The Global Conversation

Tag: freedom

  • The noble one inside us all

    Before we light up that barbecue and have a “Happy Memorial Day,” let us stop and remember why the day exists.

    As a Veteran, I wish to honor and pay my deepest respects to all of my Brothers and Sisters in arms who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Dying for freedom is perhaps one of the noblest causes one could give their life for, as freedom is the essence of life and who we really are.

    Freedom is at the heart of every individual’s right to be and choose the kind of life one wishes to live. God/Life grants everyone freedom, yet to this very day not everyone is free. Fortunately, there are those among us willing to stand for, serve and answer freedom’s call.

    Historically, the love of power has led individuals, groups, companies, and countries alike to attempt to control human beings, as there are always those who seemed determined to undermine freedom for personal or financial gain. Oppression is alive and well everywhere in our world today, but have faith, tyranny is always met by a few courageous souls willing to sacrifice it all for the good of the many. They are everywhere, including inside of you.

    Though Memorial Day is traditionally set aside to honor those who served and sacrificed in the United States Armed Forces, I also wish to remember and honor all the many spiritual warriors who have paid and continue to pay the ultimate price for freedom as well. There are those courage few who stand for peace, freedom, individual rights and civil liberties, who are willing to give it all so that others may simply live free. They are heroes, one and all.

    Freedom cannot exist without personal responsibility. Freedom and personal responsibility must go hand in hand, for the truly free are responsive to other’s needs and desires, not just their own. It is only when the illusion of need turns toward manipulation, coercion and force that peace and freedom become in jeopardy.

    Freedom does not trample on another’s rights in order to have its own way; that is the absence of freedom. Being free is a balance between an individual’s rights while still being responsive to other’s rights and desires as well. This is where personal responsibility plays its greatest role.

    I honor all who have the courage to stand for their beliefs without the need to force them upon others. They represent themselves, their path and freedom well. These are some of the greatest challenges faced by humanity today. We all have the ability to meet the challenge of integrating the above ideas into our lives, and as we do so, it will change everything for humanity.

    Personal freedom and responsibility are an essential part of the “Conversations with God” messages. One of CwG’s core messages is: “Ours is not a better way, ours is merely another way,” and it is offered to humanity as a new possibility for living free and in peace.

    Peace becomes immediately possible with respect and tolerance. My Father use to say, “Respect and tolerance would heal the world today!” and he was right. It is not necessary for us to agree about anything, since we always have the ability to extend respect to one another. We can agree to disagree and we can do so respectfully. This takes great courage and insight, knowing that my path may not be your path, nor does it need to be.

    When critical mass is reached on any subject, change happens. Our world is waiting, not just for the few, but for the many to stand and be counted. What do you take a stand for? Who do you choose to be in relationship to the events and circumstances going on around you? These are powerful and important questions that life presents you. What you decide about yourself in relationship to these events will determine your experience of them. Who you choose to be is creative.

    My favorite question within the Conversations with God books is, “What is your next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about who you are?” It takes on a whole new meaning and importance when looked at through the events happening your life.

    “Who am I?” or perhaps more importantly, “Who do I now choose to be in relationship to the events in your life?” becomes a powerful creative question with consequences. Choose wisely, as your answer will be creating your experience and reality.

    Always remember you are free to choose, no matter what the circumstances or consequences. Your choices represent who you are and now wish to be, and those choices will be creating your real life experiences. Check in to see if  your choices are in alignment with who you really are. You will know they are if they set you free.

    Many that have come before us have offered grand possibilities through the choices they demonstrated. Many have given it all to be who they really are. It is why we remember their names. They have inspired us, changed us, and forever created possibilities for us that we might never have known if it were not for their courage and willingness to be who they were and act the way they did.

    I think of the choice Christ made. I think of the choice Mother Teresa made. I think of the choice Martin Luther King made. I think of the choice Gandhi made. I think of the choice Rosa Parks made. I think of the choice Nelson Mandela made. And so on.

    I now think of the choices I can make… and I hope you are, too. Think of those who inspire you to be a grander version of yourself and then BE it. Your demonstration may very well inspire another to become their grander self. Before you know it, we change the world.

    It is the courageous few who answer freedom’s call, yet it is possible for the whole of us to do so. It is in memory of all who have given the greatest sacrifice to serve humankind who have my deepest respect and gratitude this day. I will remember you today as I celebrate my freedom and I thank you for the inspiration to be a grander version of me.

    May we all be touched, moved and inspired to be grander versions of ourselves this day. I can think of no greater way to honor those who have given it all so that we could simply be.

    J.R. Westen, D.D., C.A.d.

    (J.R. is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His counseling and coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one’s experience of life.  As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.’s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.’s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y. In addition, he operates “Change House” a place where people come to transform. He also works with Escondido Sobering Services and now serves as the Executive Director of the Conversations with God Foundation.)

