The Reason We Fight

Several months ago, I met some church friends of my parents who had come to the hospital where my mom was having tests run. As they had heard various stories involving myself and my sisters, who were also at the hospital, they asked questions in order to understand which one of us went with various stories. Apparently, I said something that hit home because the man said, "So you're the conspiracy theorist." I laughed and confessed that was me.

The irony is, my parents would never have described me to anyone as a conspiracy theorist (even though they know I am one). Until that moment, I had no idea the people from the church community I grew up in called me that behind my back. It does not come as a big surprise (nor does it upset me). I have had quite a few of them unfriend me on Facebook because they cannot stomach much of what I post on my page (which is oddly tame compared to the stuff I research). There are probably many more who have unfollowed my page in order to keep themselves sane. It goes with the territory when you make the decision to be as transparent in your beliefs as possible. I have never had problems standing up for what I believe in, even when it means standing alone.

It dawns on me now that the political divide we are feeling in the United States of America and the rest of the world is really not about differences in political philosophy as much as it about resolving the cognitive dissonance this election has brought up within ourselves. Face it. The world is changing in BIG ways. Change is difficult for most of us in the best of times. When the whole world is in upheaval at the same time, it is going to bring up some pretty big garbage that needs to be sorted through and dealt with.

Cognitive dissonance occurs when our rational minds are confronted with information our hearts tell us is true but are not quite ready to deal with in a rational way. We will run from it, go into denial, argue, and even fight in order to get away from this growing awareness. The thing is, cognitive dissonance will not go away, even if you change who you hang out with or your physical location. Truth will seek you out (and sometimes hunt you down) until you choose to look at it.

How do you know you are in a state of cognitive dissonance? You know because certain topics set you on edge (or sometimes on fire). You feel compelled to argue and justify why you believe as you do. As you go deeper into the process, you find your "rational" arguments begin to lose their power but you argue on. Sometimes you go so far as dismiss arguments altogether, justifying your beliefs solely on the thought the other side is "stupid" or "ignorant" and just hasn't thought it through.

My interactions on social media lately have been interesting. When I post anything that could be interpreted as positive toward Trump, I am immediately labeled an ignorant, conservative Trump supporter and told why my approval is baseless. When I post my approval of the Women's March that swept DC and many areas of the country, I am told it was all funded by George Soros and is just a way to keep Trump demonized in the minds of the people. (I do need to confess I enjoy playing the devil's advocate. I don't expect people will agree with me, but I do want people to assess why they believe as they do.) 

My own personal areas of cognitive dissonance involve my own ego when it comes to dealing with personal attacks. I am learning to deal with attacks in positive ways, attempting to bend and adapt in ways that do not break me or my composure. I have a long way to go before I get to that place of inner peace. I'm sure more garbage will naturally appear once this one is dealt with in full. I, too, am a work-in-progress.

The next time someone or something makes you angry enough to argue or fight, take a moment to ask yourself why. It may just be that your heart is bringing awareness to your mind so you have the capacity to face it, deal with it, and heal it. Our whole world begins to heal when we deal with the cognitive dissonance within ourselves.

~CSE

  

I Am Not Your Enemy

I got together with my mom and sisters last night to celebrate mom's birthday. We decided on dinner and a movie and ended up seeing the Christian movie entitled "War Room". Even though I no longer consider myself Christian, I did take away some valuable understandings based on concepts in the movie.

The most inspirational thought is now the title of this post: I am not your enemy. It came to me from the main plot storyline involving a Christian woman having real life problems. When she complained about her relationship with her husband to an older and wiser Christian woman, the older woman pointed out that the younger woman was fighting against her husband instead of against fighting against all those issues that were driving the couple apart. The husband was not the enemy yet the younger woman was fighting him as though he was.

How many times in this human life do we look at people who are different from us and automatically believe we have to fight against them? We assume who they are and what they believe are wrong because of those differences. Instead of working with them we often point out how they are wrong (aka fighting).

