Be the change you wish to see…

This inspirational phrase echoes an emerging awareness that the way to create positive transformation in our lives and in the world around us is by elevating our individual consciousness. That means learning to choose our thoughts, words and actions so that they are a clear reflection of our highest ideals. To reach this level of expanded awareness you must first travel within to connect with your true authentic self, and then bring that unique inner beauty into the world – through you and as you. There are many obstacles to overcome on this journey of self discovery but the Universe provides magical help along the way that will guide you to your destination.

The first obstacle that we face is our own belief system – the way that we have learned to interact with the world. This accumulation of input from our family, society, religion and the media programmed us to believe that certain types of situations make us happy… while others make us angry… and still others are a signal to be nervous… or fearful… or confused… or worried… or whatever. These values and biases that we absorbed in childhood have become stronger and stronger over the years, and they are the underlying cause for the way that we react to what happens in our lives today.



To understand how this works let’s look at just one emotion… say anger. You were “programmed” by your conditioning to feel anger in certain circumstances and every time that you have had a similar experience it has reinforced that original angry reaction. In your consciousness you have created a “chain” of anger and each new encounter adds another link to that chain. What started as an anger chain with just a few links that you learned in childhood has become a huge chain with all of the links that were added throughout your life. This is why sometimes we can get really angry at a very trivial event and then think: “Why am I so upset about such a small thing?”. It is because that situation triggered you to bring up your entire chain of anger; and the same thing happens when someone or something pushes any of your emotional “buttons”. A person, place, word or situation activates one of your programmed responses and when that “button” is pushed you automatically react with your complete lifetime chain of emotions related to that type of experience.



The way to reverse this negative cycle is by learning how to resist our programmed reactions so that we can make conscious choices about how to act in the world. This is called mindfulness, and though it seems rather simple it is in fact quite a challenge because you must overcome an entire lifetime of being controlled by your inherited patterns. Even when you are determined to be mindful you may still continue to think, say and do things that are not in harmony with whom you wish to be… and that is OK. It is natural for these engrained reactions to persist, but that resistance will magically melt away if you maintain your intention to be mindful. The simple key is to become aware that you have reacted unconsciously to one of your old chains of behavior and then gently correct yourself. That’s all you have to do… and this works even if your awareness comes hours or days after the event has happened. Just by noticing and correcting your inherited reaction to a situation you not only stop yourself from adding a new link to that chain, but you automatically eliminate a great many of the old links all at once. This means that you do not need to laboriously dig through your past to correct every instance where you have added to a negative emotional pattern. All you need to do is bring the light of awareness to each new situation as it arises, and then watch as it acts like a powerful laser beam – instantly dissolving countless past links in that chain of emotion – freeing you from the weight of years of emotional baggage all at once. Magic!

But that is only the beginning. As you continue to intentionally create your thoughts, words and deeds so that they resonate with your highest ideals another form of magic will start to unfold. Easily and effortlessly you will begin to experience a higher level of consciousness in all areas of your life. You will become more discerning about what you put into your body and how to keep it healthy. Your tastes in music, books and entertainment will become more refined as will your choices of where to go, what to do and whom to hang out with. This is the magic of conscious evolution and it is a natural reflection of choosing to be in alignment with your inner wisdom. Living at this higher vibratory level you will automatically feel more comfortable around similar vibrations in every aspect of your life and will gravitate toward others who are evolving in the same direction.



The evolutionary impulse that is sweeping through these remarkable times in which we live has two distinct yet related aspects. First it inspires us to transform from within to reveal our true authentic selves, and then it impels us to create the world we live in to be a reflection of that inner beauty. When we set our intention to follow this flow of transformative energy the Universe reaches out to guide and support us. It begins by dissolving the barriers of our past programming through the “magic” of mindful awareness. Then, as we connect with our inner wisdom, we are “magically” drawn to a higher vibratory level in all things so that our life experience mirrors the evolution of our consciousness. It is through this process of individual awakening that the rhythm of humanity will finally come into harmony with the song that plays in our hearts… and as more and more of us transform… we will truly become… the change we wish to see. •