Climbing Out of the Maelstrom, Part 2

In Part 1, we talked about who’s actually responsible for the mess that our society – and our world – is in. We also talked about how the solution, hard as it may be, is disengagement from societal “issues”, and the resultant reclamation of our individual power.

When each of us reclaims our power, we also take on the responsibility that comes with that power, and as Peter Parker was advised “With great power comes great responsibility”.

I choose to own my power, and I honor the responsibility that accompanies that decision.

What exactly does that mean? In a nutshell, it means not engaging. It means not forming inappropriate attachments. Why? Because to engage and attach means I’m giving my hard-won power to an agenda outside of myself. That sounds like a selfish, egoic-based position to take. To find out why it’s not, read on.

If I retain that power, I become a proponent for ALL; for the whole of humanity, regardless of “first world differences” in beliefs, opinions, and actions, because it allows me to look beyond such things and see the potential – the truth – of each and every person. My responsibility to the whole is to retain my own power at all costs, for it is the ONLY real solution to this mess that we are in.

If I am engaging by defending a cause or my political party or my chosen religion, THAT is where my power is going. It is being funneled into a teeny, tiny compartmentalized portion of the whole, and therefore, it ceases to be available to all. Instead, it is only available to the few that are also in agreement with my particular view, belief, or opinion, and this makes us easy pickin’s for the manipulators.

With every “cause” that we take up, the same thing happens, until we no longer radiate cohesive, coherent, and inextinguishable power. We cease to be the sun, and instead look like a lampshade that someone has poked holes in.

When disengaged, our ability to see others as equal and valuable arises, in spite of differences. Genuine kindness is no longer reserved for only those who align with our own thoughts and beliefs, but is available to all whom we encounter. We show those around us that there is another way, just by walking the walk.

Does this mean that we don’t get aggravated and exasperated with those around us at times? That we don’t feel angry and sick in the pit of our stomach at news of abuse? That we don’t have “bad days”? Does it mean that we don’t feel the sting and hurt when someone is unkind?

Of course not. Do not confuse “disengagement” with “emotionless”.

Annoyances, exasperations, hurt, and anger are a natural response to events that surround us. We are human, and emotions are part of that experience. The key is to understand that every event, and every emotion that the event evokes (both pleasant and unpleasant) has a natural life span, and that life span is actually very short.

In fact, it only exists for the moment that the event occurs. A flash of anger at a disturbing news article is reasonable, as is a moment of pride in the wake of an accomplishment, but to drag either of those around with you as a point of focus is something else entirely. To do this is to engage and/or attach. Connect with those moments, experience them, but do not attach to them. Honor their natural life span and then let them go.

That being said, it is natural to want to DO something when faced with an atrocity. How can one hear about the horrors of trafficking or abuse and not want to do something about it, not want to rage against it?

The key to this dilemma is making the right choice about what to do, and this goes back to an unfortunate, but critical concept from Part 1 of this blog: horrible things are going to continue to happen whether you rage against them or not. If raging were the answer, we would have eradicated the overarching themes of injustice and abuse a long time ago.

But still, we rage. We protest. We elect officials whom we think will “make a difference”, we donate to causes that promise to do something on our behalf, we sign petitions, we rally, we march, we bitch about the state of things over lunches and in bars, we boycott products (and people), we “go green”, along with thousands of other actions which are supposed to make a difference, and still, the horrors continue.

In fact, it would not be unreasonable to say that things are actually a lot worse than at any time in the past, so if these actions of ours were truly making a measurable difference, how can that be?

One of my favorite quotes: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Our raging and protesting and petitioning are NOT giving us “different results”, and yet we continue to expect that they will. If we didn’t have this expectation, we would have adopted another approach to rectifying the problems we are facing. Here’s your chance.

When you disengage and take back your power,

you become to the masses what Type O blood is to the body: universal.

With no agenda, no affiliation, no axe to grind, and nothing to protest, there is no one to hate, no one to judge, and no one to wish punishment upon. In sufficient numbers, this is a deathblow to the manipulators, because they no longer have any power over the individual.

I am only one, but each of you are ALSO one. When you and I each reclaim our power and stop engaging, there are two, then three, then ten, then twenty. In my little community, 1% of the population is only 135 people, and 1% (or less) is all it takes to make a difference.

Even just .5% (half a percent) of the world’s population proclaiming “no more” and reclaiming their power would deliver a devastating blow to the manipulators. Remember – they are very few in number, and the few CANNOT control the many unless the many allows it.

You want to stop trafficking, abuse, greed, and atrocity? THIS is how you do it. You don’t engage at the petty level of petitions and protests; instead, you pull the damned linchpin on the whole structure.

The bottom line is that, not only does the stability and power of the “structure” require your compliance in order to remain intact, but it also requires your fear and anger. When you are disengaged and own your power, you become joyful, self-confident, kind, generous, and non-judgmental. You are happy even when you are NOT happy.

For the manipulators, an empowered human being is a force to be reckoned with, because the normal rules do not apply. If you are not afraid, not arguing, and not wrapped all around the axle of some “issue”, there is no mechanism for you to be controlled. Give that some thought.

So how do you get there? How do you achieve disengagement and reclaim your power? It’s as simple as falling off a log, in theory. In practice, not so much. We’ll get to the nuts and bolts of this in Part 3 … stay tuned!