I don’t know about you, but I am getting to the point where I simply don’t want to hear the news these days. All the negativity, the bickering, hate and narrow-mindedness going on all over the world is getting me down. Many of us knowingly or unknowingly are being affected by it for such negativity can be toxic. The question is, “What can we do about it?”

For starters, I have quit listening to any news on television and seldom go onto Facebook these days. About the only thing I do now is quickly scan our daily newspaper in order to give a pass to the recent crime stories, what our political leaders are saying, or Trump’s latest tweet, in my quest to find an uplifting story. Thankfully our own Chronicle Herald…one of the few independent papers left in Canada… has some excellent writers doing a great job of providing us with a flicker of hope that we will find solutions for some of the many problems facing us, not just here in Nova Scotia,but everywhere.

Once upon a time I read and listened to just about everything the media offered. Today we no longer know if the news is real or not, and with so much falling into the realm of ‘gloom and doom’ it all becomes overwhelming. It makes me want to get to Thailand fast to escape it all. However, I have a month before I can do this so I must endure the long, dark days of November and December by finding other diversions. Thus, I find myself looking in the cupboard or fridge for a snack, watching far too many British mysteries on PBS television, reading a good book, exercising my brain by tackling a cross word puzzle, or getting together with good friends. All of this is good and necessary, but I can’t help asking,”Is it enough?” I don’t know about you, but with the sorry state of our world and the lingering knowledge that if we don’t do something quick, our world as we now know it will eventually disappear, is a fact that I can’t ignore.

We know that escaping or ignoring our problems isn’t the answer because they will always come back to haunt us. However, the bottom line is that we want to feel useful…to feel like we are contributing something which will help our world. We feel better about ourselves when we give rather than take. Yet many of us still choose to either ignore the problems or perhaps simply give up in despair because we just don’t know where to start or what we can do. What’s the use in even trying? Let our politicians and other leaders sort it out. I already have enough to do just trying to live my life. These are unfortunate assumptions to make because there always solutions to every problem. We just have to open our eyes and hearts to find the answers.

My guess is it’s part of our human nature to react in this way because we simply are not inclined or possibly not wired to change our old way of doing things. We get too used to being in the comfort zones we have created for ourselves. Changes that take us away from that are scary so are best ignored. However, our world has had enough of this kind of thinking and is calling out for our help. It’s trying to tell us to change our attitude to how we have always treated it. We can’t just keep taking from it; we have to start giving back. So how we can do this is always the all important question.

Recently I’ve been bombarded with self – help techniques for keeping healthy, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually. Our modern-day sages are bringing back ideas that aren’t new and have been uttered down through the ages by other wise men and women. I find it interesting that the wisdom of old is not that different from that of today. There really is not much new under the sun. Their message is that if we truly want to save our world then we are going to have to change our thinking and, thus, our way of doing things. There are a myriad of enlightened individuals out there who are more than happy to have you sign up for their courses to teach you how. At one time we would buy their books if we wanted to change ourselves for the better. Now we can get more involved by meeting them personally on the Internet.

Just recently a familiar name whose books I read years ago appeared on a video interview announcing his upcoming course on this theme.  The man I am referring to is Neale Walsch, author of the best-selling trilogy of books entitled  “Conversations with God”. His books, based on messages he claims came to him from God when he was at a low point in his life, were read by millions and became the impetus for us to consider the whole nature of who or what God is to us. Instead of something from above or external, the concept has become a personal one which we can find within us. This was the beginning of our awakening as to where we fit in to the whole scheme of things. Now he has come out with a fourth book where he says the time has come for each and every one of us to take the next step… to use our true calling in a way that will help our world. It’s now time to go beyond the looking inward and look outward. He doesn’t ask us to throw out all the good wisdom our various religions have given us, but to keep what works and discard what doesn’t. “I could be right but I could be wrong,” is his mantra. He goes on to say that we have been taking ourselves far too seriously by feeling we have to be right all the time.

Walsch’s new message really hit home for me, but instead of signing up for his expensive online course, I will look into buying his new book “Awaken the Species: A New Conversation With God”.

Returning to my realization that there are certain wise ideas that have been with us forever which come back to haunt or help us whenever they are needed, I remember one that has stuck with me throughout my life’s journey. It is something the mythical Greek hero, Ulysses, said: “I am a part of all that I have met.” This speaks volumes to me because in my travels I have learned so much about myself and this world I live in from all the different countries I have visited. I think if everyone could have the opportunity to travel, we would not be facing many of the problems we are facing today. Travel has taught me more than my family, my country or my teachers ever could have, and, yes, I should add any of the courses I’ve taken or books I’ve read. They have all been valuable but it’s the experience of travel that has been my greatest teacher. Think about it. With travel you have to use all your five senses not just your eyes to read about it. More importantly, you have to rely on that sixth sense… intuition. All the knowledge in the world won’t be of much help when faced with difficult circumstances or having to make tough decisions. This one is so important because it depends on faith and let me tell you much of what can happen when travelling depends on how strong your faith is. I would never have chosen to travel solo if I had not had the power of my 6th sense to keep me going. I just had to trust that no matter where I was or what predicament I had to work my way out of that faith in myself and my spiritual guides and God were there to help me.

Another wise saying that comes to mind and is so appropriate as we struggle to deal with the changes that are occurring in our world right now is this by Ghandi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Ghandi believed so strongly in the importance of his country to be free of British colonial rule that he sacrificed his family and all his worldly comforts to fight for this in a peaceful manner. He was admired by some but scorned by many at that time, but still he persevered. I am not suggesting that we all follow in the footsteps of Gandhi, but we can take some of his words and actions as a starting point by getting involved in what is going on in our own communities or neighbourhoods.

One final word….we can’t sit back and expect our political leaders to have all the answers to our problems. The system isn’t equipped to allow them to carry out all those wonderful promises they made to us before they were elected to office. We need to start with ourselves and begin the work of making changes within starting with our own thoughts and actions. We need to set an example to our families, friends, and neighbours. We need to banish the negative thinking….judging, blaming, hating… and operate at a higher level of accepting, sharing, and loving. If more of us can do that starting right now, then just maybe we will achieve a world with more peace and harmony.