Standing alone, together
Calling all lightworkers. You know who you are. Those of you who are different, unusual, and somewhat uncomfortable in the ordinary, every day status quo. Yes you – the one that is awake and painfully aware of your own consciousness. You might be in hiding, lonely and confused or you might even be out and up front, shining your light on the world. This blog is for you.
On Friday we watched as the UK voted to leave the EU. You may have voted, you may not have voted. You may not have known what to do and therefore got washed up in the currents of family and friends pushing heavily for a certain outcome. Whatever you did yesterday, I don’t mind. This blog is not about that. This is about something so much bigger than the outcome on Friday.
I personally chose not to vote in the election. I did this not because I’m lazy or too busy, or was out of the country. I was here. I even went to the polling station but I did not vote. I just didn’t want to be part of it: the chaos, the drama, the rhetoric, the bullying. I didn’t know enough and didn’t believe the hype from either side. At first I was angry that this vote even came down to us. Did we really know enough to vote? Did we really have all the facts? Did we really act in everyone’s best interest?
On Friday and over the weekend, the ramifications of our joined decisions (to vote in, to vote out, not to vote at all) have been surprising, far reaching and in many ways still unknown. I’ve read 50 or so news stories, reviews, opinion pieces and seen hundreds of social media status updates and it is clear much is still unknown.
What is also clear is just how angry, frustrated, confused and sad many people are. I’m sad too, for a very specific reason. This referendum on the Europe Union has served a very important purpose. It has held up a mirror to the EU, the UK, to cities, towns and to each and every one of us to reveal just how disjointed, separate and scared we all are. But of what? Each other? We are being driven by egos, by the need to label and control and confirm. We (society as a whole) are running from one drama to another and avoiding the root cause of the problem altogether. This can be seen clearly in the comments of many of my social media connections. Some are calling for a positive attitude, many are hurling abuse at ‘the other side’ and many more besides are staying quiet.
I considered it – staying quiet for fear of being judged for my conscious choice not to vote – but I want to be honest and up front. I want to bear my soul and forge a new path in this world. If you want to judge me and stop reading, you will miss the entire point of this blog and of the DARETOGROW movement and I need you, we all need you so please bear with me as I try to articulate these early thoughts.
It is not the fault of the ‘leave’ voters that we’re out of the EU, nor is it the fault of those who didn’t vote and those who voted in don’t get to sit back and say “well I did my bit”, not this time. One vote out did not determine the downfall of the EU and one vote in was not enough.
We have all now seen, through this referendum, that our world, our country and each of as individuals are deeply disjointed. This outcome has been years in the making and we are all responsible. How many of us have witnessed injustice at one point in our lives and merely commented on it without truly taking action, or worse turned a blind eye? How many of us really sought to understand the true drivers of both campaigns and educate each other in a calm, objective and non-forceful way? How many of us acted instead of commented in hindsight? How many of us have judged another person without knowing their story? How many of us have worked hard to show the people around us care, compassion, love and understanding? How many of us indeed.
Those of us who are hurling abuse at those who voted out, you’re not helping the situation. You’re adding fuel to the fire, you’re expressing hatred. There is another way to do this. Think about it: the referendum is just another drama in the series of dramas we keep finding ourselves in as individuals, homes, regions, companies, communities and countries. We need to address the root cause here: we are all looking out for ourselves, and not each other, we are all being driven by the ego – by the need to keep our fortresses strong and our needs met. Look beyond yourself: what does your town need, what does this country need, what does the world need?
This world needs you: it needs your unique and very special gift. It needs you to find your calling in life and to speak up for what matters. “We” aren’t going to change the world until “I”, “You” stand up and take a different course of action, try a different response, lead a new way, form a new way to lead altogether. I don’t know what your calling is but you do and we all need you to take heed and give it legs.
I believe a revolution is coming. A revolution wherein people – all of us – wake up to the reality that our voice matters and our inactivity will have consequences. Not just ‘on the day’ but every single day of our lives. I still hear racist jokes and find it difficult to explain to the joke tellers just how unfunny and inappropriate it is to tell jokes like that. I’ve witnessed bullying amongst people close to me and sat there sternly as they looked at me like I ruined all the fun when I say “not cool guys, not cool”. I see people lying to each other all the time and when I look at them with those eyes that say “I know you’re lying to me” I realise they are also lying to themselves. I walked past a homeless man in the park today, a man I see every time I run – he sits on the bike in the metal gym in a park. I wanted to go and say hi and ask him how he is but all I could manage today was a smile. As I ran off, I cried at my inability to cross that divide this time. How have we all become so distant, so scared, so separated?
