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Politics and Peace in the World

I am so upset that Bush has been inaugurated for another term. I am really afraid for the state of the world in the next four years. Do you have any insight on this?

I have heard this from many people. The fact that you are choosing to be upset causes far more harm within you, your world, and the Universe than anything that anyone outside of you could do. If you are upset, then you cannot be at peace. If you are not at peace in your own life, how can you expect there to be peace in your world? No one is doing this to you, you are choosing it and allowing it for yourself.

Peace comes with acceptance. You must accept what is, because it simply is, and there is nothing that you can do to change it. However, you can affect the ultimate outcome by how you choose to focus your thoughts, energies, emotions, words and actions. If you choose to be upset, it upsets your whole sense of wellness and wellbeing in your own life. Nothing is worth making yourself sick over, and nothing is worth giving up your inner peace for. If you choose to maintain peace within you, then you can hold the vibration of peace for your world. You choose your experience, and your choices contribute to the experiences of the collective consciousness of humanity.

George Bush is a man who can be greatly influenced by those around him. Therefore he can also be influenced by the energies and intentions of others, so we must choose to hold a vision of him as the person we would like to see as President of the United States. Do not hold him in judgment, even if it might be well-deserved, because judgment only feeds negativity. Hold him in the most positive light and shower him with love, because he needs to be influenced by love, not by fear, judgment and negativity. This is a man who wants to make history, so envision him doing the great and wonderful things that you wish he would do - see miraculous things happening during this presidency that are for the greatest good for all of humanity.

All possibilities exist in every moment, and it is up to each of us to choose which of these possibilities we empower and bring into our reality. It is important to remember always that you will manifest and experience in your life what you focus on most of the time, so make sure that your thoughts, your emotions, your words and actions are supporting what you truly want to experience and create. This is your responsibility. Responsibility is not blame, it is power - this world is no one’s fault, but it is everyone’s responsibility. George Bush is the President, so it is up to all of us to make the best of it.

How can we create peace in this world when it’s in such a state of turmoil?

Your thoughts invest energy in whatever you are focused on. Peace is a state of mind. Whatever you hold to be true will be true for you - you cannot experience anything that is outside of what you believe is possible. You must hold the belief that peace is possible, and you must stop focusing on turmoil in the world. If you want peace in the world, then this is how you must direct your thoughts.

You cannot fight for peace. Fighting is resistance, and resistance is an act of war. Peace only comes with acceptance, because acceptance is a unifying force. Turmoil occurs when there is lack of unity, caused by a belief in separation and otherness. You must suspend your judgment, because judgment only separates you from what is, and makes you think that you are other than that, or better than that.

You cannot change another, you can only change yourself. Therefore, you can only change what you see in the world by accepting it as part of yourself, embracing it, and joining with it. Then you have the power to change it, because then it is within you, and you have the power of choice in your life.

Turmoil is a state of disharmony that comes from disagreement and a sense of opposition and conflict. In order to have peace, we must accept other people’s truths. Each person is right for him/herself. Just because we are right for ourselves does not make others wrong who disagree with us. There is no right or wrong, nor is there good or bad - these are merely subjective judgments based on a certain perspective and belief system.

We are all things and we are capable of all things. We are all capable of killing, just as we are all capable of nurturing. Neither is absolutely good or bad, it is simply part of life on Earth (sometimes nurturing one may involve killing another, such as animals for food - or even a head of lettuce!). Everyone does everything out of love for something, not out of hatred for something else (when you water your garden and drown a colony of ants, you do so out of love for your garden, not out of hatred for ants). We must stop our judgment of right and wrong, and live by and for love, not ruled by fear. Then we will achieve true peace on Earth.

You create your world with your worldview. What world do you want to live in? Hold the vision of that and nothing else, let no other option be available for you to focus on or experience. Let that be your world and your reality. See the world through eyes of love. Look for the light in all things, in all people, and in all experiences. Let your peace of mind be what you see reflected in the world.

HOW CAN I FEEL AT PEACE WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY BAD PEOPLE IN THE WORLD?

There are really not a lot of bad people in the world, just a lot of bad news. The news media have to scour the entire globe to find enough bad news to fill a 30-minute television program, minus sports, weather and commercials, and the repeating of the same story for the last several days. So there is really relatively little true bad news in the world on a daily basis, unless you want to go searching for it. And what purpose does this serve? None, if your intention for yourself is inner peace.

The truth is that the vast majority of people in the world are good, loving people. Look around you – what is your true reality? Are you surrounded by good people, or by bad people? If you are really surrounded by “bad” people, then you need to make certain choices regarding changing yourself and your life.

The really "bad" things that happen in this world often bring out the best in people. When disasters occur such as the great Tsunami or 9/11, people come together to help one another, often sharing what little they have. At times like these, there are no longer the illusions of separation - we realize that we are all one people on one planet. In our present society, it seems to take experiences of inhumanity in order to drive us into our humanity, and to love and care for one another. Look for the best in people, see the divine in them, for it is what unites us all.

I feel stressed and anxious all the time. How can I create a sense of peace within myself?

The first thing to do to achieve a greater sense of peace is to stop reading or watching the news, especially first thing in the morning, or even worse, last thing before going to bed. These are the times when the psyche is most open to suggestion, and a dose of bad news is likely to instill fear at a profound level. In fact, these are the ideal times to use affirmations or self-hypnosis tapes, because the mind is easily programmed when you are just falling asleep or just waking up.

For those who would say that they must watch the news because they want to stay informed, I assure you that if anything really important were to happen, human nature dictates the spreading of that information rapidly. Unless you are on a mountaintop somewhere (in which case, the news would probably be irrelevant to you), you are highly likely to be informed very quickly of anything that is vital for you to know or be aware of.

Peace is a state of mind, and can be brought about through intention. Just think of the word “Peace” - breathe in deeply and slowly, saying the actual word "peace" as you exhale. Let yourself relax into peace and serenity. Try to find a quiet space to do this for a few moments each day, preferably in the morning. Put on peaceful music, if you like, and let your mind relax. Take these few moments just to be by yourself and with yourself. For some people, it can be helpful to have a hot bath, and even light some candles. The key is to give yourself the gift of connecting with yourself for a few moments each day away from the outside world.

Meditation can be a great way to do this, but it doesn't have to take a long time. You simply need to set the intention for peace, then allow yourself to reach that particular vibration. It is most helpful if the environment around you is peaceful, however, you can achieve a state of peace anywhere at anytime, because peace is a state of being. You can only have peace in your life and in your world when you have peace of mind.

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"Responsibility is power. You have the power of choice.
You are always responsible for the choices you make and the actions you take."