Month: November 2017

I grew up in a family where life was a struggle. You had to earn everything. Nothing came easy. I ended up working for an organization that dealt with wars and defense issues. Do you see the power of core beliefs? The trouble is that it was not who I was fundamentally. My own essence had more to do with healing and compassion. Embracing all the fights I encountered in my life, I had to rediscover the path to gentleness and easiness. On the way, I came to understand that I could be either, and embodied both the warrior and the peacemaker.

Human beings seem to harbor opposite characteristics within themselves, such as the overbearing and overstepping warrior, as well as the moderate and careful peacemaker. Life calls on us to explore at times the way of the warrior and at other times to play the role of conciliator. In fact, what may appear as contradictory roles can coexist peacefully within ourselves. Exploring these contradictions helps us navigate the various sides to our personalities and develop integrity, finding the right balance and adapting to various situations in changing circumstances.

As you travel your own set of contractions towards integrating your different faces, you will become more open to transformation and literally open up to others. You will see in differences the very evolutionary opportunities you need in order to live a rich life. You will recognize your own willingness to stand up for what you believe in, at a particular time and in a particular place, while providing enough room around you for others to choose different roles and another path altogether. You will not feel threatened in your own integrity by the beliefs of others. On the contrary, this will help you greatly to strive and incorporate the views and ideals of others into your mere existence, broadening your reality, thereby enriching your own ability to meet life’s challenges.

In questioning courageously our core beliefs, integrating wholeheartedly our various inner faces, we will fight the good fight and live peacefully with each other.

Do you like change? I tend to enjoy it and even call for it into my life regularly. I realize though that people are usually averse to change. We often say that human beings are creatures of habits. In reality we tend to call for a change of circumstances, as we meet regular bouts of adversity. We are often faced with trials and tribulations that seem utterly hopeless. We fight over and over again and yet we seem to always get the same results. We want change, by which we usually mean a change in our life or a change in the world. We cannot hope for transformation and wait for change to bring us different outcomes.

I always looked at change as an external factor that we embrace or refute. Real change actually comes from within, be it change in our lives or change in the world. Challenges are not external; they are internal. As we start seeing the source of our personal and world problems more clearly, we begin to understand how to best affect change. As we seek to move beyond our conflicts and obstacles, we need to turn to our thought patterns, our behaviours – not that of our neighbours; our own! The way we always look at things, the way we choose the same path day after day, year after year, our way of life will make sure we meet the same results over and over again.

It takes courage to see the root of your challenges sitting within yourselves. It takes bravery to question your choices, to uproot your ways of thinking and to seek innovation. These perspectives may have served you well. They may no longer be meeting your needs today. You are changing just as fast as the world is, but you may not realize it and continue to feed yourself with the old stories and dress with your childhood clothes: they no longer fit! You are the change you wish to see. The results you are seeking are closer than you think.

The key to making change is to accept that we are the change and to embrace ourselves fully. Massive transformation is afoot in our world, as a result of a tiny change – a change in perspective. Changing one thing can actually change everything. It only takes a new glance at the world. It is no longer possible to stand up to the acceleration of change, but it only takes a blink of an eye to be riding that wave.