     

  • Can I choose love instead of fear?

    There is more love around.  I can feel it.  Or is there more love in myself?

    Love and joy have no upper limit. You can carry only a certain amount of hatred, sadness and grief inside you, because at some point they will all change into love. This will happen either during this life or the next one. Universal love is infinite freedom. It is freedom to choose and to learn from one’s own choices.

    You are never alone. You are always accompanied by love which manifests itself in different energies and forms of life. What you feel and perceive is different from what reality is. Your feelings and perceptions are but partial truths. The more you manifest love, the more you will feel and perceive yourself to be part of a whole, which is a good deal greater than the world you are living in.

    There is much more love in the world than what is usually thought. People would be able to live in a much greater love for themselves, each other, nature and the whole planet if the distorted structures in our societies all over the world did not limit and suppress the expression of love.

    Someone says that we are living in a loveless world. I say that we are living in abundant love. It is a different thing than whether we are able to discover and recognize the abundant love in ourselves. We are living in a world of illusions. The value system around us may rather be more destructive than loving. We are being sold self-esteem without love. Our yearning for love is appealed through our self-esteem.

    Commercials and advertisements make us feel unhappy unless we acquire this and that. Those that we call  charity organizations may say, ”Buy yourself a good feeling, donate for charity.”  Love has been turned into merchandise. Yet love is free of cost. We can show love and radiate love around us all the time, and totally free of charge. If you saw the impact of love energies, you would understand their power. The spirit is stronger than matter.

    Joy is free.

    Joy is love.

    Joy is in your attitude.

    The more you feed joy and love, the more you will be them. This must happen unselfishly, without compulsion or artificiality. The world is full of pretension, smiles and promises which are not real. The world is also full of honesty, smiles and being which are real. You must recognize them in you and in others. You must recognize yourself. Do you know yourself?  Many think that they recognize themselves, their expectations and needs although they only recognize the needs and expectations that the environment has
    created for them.

    Can you distinguish real love from market values? You can if you only want to. Can you distinguish between desire and love? For love is much more of the attitude “how I love” rather than “how I am loved.”  The need to be loved has prevailed for too long over expression of real love in humanity. All kinds of means for being loved have been and are being used.  People do things, buy products, and choose attitudes in order to be loved.

    In the course of history many distorted attitudes have become generally accepted laws and patterns of behavior. The world is so full of these norms restricting love and freedom, rites and attitudes that an individual who expresses love may seem as unfit for the society…because love and freedom are one.

    When we express love, we are free. There is no wrong in love. Real freedom is absolute love. The notion of freedom as well as that of love is distorted in our world. There are attempts to buy and attain both of them in ways that are nothing but delusion when compared with real love and freedom. In the most extreme case, nations think that they can buy freedom by reinforcing their armed forces. In doing so, are they imagining that they are buying love, too? For freedom is love. Freedom attained through life-destroying methods is dependency and fear. Fear is a challenge for reaching real love. Love has no fear. How could love have fear because love is eternal, infinite power and wisdom? Infinite love, infinite wisdom, and infinite power are in you. So why would you be afraid?

    Fear is not in you. It is in the societal, social and economic structures. Fear is energy which maintains these structures. These structures are so distorted that they are sustained by life-destroying energies. They are antiquated energies which are having their death struggle, when at the same time life-constructing energies of love are manifesting themselves ever more widely.

    (Timo Teide is an artist, author, and spiritual guide who lives in Finland.  He has had dozens of art exhibitions and he has done meditative music and books about love. The healing power of art and the multidimensional impact of colors, forms and sounds are the most important elements of his art. Visit: www.teidegallery.com. Contact Timo: timo.teide@gmail.com.)

     

  • Peace in the workplace

    Humanity longs for peace; between people, communities and nations. Yet, there is an arena in dire need of healing that is rarely addressed.  The workplace, where millions of people spend the majority of their waking hours, is comprised of a web of egos battling and competing for power and validation. Managers are disempowering employees, co-workers are hurting and sabotaging one another, and the environment is often fraught with blame, paranoia, rivalry, insecurity, gossip and greed. It is literally an emotional combat zone.

    Fear of reprisal prevents people from addressing or even acknowledging the pain they are suffering. The atmosphere of reaction and counter-reaction feeds on itself and is difficult to see or escape when you are engaged in it. Even so, my audiences from a multitude of industries throughout the country say it is true; people are suffering.

    Your job is not your identity

    As a way to cope in the confusion and often cutthroat environment, we create roles we mistakenly believe will win respect and security. We unconsciously and sometimes very deliberately devise schemes to gain power, approval, and financial security—all entrenching us in the current culture of reaction and counter-reaction.

    We have become so connected to these artificial identities that we have forgotten who we really are. But we are not these identities—they are simply roles we play in the workplace and they belie our incredible authentic power. More than ever before, it is time to rebuild relationships in the workplace by honoring the spirit in ourselves and others that is residing beneath our self-created identities.

