Lots of people are talking about a “shift” in consciousness. We hear the full spectrum of perspectives from “it’s happening now” to “it must happen faster” to “when will there be a shift?” Thought leaders speak of shifting paradigms, yet when it comes down to the question of “How?” the focus is usually on what we must “do” differently. In reality, before there can be sustainable change in what we “do,” there must first be inner transformation in who we are, how we think, and how we show up to life. When our inner world transforms, our outer world will follow—the paradigms will shift.
So how do we transform who we are, how we think, and how we show up? While there are a number of steps we can take, we can begin by looking at how we engage with life. Do we primarily engage with life as a drama and look for who is at fault? Or do we skip the drama and just focus on solving the problem? Our culture gives a lot of energy to drama and talking about solving problems, yet engaging with life on these levels assures that our paradigms will in fact not change.
However, if we step beyond the drama and fixing problems into a place of personal choice, a significant shift starts to happen. This is not about exploring our choices for fixing the problem. Choice here refers to our choice in who we will be in relationship to what is going on. When we pause to reflect on what our personal role has been in creating the current circumstance, where we stand in relationship to what is happening now, and then make a conscious choice as to who we will be in relationship to that circumstance going forward, the door to a new world of possibilities opens. As we become clear about who we choose to be in relationship to our world, we are then able to ask the most important question: What wants to happen here? Everything in life—every experience, circumstance, situation, relationship, encounter—everything contains a gift. Sometimes that gift is well disguised, yet it is always there. Our job is to find it and begin listening to it. At the moment that we begin listening to the gift or the potential waiting to unfold and responding to what that gift is both offering to us and asking of us, a paradigm shift begins.
When engaging with life from the perspective of unfolding potential becomes our habit, a paradigm has shifted. From that point forward, we make different choices. Our actions then reflect our deeper understanding of living in accord with an evolutionary intelligence. We become a part of actually creating a world that works rather than just talking about it.
In my next book, Create a World That Works: Tools for Personal and Global Transformation, due for publication by Red Wheel Weiser in May 2011, I offer practical tools for showing up in the world in a way that encourages shifts in our cultural paradigms. The book will help you embody a personal presence that is in itself transformational so that you can most effectively do your part in creating a world that works for the greater good of all. Stay tuned to this blog and to www.transformationalpresence.org for more news about the book’s launch.
