrong with the world?
What will you do to enjoy the journey? How many travelers will you meet and connect with? What will they say about you as you become a memory in time? Who can you reach out to right now and thank for helping you on your journey?
Remember, the destination is an illusion. The journey is all we have.
Step 1) Find and become present to your appreciation for them and become something new - friends.
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Namaste and all that good stuff.