Christmastime brings to the forefront the
idea of world peace. Images are everywhere to remind us of
this potential. No matter your spiritual path, consider
pausing each time you see the many Christmas cards and
decorations this month to allow the deeper meaning of
Christmas to surface: Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All
Humanity.
A bumper sticker which was popular several
years ago caught my attention; it read, "Visualize World
Peace." This is a new spin on the idea of a world at
peace sometime in the distant future, a world in which others
stop all the fighting and start getting along. This bumper
sticker was cleaver, planting a seed-thought to open-minded
individuals encouraging them to contribute towards the peace
process regardless of the destructive ways some behave and
think. You may wonder what this has to do with you. I want you
to know how important you are in implementing this world
change. Let us review the creative process: look at the
examples of other individuals and groups contributing toward a
world at peace to stimulate your own ideas; then focus on
yourself and creating inner peace in your own life.
It makes a difference what you do, think,
say, and visualize in your individual life; it adds weight to
our collective experience, which is a summation of all the
individual realities. To the degree we, as one-humanity, align
our inner visions and create peace in our own lives, we add to
the power of creating peace on the whole planet. There is a
critical mass needed where enough people believe in, affirm,
and visualize world peace, thus influencing the greater whole.
No one knows exactly how many individuals are needed to swing
the world in a new direction. Consider that your consciousness
may be the one needed to reach this critical mass.
Visualization is part of the formula for
manifesting goals in this world. When you desire something,
whether it is the ingredients to create a dinner recipe or to
lead a life with a college degree, there are several things
that move you towards the goal. You scan possibilities when
you daydream about a future reality. This helps you determine
what you really want. Once you land on a desired goal, it is
because you feel very intensely about the results you want.
You talk about it and affirm what you want, you think about
what it would be like to have what you want, and, whether or
not you realize it, you picture what you want to happen or
experience in the inner vision of your mind. Usually we focus
on creating our individual or family goals. It also works for
larger goals like world peace.
Let us look at some pictures others have of
world peace in order to motivate your creative thinking.
Sometimes others have ideas you like and you simply add your
power to their visions, such as the ideas of John Lennon in
his song, Imagine; "…a world where we will live
as one."
I once asked a group of elementary school
children what world peace would look like. They answered,
"There would be no bombs or war. People wouldn’t fight
or steal. There would be no killing." We can also receive
ideas by observing what some humanitarian groups, such as
Habitat for Humanity, do on the planet. I like the ideas of
Hiefer International which believes that the root causes of
peace are food, self-sufficiency, and the restoration of
dignity and community; their mission is to address and meet
these needs.
Part of my vision is that each child is
planned and each parent is educated to nurture, care for, and
be responsible for their children. People will then have a
solid base of self-esteem and be able to actualize their
purposes. It is a place where people at an early age learn to
understand themselves, communicate with integrity and respect
for individual differences, resolve conflict without
dominating or being dominated. It is a world where each
individual is encouraged towards being self-motivated to
develop their interests and purpose. Pause now to see what is
inside your daydreams of a world at peace for all.
Let us back up now and look at our own
lives. As we awaken, we gain awareness about how to heal our
belief systems, feelings, and actions. As we experience deep
peace in our lives, we personally live in a world of peace,
and it automatically adds more peace to the whole world.
What is inner peace? It is a place of
physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual balance. (You might
take a look at the first issue of the Innerwords Messenger to
remind you of some ways to nurture yourself on each of these
levels.) Inner peace is loving, respecting, accepting, and
forgiving yourself and others on a regular basis. Over time
you learn to live harmoniously within yourself. As you heal
yourself and live more moments of inner peace, you
automatically extend it and positively influence others.
I invite you to add the weight of your
visions with those behind the scene who gently move us towards
world peace. It may seem like a big a jump for you at this
time to visualize world peace for all; however, know that you
are already contributing to world peace or the lack of it. Why
not do it consciously? Begin with your own life, moving step
by step into greater awareness. As you create inner peace
within, it flows into your relationships and your community,
which influences the whole world. Visualize world peace to add
the weight of your energy in order to benefit all of humanity.
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