I imagine people have been watching the stock market and the world economy going through its trials and tribulations, and perhaps feeling a certain amount of fear.

Allow yourself to acknowledge and accept if you feel fear.  Don't fight it - the idea of "resist not evil" is applicable here.  When you allow yourself to be authentic, to acknowledge and experience your feelings - whether you feel they are good or bad - you open the door for them to pass over you and through you, you free yourself to not be a slave to them.  

Once you have allowed yourself to experience whatever your feelings are, return to who you are inwardly.  Look away from world that shows you lack and return to the inner assumption of your desired good.  Remember - the truth of your inner state is greater than the experience of the outer world, and that the outer world will conform to who you are in time.  Release fear, release doubt, release all concern and return to knowing that the truth of who you are inwardly is greater than the outer world of fact.

If nothing else, from a psychological stance the issues at play in the world today are an illusion of consciousness.  A fear that has gripped the world credit market is spinning an illusion of lack.  Transcend the racial consciousness of the world and be able to declare "be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world".  You are not a slave to outer circumstances - you are the master of your inner circumstances and, following the Law of Correspondence stated over 2,000 years ago, the outer world is subject to the inner.

Trust.

Enslaved Only By One's Self



Whatever our outward circumstances, we are only as enslaved by our lives as we believe ourselves to be.  It is within the mind and heart that we truly experience our existence.  As the poet John Milton wrote: "The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."  There are an infinity of experiential worlds open to us.  Moment to moment we choose which life to inhabit.  The stance towards the world that we take will shape our perceptions of each experience, reaffirming to us our deeply held convictions.

Going one step further, however - our stance towards the world not only shapes our perceptions...our emotional stance shapes the very events that we experience!  We see mirrored in the outer world our most deeply held beliefs, our very identity.  We are as free or bound outwardly as we are free or bound inwardly.  Look towards your day's experiences.  Look at your expectations from life.  Look at the stance you take towards your life.  If what you experience in the world is dissatisfying to you, change yourself and see the world of your experience change.

We Are All In This Together



I talk with people from all walks of life.  One thing that I have heard increasingly expressed is fear.  Concerns over rising crime.  Concerns over drug use among children.  Concerns over fuel prices and the rising cost of...well...everyting.

The mindset of fear often leads people to develop an "us versus them" mindset, a stance where there must be competition.  The truth is - we are all in this together.  What happens to your neighbor does affect you.

We must grow in the realization that we need community, that we need to support each other, that we need maintain our individuality while working within a climate of mutual support.

This is vitally important, on both a local and global scale.  The market place is international.  What happens in India and China dramatically affects what happens in Germany and Africa.  We have seen recently that the American economy dramatically affects the major world economies.  Similarly - how we work together in our local communities affects each member within those communities. 

Begin expressing greater charity without looking for reward, or even recognition.  Begin expressing compassion and understanding to those that you meet during your day.  Learn to give of yourself to all that you meet.  In that giving, you will find a greater reward than you could put a price on. 

The world is the mirror of the self.  If your innermost self is greedy, acquisitive, fearing lack and unable to express kindness - all these things will be seen in your outer world and you will experience those you meet as showing greed, the world will express "not enough" and people will seem unkind.  Become what you would see in your world.

Life Is Not A Zero-Sum Game



A zero sum game is one where one person or team wins while the other person or team loses.  The gain of one side is the loss of the otehr side.  In games like football, soccer or chess this is fine.  However, in the game of life trying to live as though your existence were a zero sum game is, in the end, self-defeating.  We are all in this together.

When we look at the world about us today we see the effects of the zero sum mentality.  The markets are pitted against the consumers.  Countries are pitted against one another.  The strength of one country is measured by the weakness of another.

When we move from a "win-lose" mentality to a "win-win" mentality, we find sources of aid and strength almost miraculously coming into our life to help us realizing our goals.  When we seek the greater good - for ourselves and others - we find that our goodness comes, often in greater quantities than we would have imagined.

Move from the "us versus them" mindset and enter into the "we" mentality.  See how your goals can serve a greater good.  In the process of seeking to be of service to something greater than yourself, you will find forms of abundance raining down upon you in all areas of your life.

"It's Not My Fault!" -

 Idiot Compassion & Personal Responsibility



In Buddhist practice there is the idea of idiot compassion.  Idiot compassion is, in its simplest form, when you enable someone to not hit rock bottom and pay the price for their behaviors and choices - even when it would be in their best interest to hit rock bottom.  An example might be a drug addict whose family continues to give them money and to catch them before the addict ahs to pay the price for their behaviors.  There are times when the greatest compassion is to do what might appear, to some, to be an act that lacks compassion.

One of the greatest cries that can be heard in our modern culture is that "its not my fault".  This is often an abdication of personal responsibility.  There might be things that occur in our lives that are not our fault - that seemingly occur despite anything we believe we could have done to avoid them.

It is more useful for achieving our goals and living a more dynamic and self-directed life if we choose the approach of radical responsibility.  Although it might be painful, look at each of your life circumstances starting today and tell yourself for each one: "I have created this circumstance that I am experiencing in my life.  It is what it is, and I accept that.  Having accepted the facts of the situation as they currently present themselves, and having accepted the idea that I have created what I am experiencing - how do I know alter the circumstances of my life to something more pleasing to me?"

Ask the above sincerely, and closely listen for the answers that present themselves to your consciousness.  Don't try to impose and alter the answers that might present themselves to you.  Keep yourself open.  Look at the world around you and see what might present itself to you.

When you sincerely ask for direction, the universe will present you with direction - if you are open to receiving that direction.  You can miss it if you are not careful and you can misinterpret it if you put too much of your ego in the way.  Remain open and be honest with yourself.  Radical responsibility for your life includes being responsible for seeking direction and accepting or not accepting that direction.  You might want to scream "its not my fault".  Do your best to hold back from giving yourself to that belief.  It is empowering, and far more useful, to take the stance that you create all that you experience in your life - and that you have the power to make the choice of what you will experience.  Begin today.  Begin right now.  Your life is in your control.