This is the almost final posting of this series. It was my original finale but, because of more reflection, there will be some addenda coming in a few more days, addressing some unanswered questions, taking some ideas a little deeper, or clarifying some points.
Putting What We Know into Action
After all that’s been said, there are three primary things to keep in mind, so we can stay on a heart-centered track:
- Mitigate the impact of stress waves (internal and external)
- Make daily efforts to restore core values
- Take action in the world based on core values and supported by personal balance
1. Mitigate the impact of stress waves
Let’s get more specific. Here are five ways to mitigate the impact of stress waves:
- Our own stress-management, not just to reduce stress, but to restore resilience and well-being;
- Bolster our personal boundaries – personal, psychological and energetic, including how much we expose ourselves to media, and what kinds of media;
- Invest our attention into the heart of our own development, healing, sovereignty and creative self-expression;
- Enlist the assistance of whatever spiritual forces, beings or principles we have available;
- Join with others in positive communities of like mind in common activities and endeavors.
Here are some of the ways we can daily seek restoration and a return to our Core Values:
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Contemplation
- Acts of Service and Volunteering for people, housing, animals, environment
- Time in nature
- Time with pets
- Beautifying our surroundings
- Exercise
- Shamanic Practices
- Chants, songs, mantras (clear the mind and synchronize with something greater)
- HeartMath practices noted earlier
- Indulging in core values – by memory or by action
- Inner Ease
- Quick Coherence
- (There are others found on HeartMath’s website or through certified coaches.)
2. Engage with Representatives
If you don’t like what’s going on in our country or the government, communicate with your elected representatives. Yes, they may be under the influence of other parties and you may only get a vague, party-line form letter back, but their job depends on keeping constituents happy. If you don’t bother, you are letting others make the decisions for you. Here are two sites to identify elected officials (national and in Minnesota) and how to contact them.
https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder
There’s no need to put a lot of time into your message. They don’t have time to read long letters, and short missives are usually clearer. Don’t overestimate their ability to digest complex reasoning.
3. Vote with Your Dollars
Do the companies you support reflect your core values?
What advertisers might be influenced to support more favorable media?
What do the companies do with their profits, and do they “hide” them off shore?
What political parties, representatives, policies do they support?
Will it make more of an impression if you stay in an organization and advocate for change, or cut loose?
Does the company verbally advocate for equality or the environment, but then donate money to the party or politicians that have other ideas?
For banking – do you want a large system or credit union or cooperative?
Do your investments reflect your values?
It’s not enough to just change from one company to another, but to communicate why and on what core value.
4. Keep Perspective
It’s necessary to separate goals from sub-goals and the steps toward them; and focus on increments of change over all-or-nothing judgments. Never let improvement fall victim to perfectionism. We always need a healthy dose of self-forgiveness because we will not be perfect in this endeavor. Forgive your lapses and resolve to learn from them and move on.
5. Recognize and Express Your Identity
- Is there an interest you had a child that you would enjoy reviving?
- Is there a skill you’d like to learn, if only for the pleasure of it?
- Is there a language in which you are interested?
6. Causes – Choose Wisely and Focus
There are numerous causes to which you can give support (financially or by volunteering). It’s important to focus on a small number to which you can really feel connected. Focused advocacy is usually more effective than a shotgun approach.
7. Self-Care
Take care of the one area of the universe for which you are primarily responsible. What do you really need to be healthy, happy and whole? There is a saying I heard from a Mongolian shaman. She said, “First, heal your community; then heal the world; then straighten your sash.” I interpreted this to mean we should certainly engage in advocacy and activism in the our outer lives, but also must care for our own health and wholeness.
Resources – Where to Go for Support and Action
Coaching: coaching is available from HeartMath certified trainers and others to reduce stress and realize goals
Classes/groups: there are many outlets and community education resources for learning about your world, learning a new skill or joining with others with similar interests.
World Wide Web: of course, the internet is a resource for finding advocacy groups, for research into areas of interest, and for deepening an understanding of current events.
Non-profits: many organizations exist for everything from animal rights, to the environment, to child care and political action, to gun safety, to name just a few.
Service organizations: some non-profits are actively attempting to meet the needs of suffering populations. They may build houses, serve the homeless, or feed the hungry.
Making an Action Plan
So, here’s what an action plan might include:
- Daily practice(s) to anchor, center, balance, restore focus on core values
- Daily review of unresolved emotions triggered during the day
- Occasionally things to do that restore a focus on core values
- Awareness of things to be careful about or to reduce in life
- Things to work into life
- Actions to express who you are, what you value, and what you truly love
- Causes you might consider supporting that align with your core values
- Development of a hobby, special interest of exploration, or activity that you can do just for the pleasure of it – perhaps an earlier-life interest you’ve set aside.
It’s likely to be overwhelming to try to do too many of these at once, so I wouldn’t try. Pick a couple that appeal to you and go with them. Add the others as you feel ready, if you have time. Just try to keep yourself balanced and engaged.
Summary
Perhaps I can summarize all this in a few words:
Acknowledge – acknowledge the stress or issue.
Surely, as we acknowledge the nature of the problems, we will feel their impact on us – anger, stress, discouragement – but awareness of these internal responses is a good thing unless we stay there. Our awareness gives us choice whether to act, and what actions to take. Our emotional responses tell us about ourselves and about our relationship with what is going on in the world.
Re-balance – don’t get stuck in an immediate automatic reaction
Being aware of the way in which our perceptions of the events have affected us, the second step is to re-balance ourselves. Given the adverse impact of stress on our reasoning, and because of the stresses and pace of modern life, acting out our initial impulse is not usually the wisest or most effective course of action.
Re-center – return to a focus on Core Values
This might help us remember who we are and to return to an awareness to our deep values – what’s important to us beyond momentary provocations.
Act – take constructive action that’s aligned with Core Values
I’d like to see us attend in a healthy way to the challenges we see in the world. Equally important is the fact that the nature of current stresses can throw us off center, distract us from our path of healing and growth, while flooding us with waves of stress, anger and discouragement. After all, we are in relationship with both the outer world and with our inner selves (even if we ignore them). What happens in one has an effect on the other – for good or ill. My hope for these postings is to make it better for both realities and not to add to the stress waves or fruitless unhealthy argument we so often see today. We can do better; we can be better. Maybe we can even communicate with one another. And it helps to remember that how we are is often as important as what we do.
*(This series is adapted from Restore the Balance, a presentation made at Unity North Spiritual Center on January 7, 2018.)
Note also that a video course is being prepared on The Patterns that Shape Our Lives – and what to do about them. It includes explorations of patterns of emotional responses, relationships, dreams, physical ailments (and more), how to explore them and, with some effort, gain liberation from them. If you are interested in knowing about when it is completed, let me know.