To Everything
There is a season
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
— The Byrds (quoting the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1)

There is no such thing as a good or bad emotion. However you are feeling right now, whatever the circumstance beneath it, has its right and dutiful place.

We have to learn emotional intelligence on our own. For the most part, it’s not taught in schools. Many turn to entertainment, work/distraction, and substances to mask uncomfortable emotions — push them aside.

When this decision is made collectively on a global scale (as it is), you get some of the results in the world that we see, particularly in who we call leaders and the decisions they make.

If a class were being taught on the subject, Lesson 1 would be, “uncomfortable emotions are meant to be faced and have the potential to become our greatest teachers.”

As the world turns, environmental problems continue to escalate, people are becoming more divided and angry, the poor are getting poorer, and collective confusion and anxiety is rising. Those are more or less the macro trends here to stay for awhile — the daily news, everyday, confirms them.

And yet, small fires of peace are blazing and getting hotter, as a minority of non-conforming individuals intensifies their sadhana, commitment to Truth, and a host of other virtues.

Friends, we must confront, with love and skill — professionally if need be — what we are afraid of. What we are avoiding because of what might happen. The loneliness. The voids. The addictions. The grief that binds us to a past long gone.

While it has always been true, it’s truer now than ever before. The cost of avoidance far, far outweighs the cost of confrontation. Oh, I’ll deal with that later, or not at all.

We are running out of time. Later is never guaranteed, even more so now.

If we do not stop running the “programs,” nothing will change. And if nothing changes, you know where we are headed.

Salvation will not come in a world leader, though to some extent, yes, it might. More so, it will come from you and me, and everybody else who cares to start paying attention to what matters most. To turn towards the objects of resistance and face them — no matter how scary or uncomfortable they might seem.

There is peace on the other side of them. The confrontation could be awkward, cause for tears, a break down of some sort or the other. That’s called being human. We are not yet robots.

The temporary discomfort of confrontation leads to resolution.

The prolonged putting off or dismissal of discomfort leads to disaster.

Disaster is at our doorstep.

At least that makes the choice easier, doesn’t it?

Suggested Use: Have pen and paper ready. Read this post once. Then read again, a little more slowly. Pause. Reflect. Journal any connections or intentions that come to you. Come back a few days later, and read again. Repeat. Only take what resonates. Leave the rest behind, and kindly share if you feel another could be benefited.