I believe a revolution is coming. A revolution wherein people – all of us – look inside and find our purpose in life and bring that gift to the world. Where we realise that the light inside each of us is not going to die and that suppressing it with drink, food, drugs and other addictions and distractions is not going to help us sleep at night in the long term. I still hear stories of people stepping over each other to get to the top. The top of what? I know people who are in relationships out of fear. What are you so scared of? I speak to people all the time who have a purpose, a message, a vision but are too scared to speak up and step out for fear of judgement and laughter. Who is missing out here? I feel like people are sleep walking through life – putting their lives in the hands of people ‘up the chain’. “This is how it’s always been done”. “This is how to get by here”. “This is what I think of your ability”. “You’re not ready for that role”. No, no, no. I’m calling us all to wake up and look inside ourselves: find our own truth and live our own lives based on foundations of love not ego, make up our own minds about who we are and what we’re capable of as humans, as a community, as a nation, as a world.
I believe a revolution is coming. A revolution wherein people – all of us – shake off the shackles of expectations and examine the current structures we’ve built in our society in a bid to change, remove or improve them. I want to speak to leaders, to light workers, to dreamers. I see you. The changers, the drivers, the digital nomads who have checked out of the drama temporarily to find the best way to move forward. I see you, I hear your silence and I want to work with you. I want to work with people who can feel that light burning inside of them; the people who realise true freedom is not having money to do what you please but being able to do what you please (and what pleases humanity) with no money – peace in the moment, acceptance of who you are, gratitude for what you have and not pain for what’s missing. I want to help change the world by empowering YOU – the person reading this blog – to find your purpose that is divinely given and find the courage to live that truth and change the lives of the people around you, one by one. I don’t know much about politics but one of you reading this blog does and you know what you’re supposed to do. I don’t know much about helping the homeless but one of you reading this blog does and you know what you’re supposed to do. I don’t know much about much, but I do know about empowering and helping people to find their purpose, I know a lot about marketing and business and what it takes build a tribe united behind a common purpose and so that is what I will do. I have a purpose and I’m gaining more and more clarity every day. My purpose is to empower people to face up to who they are, to take control of their destiny, to give up the ego and to lead the way for others to do the same.
I believe a revolution is coming. A revolution wherein people – all of us – follow our bliss and light up the world. I didn’t vote, no. I didn’t want to – I didn’t realise the ramifications of my decision and I don’t think any of us did but one thing is for sure: this referendum and the events that have followed have not only taught us all a lesson we’re still coming to terms with, but it has fuelled a discussion that is long overdue. More than that, it’s causing new leaders to stir, to recognise that the people around them need their light, their ideas, their courage…and that no-one else is going to do the job you were born to do. This is on you. I believe that this referendum held up a mirror to us a United Kingdom, to the world and more deeply to us as individuals. This mirror has a crack right down the middle. The only way to repair the damage is to give up the ego, the pride and the drivers that cause us to say “you” vs “me” and go in pursuit of our passion, our purpose and our soul’s calling and be of service to each other. Light up, and you will spark the light in the next person.
I realise now that my vote mattered, that whilst trying to create a new way of doing things we need to work within the confines we already have. But. I also know that we can’t rely on that alone. Our voices matter too, as do the actions we take or don’t take every single day.
I will sign the petition for a second vote but I will also continue to call you to follow your passion and live a life of purpose. Don’t wait for a result from the existing structures. Don’t berate your neighbour for their views. Don’t turn on leaders who tried to give us more say. Carve your own path for the rest of us to follow. Find a new way to get your message heard. Follow your passion and bring more light to the world.
I know you’re scared, I know you’re fearful of being judged. I know you feel like you’re standing alone when you speak up for what you believe in; that people don’t understand what you’re trying to do. I know you don’t have the map but if you are being called to a higher purpose, I urge you to trust in yourself and to take one small step every day. Keep your light on, shine brightly and light up the world around you.
You’re not alone. By standing up, we stand together. Let’s stand alone together and lead the way for other people to follow their passion and light up their world in the way only they know how.
Do it in the way only you know how.
#DARETOGROW
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