Those of us who have experienced the 1950s and the somewhat naïve living portrayed on television with shows like “Father Knows Best,” “Leave It to Beaver,” and “The Donna Reed Show” are dismayed at how far we’ve departed from what they represented. For many, those shows highlighted the importance of loving and spending time with your family and reaffirming manners and etiquette.

Men held doors for women; we played and got along with the other kids in our neighborhood because they were our neighbors; we watched over the elderly by carrying their groceries, mowing their lawns, and shoveling snow for them, and without any formality, a neighborhood watch existed because everyone watched out for everyone else at that time. If we did something we shouldn’t be doing, it was reported to our parents without them becoming defensive. Right was right, and wrong was wrong …. unlike today.

Today, few seem to own up to the consequences of their own making. Today, our society lives in the shadows, where people do not live their highest good, where the unacceptable has become acceptable. We live in fear. If those in power don’t like what we have to say, we are threatened with retaliation. Because of social media, anyone can say, do, and threaten another person or group without proper guidelines or consequences. Truth is often wholly misrepresented, and the unhappy, discontented folks grab onto the lies to ease their anger or sense of powerlessness or injustice.

We have fostered the false idea that our children are or should be perfect and no one is a loser; for example, whether their sports team wins or not, they are still winners. We have modeled for our children a sense of feeling slighted if they don’t constantly receive praise for whatever they do, even cleaning up their room or taking out the garbage, even though it is their responsibility. We have demonstrated and allowed our children to believe that if something doesn’t go their way, it is someone’s fault … not their own.

We want to blame anyone but ourselves for things that have happened in our lives, not to our liking. We are unwilling to accept responsibility for where we are in life, and therein lies one of the problems. We have forgotten that life is a chain of choices … made by us. Only we are responsible for the choices we make.

One of the most significant downfalls from softer times is that no one is allowed to disagree with another without staking a side. Instead, we want others to agree with whatever we believe, period. We demand consensus for whatever we express. If not, those who disagree with us become our enemies. We name-call, ridicule, and humiliate our enemies, and some go so far as to threaten their health and lives for not agreeing with them. We fail to acknowledge that differences exist to broaden our perspective from a different angle, and we need that to grow and expand our horizons.

So, where does that leave you and me? If we, along with everyone else, would sit, relax, and let our minds connect to our inner energy … the soul energy… we would rediscover the knowledge that we are all one and understand that anything negative we do to another affects us all.

The good news? The reverse is true as well. Anything positive we do for another affects us all as well. When that happens, the love energy … the highest energy … of what you’ve done with kindness spreads love into the ether and around us all. And it doesn’t take much, either. It can be a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, and so much more. All it takes is for us to think before we take action.

We need to claim the power of love and change the world. We can do it!

Let’s face it!  We are experiencing a very messy, angry way of living today with so many societies throughout the world in conflict with each other as well as individuals at odds with others within each of those societies.  I would like to say that this upheaval is something new but, unfortunately, it’s not.

As humans we have a propensity to gather negativity like furious little cancer cells that race to make a small irritation one large mass of anger and upset causing us to destroy good thoughts and deeds.  We even get caught up in power struggles between what one person believes vs. another’s belief.  We stubbornly hold unto our own ideas without any willingness to look at a different perspective which doesn’t allow for a broadening of knowledge which can create a greater chance for resolution.

Right now the most notable happening in our country is the presidential election which has provided the opportunity for us to shout hate slogans; accuse people of doings without proof; encourage harm done to those who don’t agree with us; excuse behavior so unbecoming that it hinges on lunacy; lose the sense of propriety that different perspectives should require, and lay blame on anyone but ourselves for our discontent.

And we humans LOVE all of this upheaval!  People haven’t become this engaged in what is going on around them in quite a while and it’s mostly due to the dark, negativity that abounds.  And we keep demanding more and more of this low energy because it is easier to hate than to love, which makes us a very lazy society indeed.

It’s hard to fully escape what is happening due to all the social media in place today.  The most disheartening thing for me to have seen on television was an average-looking family (mom, dad and two small children) wearing tee shirts with a slogan of hate written across it standing together in a crowd of protesters raising their fists in anger and shouting their slogan for all to see and hear.  Spittle flying and loud shouting must have been what caused the little girl to look up at her mother in confusion.  Sensing her dismay, her mother reached down and lifted her arm to show her how to shake it in anger.  The child had no real idea of what was going on or why but unwittingly was being taught her first step in developing blameful anger toward anyone who did not agree with her.  Hate begetting hate.

How can anyone find peace amid all of what is going on in our country and the rest of the world?  I can only share with you how I have come to be successful in finding my own peace.

• First of all, I try to avoid social media or talk with another that has anything to do with the election for it is hard to dismiss that negative energy after entertaining it for it becomes like gum to a shoe.  It sticks around for a while.
• The second thing I do is meditate to remind myself to let go of the idea that it is my responsibility to try to change anyone’s mind toward my own beliefs, not allowing them their own perspective.  In other words, I need to allow each person their own path in thinking and doing.  My role is to keep the faith that all will work out as it should.
• The third thing that I do on a daily basis is to say my “gratitudes” – all the things I am grateful for which by doing so automatically raises my energy to the highest level of love.  When I am in that space of awareness of all the beauty that surrounds me and all the positive things in my life, I no longer have the desire to entertain anything less.  I know I am blessed no matter my circumstances.
• The last thing I do is repeat my mantra.  To be completely at peace with myself and all the craziness that surrounds me, I developed a mantra that I repeat each night before I go to bed – “I send love and blessings to each and every one.  May we know and feel the love of God and know in our hearts we are all connected – all one – and treat each other the way we want to be treated.”

There is so much stress for everyone living today that it becomes essential to do what is necessary to climb out of our rabbit holes and find our peace within.  For each of us that may be different.  I only know that my rituals have helped me and continue to do so as long as I stick with them. Perhaps they will bring you peace as well.

Ego says, “Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.”  Spirit says, “Find your peace, then everything will fall into place.” – Marianne Williamson

“Peace comes within.  Do not seek it without.” – Gautama Buddha