2023 – Deciding what we want to be

 

“How can I protect you in this crazy world” – Lyrics from Aslan.

The two images you see in this blog post were generated by Artificial Intelligence ustilising Microsoft Bing Create. Yep – that’s a thing now – check it out.

I asked AI to create two images. Love in water and hate in water.

I don’t need to explain to you which is which.

Everything we do fundamentally is a choice. If we were ever to believe that thoughts are the creators of good things, why would we choose to think the bad things?

Look at our world today.  What is there? We can choose to see the wars, the famines, the natural disasters, the diseases and the poor getting poorer, the so-called middle class just getting by, and the rich are getting richer.

Look at our world today? There is a growing consciousness of the above. We see it but we do not have to accept it. We do not have to choose war. When was the last time you saw people voting in a referendum to go to war? Yet millions have marched for peace. And they will again. Peace and love on this planet are the only cause. Harmony with each other and nature. We call it natural.

“We may think of peace as the absence of war, that if the great powers would reduce their weapons arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we will see our own minds - our own prejudices, fears, and ignorance.” - Thích Nhất Hạnh

What do you want to be in 2023? I am not asking what you want to get in the form of things we can possess. Do you want to be kind? Do you want to be loving? Do you want to be compassionate? Do you want peace? Do you want these for everyone in the world and for you?

Do you want positive change for all? Then you start where you are and be that change. See the peace. Feel the love. Be Kind. To everyone. Forgive everyone now. Go inward. Be mindful. Empty the mind and be mindless but not in the mindless way the word is misused.

The peacemakers are not only amongst us. They are in you. It is in you to bring this message to more and more people. Pay it forward. Smile. Let not fear of fear stop you in your tracks. Let not your mind deceive you that this “little me” can change the world when it is in fact the only thing that will change the world.

Start locally and go globally. Love cannot be killed. Love never dies. Love was never born. Love always is.

When you find the space between thoughts linger there a moment. Wisdom lies there. And your reaction to your thought then becomes your feeling. Your feeling can then become your action. Your action can then change you and everything around you.

It has been said in many ways by many people

Give peace a chance.

What is not love is a cry for love

Love your enemy.

Forgive one another.

There is suffering and there is a way out of suffering

 Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos.

Let it be – there will be an answer.

And so then, as we look back on what’s called 2022 let us remind ourselves about the world, we want to live in.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Do let go. Let go of the illusion that we need to kill. The planet. Our fellow humans. Us.

Make 2023 the year where you discover new ways of thinking and drop the old ways that do not work for you, your neighbour, your community and the world.

The world is your community. YOU can make it a better one.

Imagine.