    With the current ego-driven, top-down management in today’s workplace, millions of people in businesses of all sizes and various industries feel as though they are in prison with little freedom of self-expression. Fear of losing their jobs, especially in these economically challenging times, causes people to cling to their jobs for security in the very place that brings up all their insecurities. Though difficult to admit, most people are weary of the ongoing drama, wishing for a better environment but feeling stuck, with few options.  But even if they leave one workplace “stage,” without an internal shift, they will find the same issues in the new workplace.

    I would like to share a process that I believe will help each one of us find our own authentic power and inner peace, even in the workplace. As we awaken and remember who we are, we stop playing our roles in the workplace drama. As we, one by one wake up, we begin to unravel the web of interacting egos in the workplace. As we awaken, we simultaneously give others the opportunity to do the same.

    Understanding the competitive work atmosphere

    When working in a business that is fear-based and driven by internal competition, you may have become confused and overwhelmed by the relationship issues. The competitiveness prevents teamwork, cooperation, joy and satisfaction. Even those who seem to thrive on competition can become discouraged by the never-ending pressure and related rivalry. I believe it is absolutely imperative to understand the source of the conflict and stop the paralysis of fear so many are experiencing.

    Conflict occurs as a result of disguised fear. When fear arises within, it is often denied and blocked. When it is blocked, it can harden within, much like frozen ice in a flowing river; preventing all the healthy, normal emotions from flowing through you. Fear becomes you. If allowed, it can overtake your perception of the workplace and the world. It can impact your family life; the very fabric of our human culture.

    Rivalry in the workplace feeds on insecurity and is accelerated by the desire to be appreciated, combined with the fear of failure or humiliation. Attempts are made to expel the pain by blaming, attacking or gossip, which only leads to greater rivalry, competition and jealousy. Few people can withstand the discomfort and pain of being criticized, attacked and blamed by a boss or co-worker. The feeling is literally that of being stabbed and deeply wounded.

    Blaming, attacking and holding a figurative “gun”’ at someone else gives the individuals doing it a false sense of superiority and/or safety. They do not feel the pain they cause in others when they are in the attack mode. But much like real wars between nations, the sense of triumph is short-lived because there is always another enemy. It is time to put down all our weapons—literally and figuratively.

    Finding freedom and peace

    This passage of time is about freedom and deliverance from the chains that have bound you. The only answer to unlocking these gridlocks is to finally stop and look within to find the source of the pain. But we resist looking within because we are afraid of opening up a dirty little secret—that we are not worthy. However, maintaining this belief and holding up this wall of protection takes a lot of energy and causes more pain. It is quite literally exhausting. The truth is that you are more powerful than any of your ego defense mechanisms. Self worth will never be found in perpetuating drama.

    The remedy is to stop reacting, attacking, defending, blaming and fearing to look at your own wound. When you are feeling attacked or undermined, ask yourself the following questions:

    • Who is the source of pain?
    • Why do I allow the attack?
    • Most of all, why do I believe them?  

    Realize the true source of fear by not running away, and instead, allowing it to arise so that it can be recognized and released. As you permit the pain to be felt, you will gradually recall and have memories in your psyche of other painful experiences. This is your opportunity to witness to yourself how you received and came to believe these ideas and descriptions of yourself and how these fears have become you!  When you recognize the fear is inside you, you will be liberated. You will be free to respond from your authentic self without blame or defense.

    Discovering your true self, your inner spiritual greatness, is difficult to do when you have incorrect beliefs about yourself. Clearing out the fictitious thoughts about yourself requires the willingness to face your pain and your greatest fear—that you are not worthy. Allow the pain that is hurting you now to be the door to your release. You do not have to keep replaying this scene of emotional suffering. The truth is that you are glorious beyond words–all these little beliefs are nothing but shadowy veils. These veils of protection keep us from being fully alive and joyous by filtering the light and shrouding us from seeing our true selves.

    When we can replace fear with trust and compassion, there will be a shift in consciousness. People everywhere will be restored to their true identities, their inner spiritual greatness intended by the Creator. What a blessed day when we take off our ego-defined masks and see our brothers and sisters standing there, our beloved fellow souls, whom we had mistakenly identified as the enemy—both in the workplace and the world.

    (Danna Beal, M.Ed., resides in Bellevue, Washington, and is an international speaker and author of “The Extraordinary Workplace:  Replacing Fear with Trust and Compassion.” She has spoken to over 300 business groups and been on over 60 radio shows. She conducts workshops on Enlightened Leadership and Healing the Workplace Culture. She can be reached at www.dannabeal.com and https://www.facebook.com/Healingtheworkplaceculture. )

     (If you have a Guest Column that you would like to submit, send it to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.  Not all material submitted is accepted for publication, but we appreciate each submission.)