Wisdom

The biggest ‘Megatrend’ of our time

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Scientists seem to generally agree that we humans are the most intelligent species on Earth.

You would think, therefore, that we would have this experience of life nailed down and in many ways, we have.

This intelligence has allowed us to do what no other creature has come close to. We have built civilisations, come up with literally millions of products and ways to make our lives richer and physically easier, and we continue to evolve at a breath-taking pace.

A few years ago, I read a book called ‘Megatrends 2010’ by Patricia Aburdene, best-selling author and renowned social forecaster.

Through accurate and compelling research, she identified that the biggest ‘Megatrend’ of our time is that we seek more spirit (78% of people).

She realised that in a world that seems increasingly turbulent, unpredictable and uncertain, (and likely to remain this way) we naturally begin to look within.

And with good reason.

Anyone who has watched ‘The Blue Planet 2’ can see that we are destroying our world.

It is plainly obvious that far too many people are struggling with life.

A greater and greater number of us are realising that rampant materialism does not create lasting happiness and contentment.

So, what does looking within really mean? How do we do this?

To me, looking within means acknowledging, connecting with and nurturing our spiritual (non-physical) essence. It means seeing that we are an expression of something bigger than our individual selves and that we are all connected.

The more we are willing to see this truth, the more we open our hearts. As this happens we naturally live in greater harmony with ourselves, other people and the world.

On the question of ‘How?’, I think this is the wrong question.

I was out to dinner with a friend recently and we were talking about this very subject.

I shared that in 30 plus years of being a seeker of what looking within means I have come across two communities of people who experience evolving, improving and lasting levels of well-being and spiritual growth.

These two communities are the people who have learned to meditate (and practice daily) and the people who have learned the inside-out understanding.

I am not saying there aren’t others, but this is my own (and relatively limited) personal experience.

I was very committed to the practice of meditation for over 12 years and then I stopped (my blog about this is here if you want to know why).

The inside-out understanding is something that doesn’t require us to do anything at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is the realisation that we are part of this intelligence that is greater than our personal mind and, when we allow it to, it will beautifully and gracefully navigate us through life.

We don’t have to think about any of the trillions of processes that run our body from moment to moment, do we? You don’t have to think about taking your next breath, digesting your last meal, healing the cut to your hand, making your heart beat or walking without falling over (unless you’ve been on the sherry too much!).

The intelligence is built-in and does the work for us.

The mind is no different and yet we have taken on this idea that we need to try and control our lives.

It is the ego that wants to control and it can be an easy trap to fall into. Wayne Dyer used to say ‘ego’ is ‘Edging God Out’.

The result of this is a great deal of unnecessary inner conflict and, therefore, is at the root of all outer conflict – the greater mind is gently trying to point us in one direction and the little mind is trying to go in another.

If we truly want to thrive, experience our lives as meaningful and leave the world better for us having been here, it is so simple we can easily miss it.

The mind only works one way. From the inside-out. This truth is an utterly reliable constant.

The content of our thinking changes all the time and we have thousands of different thoughts every day. If we believe that the experience we are having has something to do with our circumstances then we’re immediately caught up in an illusion.

When we see ourselves as the thinker and that the nature of thought is that it is constantly changing, then we can be at peace with whatever experience we happen to be having.

We are then free to ‘be in the moment’ and enjoy life fully, even with all its ups and downs.

I have shared it before but as an end to this piece, this short video from Michael Neill is worth less than a couple of minutes of your time…

Your wisdom or other people’s wisdom?

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For many years I was an almost obsessive consumer and user of self-help, psychology and business success material.

I was always looking for ideas. Ideas that could help me become a better person, get better results and live a good life.

What I was learning was helpful (kind of).

But why did I feel the need to keep devouring more and more of it? What was I really looking for?

After coming across the 3 Principles understanding it dawned on me that what I was doing was putting my time, money and energy into other people’s wisdom.

And I hadn’t realised how much all this consumption was stifling the flow of my own innate wisdom. Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten to trust my own inner voice.

The 3 Principles points to the fact that we all have an infinite capacity for ideas, insights and new thinking. We all have access to a well that will never run dry.

We’re only ever stuck if we think we are.

When we over-think, get tense or anxious we can easily forget to look inside, not outside. We forget or don’t trust that the thinking we need will come to us.

The thing about other people’s wisdom is that it is what was right for them, in their life, at that particular time.

Why would it be right for us? How could it be?

A client recently shared with me a story about a close family member whose life seems to be a constant struggle, often lurching from one crisis to the next.

He said he could see exactly what their problem was and had often given them well-meaning advice.

I asked how long he’d been doing this and how many times his advice had been taken?

He said 17 years and never! We chuckled about that one.

Think of a challenge or area of your life that seems difficult. Something on which you’d like to get a new perspective, a better feeling or the perfect solution.

It seems so simple, but as soon as we see what we are experiencing is thought rather than circumstances then our mind will naturally clear.

We are then so much better placed to get the thinking that we need and allowing life to come to us rather than trying to chase it down.