October 18, 2012

I just read another article that said we’re in trouble, and that we’re past the point of being able to deny it.   We’re besieged with information about global warming, the collapse of national financial systems, fanatical religious sects, war, domestic violence, gang violence, global denigration of women, conscription of young boys into military armies and it goes on…

As crazy as it seems I had the thought that there is some good news here.  For possibly the first time in the history of our planet the majority of the population seems to be in agreement about something.  That agreement strikes me as an opportunity.

It’s impossible to ignore the vast number of books and articles being churned out around mindfulness.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence.  I think it’s in response to a groundswell of recognition around the importance of having a collective attitude that represents willingness, openness and curiosity vs. rigidity, I’m right/you’re wrong, and panic.

I’m not suggesting that I have enough information to even have an opinion on what to do about global warming or the other complex problems facing our world.   What I do have an opinion about is the importance of our individual attitudes.   I’ve seen the benefits of a mindful approach to personal relationships and to finding creative solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.

I’m very interested in the middle of the continuum–my experience is that on an individual level that’s where all the heart lies.  The positions at the far left or right are dead-ends and sticking to them has been leading us around in dizzying circles for long enough.  Let’s not wait until it takes us all the way down the rabbit hole.

On an individual basis we’re not likely to be the one to come up with a solution to global warming.  But we can, on an individual level, start modeling effective, creative and productive problem solving by adopting an attitude of openness, willingness and curiosity.  This may sound overly dramatic, but Ghandi was only one man.  He changed the course of two nations and caught the imagination of the entire world with an attitude that rested in the middle of the continuum, where the heart is.  I’m just sayin’…