​Darkness Doesn’t Drive Out Darkness

​We are all aware of the tragic incident that happened last week in Nice, France when 75 people were killed by a truck hurling through a crowd on Bastille Day. We also know that Baton Rouge, Dallas and many other cities in our country, have been plagued with acts of violence. These kinds of incidents not only engender our sorrow and empathy, they exacerbate our fears. As a collective consciousness the human community is very focused on fear and violence right now and energetically this creates a real problem. Remember, that whatever you feed energy to will grow and right now we are feeding a lot of energy to the very things we don’t want.  This doesn’t just happen during times of violence and terrorism; most of us are doing this in our own lives, all the time.
 
So what do we do to change what is happening in the collective consciousness? First of all, actively work on focusing your thoughts on the positive aspects of your life and world events. If you find yourself starting to obsess on the fearful, negative elements of life, consciously pull your thoughts back to things that are actually happening in the peaceful, loving way that we all desire. This will strengthen the positive and weaken the fear and negativity.
 
We have all heard the idea echoed by Gandhi to be the change you wish to see in the world. I want to take that one step further and say think the thoughts you want to manifest and expand in the world. This really will matter and will really help to shift this fear consciousness.
 
 
While it is important to be informed about what is going on in the world, the key is not to overdo the consumption. One of the first things people need to do, after an act of terrorism has been reported, is get the facts, and then turn off the news. I know that sounds bizarre. Don’t they need to get the current information that will keep them safe? If only that were the case… but the truth is that modern cable news is consciously designed to create fear so that people will feel compelled to turn it on again to find out what is happening. Unfortunately, rather than feeling safe, the fear is usually intensified and the cycle is further perpetuated, rather than ended.
 
We all believe on a core level, that if we are looking out for “the Boogie Man,” he won’t be able to get us. We don’t realize that by looking out for him we are focused on him, thereby feeding energy to him and anything we feed energy to expands and grows.  That is why after 9/11, the obsession with watching the plane hit the Twin Towers over and over again, became intensified, and expanded our fear, each time we experienced it.
 
How do we stop this powerful, destructive obsession? We have to stop the dysfunctional cycle and replace it with something life enhancing and powerful. For example, instead of watching the endless coverage on the news of an act of terrorism, turn off the news and meditate, go for a run, focus on playing a game with your family or read something uplifting. There are various other techniques I would use with clients that can also be useful, such as Meridian Tapping, breathing techniques, visualization and meditation. All of these activities will take one’s energy to a higher level allowing one to live fully, rather than perpetuating fear and negative, obsessive behavior.
 
In short, it's like the Native American story that says that within all of us live two wolves…the wolf of fear and the wolf of love and joy. Only one can survive. Which one will that be…the one that we feed.

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