Being the Change You Wish to See
Inconvenient truths aren’t here to break you, they’re here to wake you, soften you, and open the way to transformation
What if the very things that irritate us most—the inconvenient truths, the button-pushing, the discomforts—weren’t the annoyance, but the answer and a pathway through to a whole new way to be?
Take for example, the provocative YouTube video below that I stumbled on some years ago. In it, its creator, Erin Janus, makes a compelling case for getting out of the materialistic trap that we have gotten ourselves into as a culture.
Janus is very good. She lays it on thick. Even just watching half of it gets the message across. But more to the point, her wake-up-call message gives us excellent practice to embrace our discomfort.
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So why would we want to watch something cringy that might push our buttons, you might ask?
Here’s why: Because it is in the “buttons” where all the goodies are.
Because like a freshwater pearl that begins as a simple grain of sand, we cannot become our shimmering, sparkly selves without some level of irritation.
As in, conscious irritation, if you want to get technical here.
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When you lean into the emotional stuck places in your head and heart, you get the exquisite opportunity to feel them, heal them, and release them once and for all.
Yes, it may be painful at times, but there is a (really big) upside when we open ourselves up (safely) to the disturbing effects of our world instead of resisting them.
Reactivity will not create the change you wish to see in the world. Instead, I might suggest another way—a more spacious way—of embracing painful and inconvenient truths:
Focus on what is out of balance in your life.
Slow down. With awareness.
Simplify. With awareness.
Feel the feelings with compassionate awareness.
Practice letting go. With compassionate awareness.
Cultivate self-care. With awareness.
Be the change you wish to see.
Sound familiar?
If it seems like I’m always repeating myself, or saying the same thing a whole lot of different ways, it’s because I am.
You see, until we get the memo that the work of changing the world begins at home—in our own heads and hearts—we need to be reminded.
We need to be reminded of what Shakespeare’s Hamlet states so clearly:
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”1
Ahhh 😌
Easing into Surrender
What you just read is excerpted from “Be the Change,” Chapter 35 of my book A Year for You.
It is just a small taste in our ongoing series on cultivating the 5 steps to spaciousness:
slowing down, simplifying, sensing, surrendering, and self-care.
Become a paid subscriber and get full access!
Practicing Spacious Detachment
Release the “buttons,” soften resistance, ease into new ways of being
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Got buttons that get pressed on a regular basis? Are there inconvenient truths in your life that are holding you back?
Lucky you, this week you get to practice your spacious detachment as a way to move through them. The steps below will guide you.