I am not your enemy. Your fellow human is not your enemy. Our common enemies are greed, poverty, disease, war, lust for power. These things and more are what we must overcome, not each other.

None of us are perfect. We are all trying to do the best we can based on what we know. It's time to come together and look at each one as slightly different versions of ourselves.

The world will change for the better when we see each other as friends and begin working together for the common good.

~CSE

  

The Game Has Finally Turned

Somewhere in the world is a room, and in this room a very important meeting is taking place. In it are some of the most illustrious leaders and power brokers in the world today. The topic of conversation is Greece. They do not know how it happened, but somehow someone dropped the ball and a real vote took place--an outcome not rigged and controlled by them. While they are trying to figure out how it happened, the better part of the meeting concerns damage control. How do they continue to make the people on planet Earth believe their economic system is still solvent?

They still haven't figured out someone took their playbook and is now using it to counteract their plays. They are fighting to maintain control with everything they have, but it is no longer enough. They look for answers as to who might be overcoming them at last, but all they see is useless eaters.

And that is why they are losing. They have played their repetitive games far too long now, and the "useless eaters" as they like to call them are beginning to wake up. Not all of them yet, but enough of them are aware of what goes on behind the scenes to manipulate them they are no longer fooled by the same old ploys. They have started to think for themselves and are beginning to take control of their own lives.

And they are beginning to fight back. The "useless eaters" are no longer content to sit on the sidelines and watch the game take place. They are becoming active participants. Sometimes they simply use their minds to see a new future. Sometimes they share information with others in the hopes that they too will wake up. Sometimes they are able to take actions that directly get in the way of the power brokers plans.

The more we wake up and work together, the weaker the elite and their game get. We have always had the power to control the game. We just needed to wake up enough to play our parts.

The game has finally turned! Listen to your heart to understand your position in the game!

~CSE

Our Choices Determine Our Future

It never ceases to amaze me how easily manipulated we humans are. Here in the United States, we go back and forth between issues like gun control, racism, and gay marriage all within the blink of an eye. Most of us have opinions on these issues and more, so it becomes easy to get us all enmeshed in this battle or that battle, depending on what the media presents to us on that particular day.

The bright light that has sustained me for the past week and a half is the actions of the people of Charleston in reaction to the church shooting there. In a time of tragedy, these people have chosen to not act on the hype. They have not allowed a racially motivated shooting to put them into a state of fear and fighting. They speak of love and forgiveness. They have joined hand in hand with their fellow Americans and proclaimed, "We are ONE!" They have even been able to dispel potential trouble that was brought in from outside sources to try to create a riot in the name of racism!!! This is nothing short of a miracle in my book as I look at similar racial tensions in other parts of the United States (Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD more specifically) and the results in those places.

Does Charleston still have problems? You bet! Those pockets of racism that existed before the incident have not gone away. This is true everywhere in the country (and even in the rest of the world). They still have our human flaws.

It is not belief that makes the people of Charleston different from those in the rest of the country or even the rest of the world. The difference is their choice!!! They could have chosen to follow the guidance of the media and fight with their fellow humans over race. They could have protested the biogtry. They could have allowed violence to erupt. They could have gotten all hot and bothered over the media's use of the Confederate flag to draw out more hate. After it was all said and done, they still chose love, peace and forgiveness.

This is the choice that every one of us must now make!!! It is time to recognize the many ways we are led into battle with each other, and it is time to resist!!! Resist the temptation to debate why gay marriage is "right" or "wrong". Defy the media when they promote stories on gun control.  Refuse to engage in the battle!!! Don't allow them to separate us from one another!!!

We stand at the edge of a precipice. We can choose to step out into the nothingness and into our own deaths, or we can begin building a bridge that will lead us to the paradise that awaits us on the other side. Each time we seek out love, each time we seek out peace, each time we seek out unity, we build that bridge that leads to the promised land.

It is not our beliefs that determine our future. It is our choices. Choose with intention.

