Happy New Year! Two words that I say to you and we all say to proclaim the joy we pray the year will bring to those we love, the communities we live in and serve, our country, the planet and ourselves. The question is what happens next?
What can we do to bring peace, goodwill, and happiness to the planet, our country, our communities, those we love, and ourselves? Does just thinking about this question seem overwhelming? I get it. Open the paper or turn on the news and every segment highlights the multitude of problems we face. The list seems endless: terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, beheadings, Syrian refugees, bombing efforts in Syria. California’s drought, Alaska’s impending storm that will rival last year’s strongest storm in history, famines across Africa, melting polar ice caps, collapsing rain forests, investigations into police officers across the country, drugs killing people in epidemic numbers, mass shootings across our country, the government’s deadlock, and the worst part...these are only a few of the problems that can prevent us from experiencing a happy new year.
In the face of so much are you wondering: is there anything we can do to make 2016 happy? The good news: Of course there is! Before we get to solutions let’s take a moment to ask: What do these multitudes of problems have in common? At first glance they may seem to have no common ground. Keep looking and you may see that stress is one of the possible contributors to each of the problems our world is facing.
How is stress contributing to all of these problems? Is this question too broad? I agree. Let’s break it down and ask ourselves: Does the stress of hopelessness contribute even one factor to what is fueling the expansion of ISIS and the acts of mass violence and terrorism here and abroad? Is the stress on our planet one of the reasons why Mother Nature is screaming for our attention? Are the stressors of anger and frustration playing any part in our police officers potentially using too much force? Do the stresses of isolation and loneliness contribute to drug addiction? Is the stress to be loyal to a party playing any part in our government’s dead lock? Are the stressors in our individual lives taking away any part of our own joy?
If you answer yes to even one of these questions I have good news ... There is something we can all do to help de-stress our planet, world, communities, and ourselves ... Meditation! I get it. I see how this might make you shake your head and ask: How can my meditating help solve so many problems? The good news is that you do not have to take my word for it. We can look to Spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, philosophers like Ken Wilber, Christina Congleton, Britta K Holzel and Sara W. Lazar from the Harvard Business Review, University of Oxford researcher Chris Shaw, and Dr. Masaru Emoto’s water and rice experiments to name just a few.
The more you search the more evidence you will find supporting that individual and group meditation can change our planet, world, country, communities, and ourselves for the better. Could it be the song lyrics are true? Yes, the song that begins “Let there be peace on earth and Let it begin with me” just might hold one of the keys to creating harmony in the world and meditation is one note that we can all hit to create change for the better.
I pray that 2016 brings you Joy, Peace, and Harmony and hope you will join me in adding meditation to your world. In the coming months, with your help, I will be able to write more articles about what you are doing to help create a better world. I look forward to your thoughts. Please ring me at 617-980-1728 email me at kristan@mooneytunco.com or better yet be part of the conversation at Nomis Publications’ Let’s Chat Blog.