A generous and inspiring friend allows me to share her epiphany with all of you as a centerpiece for this posting.
Changing self is the only change. Whatever in life that does not please us, if we want to change it, the change will come through self or not at all. And don't we run the gambit of alternatives in search of the happiness we know we deserve, but which seems just out of reach?
Often System has told us that we do not begin change at the point of realization. We have begun the change, and then the realization comes as part of the process. This is true of my friend. The epiphany is a punctuation mark to tell us how far we have come, and that having bravely taken the journey, we are able to reveal the Wisdom of it.
We are always in a state of change. As System told me many years ago: Your questions mean you are not stuck. People who are stuck don't know there is a question. I love this bit of Wisdom. It has comforted me often. If I am anything, I am curious. The hunger to know, or to at least think I know, is a constant in my life.
Change begins with me. The musical piece, "Let There Be Peace on Earth," says it so well. "Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now." The change toward peace must begin within me, just as any change in our world must begin here. And how am I to affect peace except by feeling it within and expressing it in the greater Consciousness.
A couple of weeks ago I reported an incident of violent behavior in my building that triggered old vulnerabilities. While I can say that I have resolved my inner drama, I have not gone the next step to contact my neighbor. Language barriers seemed a good reason not to reach out. I've investigated the Islamic calendar and see that December 7 is their New Year celebration. On that day I will make a gesture of peace and hope this will bring me back into harmony with my next-door neighbors. Waiting for a gesture from the source of the drama may seem logical, but if peace is to be, it must begin with me. My personal peace is more important than how I might be perceived by them. And so the remedy is a gesture; one with no expectations.
I've marveled in the past at stories of people who reach out to establish a relationship with an individual who has committed a crime against them; a mother who reaches out to the drunk driver who killed her daughter; the man who finds within forgiveness for the the woman who wrongly accused him of rape and cost him several years of his life in prison. Courage and a desire to change self must motivate them. It has the healing effect on the other person, but the inspiration comes from a desire to achieve change within self. They all tell the same story.
Today is a new and sunny day. Change is going on within and I see it all around me. Shifting to accommodate change is a daily journey. We can breathe and flow with it, or focus on it and freeze it in time, struggling and wishing it were not so. The evidence of our choice is so powerful.
In gratitude for all the people in my life, changing and courageously persisting, I celebrate this holiday and hope for all of you great ease and joy.
Until next time,
I am Phyllis, still Becoming
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