~CSE

Refusing To Play the Game

There is a battle raging. The bad guys haven't quite figured out they have lost yet. While they think they still have a chance to win, they are continuing their game of creating noise, confusion and chaos in an attempt to keep us occupied and out of their hair. What they don't understand is how many people are beginning to wake up to their games.

Divide and conquer has always been a big part of their game plan. Anything and everything they can use to get us to fight gets played! Here in the US, there are many topics to choose from: race, religion, politics, sexual orientation, and lately even gender identity!!! We are taught it is important to stand up for what we believe in--for what is "right". What we fail to realize is that all fighting does is bring is more fighting and resentment. Fighting can never bring about peace because it's outcome is always win-lose. It is possible to force people into a situation they don't want to be in, but they will eventually try to escape when given the opportunity. That is the nature of the fight.

So how, then, can we stop the bad guys in their tracks? By refusing to play the game!!! Instead of forcing our beliefs on others and making them live like we think they should, it is time to begin practicing tolerance. Love our fellow humans instead of judging them. We don't have to like what they do, but we can still love them. True love is unconditional.

How do we know we are playing the game? What issues trigger our emotions? Gay rights? Islam or Christianity? Separation of church and state? Abortion? Politics? If it sets off anger or sadness, chances are it is something the powers that be use to distract.

What can we do to stop playing the Divide and Conquer game? The first step is to understand that humans typically act out what they have learned in their lifetimes. They don't act as they do just to piss us off!!! We all need to take a little responsibility for ourselves and our actions and not take things personally!!!

The next step is to begin asking questions. How can we show love to this person or group even though we don't like what they are doing? How can we make this a win/win situation where both sides can live as they choose? What are we refusing to see about the other's point of view? The actual questions are endless. What is important is that we begin asking them so we can gain new insights and understandings that might actually change how we act and react in the world.

We can bring in a new era of light and understanding!!! It isn't about fighting the "good" fight. There is never a good fight because fighting always ends in more problems. Choose tolerance. Choose patience. Choose love. In doing so, we refuse to play the game. We all win!!!

~CSE

Divide And Conquer

If you want to understand how the "power elite" controls society, look no further than Baltimore. The whole scenario playing out (or what those who rule us would have you believe) is entertainment, all designed to manipulate the ways we think into certain patterns--certain "sides", if you will. In Baltimore, they are attempting to play the race game and maybe some of the socioeconomic game.

Here's how it works. The media promotes a story that creates division. In Baltimore, it is the story of how Freddie Gray, a black man, died in police custody. What comes to mind when you hear those words? Police brutality? Racial profiling? You can be sure that, regardless of truth, we can all hear bits and pieces of the story that will make us choose sides. Choosing sides is key.

In the Baltimore saga, we are judging police brutality. We are judging the death of a black man in police custody. As people begin choosing sides and violence is allowed to break out (dare I say encouraged by the mainstream media and our leaders), we also begin to see divisions in socioeconomic class as riots and looting begin. Now we have even more issues to separate us from each other.

What our leaders count on is this: fighting each other will keep us so occupied we will not see how they are steering our opinions and our very way of life. They are pretty much free to rule us as they like because we are not paying attention to them. Divide and conquer. 

The power elite maintain their own power by stealing ours. That's right. They have taken your power. Every time you choose to become part of the fight (by choosing a side), you willingly give up your power. 

And there are many sides to choose from!!! Race is just one. Here in the United States, we fight over abortion rights and gay marriage. We fight over politics. We fight over religion. Every time we identify with one side we are choosing our fights and allowing ourselves to be distracted. 

What if we all stopped fighting for a few minutes and asked ourselves, "How can we learn to live together in spite of our differences?" What if we all decided to take responsibility for our own actions and live with integrity (instead of worrying that someone else does not live in integrity)? 

Our world will never get any better if we continue to allow the power elite to rule us by encouraging us to choose sides and fight. They like the problems--they even manufacture the problems--so they can continue to rule.

Decide today it is up to you to make the difference. The truth is, it IS up to you. BE the change!!!

~CSE