Kicking Negativity

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." --Seneca, Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

Whoa! Things seem to be in a state of flux at this moment in history, don't they? Just turn on CNN and you'll see how topsy turvy things are with doomsday and apocalypse on the horizon. It's enough to turn even the most well adjusted, reasonable person into a confused, pissed off obsessive ready to jump off a bridge. I say, keep your rudder in the water and make life work.

Many of my students are real estate agents and we've had the chance to discuss the current market at length. Obviously, huge mistakes were made on all sides. The banks were practically giving it away and people who had no business accepting variable rates (regardless of whether or not they understood what that actually meant) overestimated what they could afford to pay, all lead to the morass that's currently underway. Yet now, instead of this being 'their' problem (the banks and borrowers), it's everyone's problem.

I don't have a solution for the mess in the market, but I do understand that should we tune in and commiserate with the cable news networks and ruminate on just how miserable and crushing a recession is/will be, we will be miserable.

Not sure if you could tell, but I'm not a huge fan of the media. There's not much to it beyond its attempt to entertain at this point, and even the "real news" gets all messed up with sleazy gossip (whether that be celebrity, political, or other). Aside from not really giving us much to go on, it also poisons the well for those of us trying to make positive changes in ourselves and the world, and for those of us who strive to frame the world and our shared reality as a 'win-win'. Collectively our conscious and unconscious minds are being fed a constant stream of gruel, duping us into believing we have no power in the world, no impact, no way to move things toward the better.

In my quest to counteract the negativity, I read. The most recent book I picked up is called "Train Your Brain, Change Your Mind" by Sharon Begley. It's about the transformational ability of the mind and combines neuroscience with Tibetan Buddhism, and mindfulness. I'm inspired and worked up over this book and I'm only on page ten.

Brain science is showing that we have phenomenal powers to adapt and heal after head traumas, accidents, and have the power to reverse negative programming like propaganda or brainwashing. Our intention leads the way. When we set our own frames and not allow others to set them for us (like the media), then we can make seismic changes in the ourselves which can then ripple outward to our family and friends and from them out into the world.

Seems like spirituality and science have had a bit of a problem coexisting in some ways. One need only to look at the creationism versus evolution debate that is still being argued to see this. Neuroscience and Buddhism have found a common ground on which to create exciting mind/body transformations that can cure diseases without the pharmaceutical companies trying to medicate the diseases out of us, problems like OCD, dyslexia, depression and autism. I don't know about you, but I'd much prefer to think or meditate my way to health than take a pill with a litany of side effects and high price tag.

Who benefits from us fixing ourselves? Maybe not the big pharma companies, but the real profit is in us rippling out positivity and undermining the negative things that are being spoon fed to us.