“Overwhelmingly America is still struggling with irresolution and contradictions. It has been sincere and even ardent in welcoming some change. But too quickly apathy and disinterest rise to the surface when the next logical steps are to be taken.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Universe has gifted us with an opportunity to review ourselves and make hard decisions. Will we do just enough to appease our comforts, or will we push ourselves beyond our perceived limitations and go the distance towards total transformation? If you are currently discouraged by the division, chaos, and apathy going on in our world, know that it is merely a mirror of what is going on within us. We desire transformation, yet too often we settle for change.
Ask yourself, am I changing, or transforming? Transformation is a dramatic change, a total renovation, a complete overhaul. Our society desperately needs reconstruction, and that transformation starts with you. Are you transforming? How are you transforming? What are you transforming? Why are you transforming? Have you exempted yourself from transforming while requiring it of others? We are at a pivotal moment in our world. We must be intentional in transforming ourselves. If we are committed to transforming ourselves, we can create a world and a community that works for us all.
These questions are designed for you to reflect on areas of your life that you may need to transform. Do you cling to your social status? Do you believe that money should equal power? Do you treat people differently based upon their educationally level, career, immigration status, race, or culture? Do you think that there should be a dominant culture in society? Do you believe that dominance in culture should equal power? Do you think there should be social standards in language, history, or education? Do you think that any person has more power than another? Do you believe that any nation is more excellent than another? Do you add or remove value from an individual’s “worth” for any reason? Do you believe that “whites” have more power in society? Do you believe anyone can be inherently evil, racist, superior, or inferior? Do you expect individuals to meet your expectations? Do you participate and practice a color system that stratifies people based on their lack of “whiteness.” If you answered yes to any of these, you are participating in practicing a form of supremacy. You are divided from the values of equality you profess. And you are upholding the very values of inequality you say you wish to dismantle; this is chaos.
To be a force for transformation and unity in the world, you must reckon with yourself. Hold yourself to the standards you set for the world. Are you dismantling hatred and bigotry, supremacy, divisions within yourself, or have you found reasons to justify and excuse it? Are you willing to go the distance? Are you ready to remove your participation from the chaos and transform your practices to align with equality and community? Will we do what we must to heal ourselves and what is broken between us so that we can embrace community, or will we allow our indecisive, apathetic behavior to take us to our corrosive end?
I choose to heal and embrace community. I choose unity. This work is hard, but we can not depend on another to do the work that we will not do in ourselves. This is how we change our world. Get back in the driver seat. You have been on auto-pilot for too long. Face yourself and your lack of action and commit to total transformation. Your most significant role in creating social change is the work done within you. Commit to the work so that we can transform our world from chaos to community.
Pamela Gray Daniel is a Social Unity/Onenesss Practioner and Coach Her commitment to humankind fuels her passion, creativity, and calling to address social injustice and to heal the social divide one heart at a time. For more information on booking Pamela for coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements, visit http://www.pamelagraydaniel.com.