Forcing another person to change using the razor-sharp, double-edge sword of shame cuts you and them down simultaneously. It boomerangs as fast as an Aboriginal Australian huntsman can throw it, and only makes you feel worse. You cannot beat shame at its own game. Shaming someone into “right” behavior never works. Education, empowerment, and truthful discussions encourage accountability which lead to change, personally and collectively. The Shame Game does not.

When judgment of my unsavory characteristics crops up, I welcome my eclectic compilation of attributes with the same patience, understanding, and warmth as when helping a stubborn child figure out his or her options. Frustration transmutes to tranquility as I learn to love and accept all of me: both the parts I admire and the parts I don’t. Let your attributes bleed together without judgment, especially at times of tumult and grief.

Every generation thinks its problems are worse than the last and that they will be the ones to solve societies gravest issues. Do we even have the power to solve the world’s problems or should we live humbly amongst one another in love, trusting the world to sort out the mess once we sort out our disharmony within? Is our chaotic energy responsible for the chaos of the world?

Pushing someone to change is a projection of our own insecurity and fear, and it may feel like judgment to the person on the receiving end. Trust their Higher Power to guide them through experiences, to teach them what they need to know. You do not need to fix, change, or make anyone better. When you trust in another’s soul path, you will not feel the need to interfere. Your anxiety around their behavior will lessen and you will be free to focus on your own life. 

The seed is miniscule in size yet plays a mighty role: it cultivates the harvest. As small as it is, the seed is essential, for without it there is no bounty. Significant indeed, it remains humble in its service to the harvest, knowing that without the crop there is no future seed. The tiny grain exists solely to serve the whole. The parts (individual humans) exist to serve the good of the whole (humanity).

Loss matters, but what we choose to do afterward matters just as much, if not more. It’s what lives on, affecting your life. The afterward represents your level of healing and determines the quality of your relationship with yourself and others. Therefore, it’s wise to focus on the forward march.

Responding in a way that serves the whole, not just yourself, consistently, will help you to trust yourself to show up peacefully, no matter the situation.

It’s challenging (and quite frustrating) to make heads or tails of the behavior of some powerful people on Earth. We may view them as immoral, but they, like us at times, are fellow sufferers caught in the trappings of the material world.