The Next Step in our Evolution...

The next step in our evolution will be a transition to a steady state economy. This means 0% or even negative economic growth.

This has already happened in Japan and is happening in The United States of America too.

Why?

Well let's look at the science. Currently we're using 150% of the earth's capacity to support us. This is not mere speculation. This equates to 16 out of 25 ecosystem services on planet earth that are being used unsustainably.

And the trick is we're not stopping here. We still believe that we can continue to grow at rates of 5% per annum. However, when you operate beyond your capacity what happens? The system starts to creak and crack at the seams.

Food prices go up. Fuel prices go up. People get cranky! Revolution starts to bubble under the surface. No more clear is this than what happen in Egypt recently. So the mitigating circumstances of an ideology built on infinite growth bumps up against a finite context.

Crisis ensues. What now? Well, remarkable things happen when crisis takes place. Just look at World War 2. People came together to support each other in times of dire straits. We are genetically inclined to look after one another during times of crisis.

When the economy falters, and panic sets in, unfortunately only then do we band together and begin to make the much necessary and long overdue changes to the systems that have up to a point, shaped our very existence. 

Only when the system starts to feed on itself, becoming more self destructive by the minute, does the idea of transition become more real.

The next step in the evolution of our consciousness will be to a more steady state economy. What does this mean, how do we adjust? How do we let this in as opposed to resist it?

Well, it will mean that our economy will instead of being designed on growth and maximizing profit for shareholder value, will be designed on well being and happiness. It will mean that we'll have to look inside and discover who we are, why we're here and what's important to us. Here are a few other points to consider about the transition.

• It will mean giving more. A gift economy means not only connecting with our gifts, but giving of our gifts
• Connecting with community. This means engaging with local communities and seeing how we fit into these communities by developing our talents.
• Learning new things. Taking up new hobbies. Discovering new worlds. Playing with different ideas. Creating art. Being innovative. 
• Meaningful work. This entails rediscovering greater purpose in ones life. Purpose is developing insight into something that is greater than oneself. What is meaningful for you?

The irony is is that none of these things can be found by going to the mall. None of this requires new technology either. All it requires is for us to think a bit differently. 

9 Insights from The Celestine Prophecy

The book, The Celestine Prophecy was an Inca and Mayan manuscript created around 600 BC in Aramaic. The clergy tried to suppress the manuscript when parts of it were discovered in modern day Peru.

There are some interesting insights in the manuscript that are relevant to our evolution and development. Here are the 9 insights as described in the book, something to ponder and contemplate, to increase our awareness of where we are on the evolutionary scale.

Insight 1: The first insight talks of an awareness of occurances that change or transform ones life. This awareness needs to be consciously built into our thinking if we are to reap the full benefits of intuition, creativity and abundance that result from such transformation.

Insight 2: The second insight puts our development into an evolutionary perspective. It shows us how a secular world-view replaced the spiritual one that went before it; this is the beginning of the industrial growth economy which seeks to conquer earth through the extraction of natural resources. Much of the systems that we have today were built on this particular world-view. Although it served a purpose, it's limitations are now becoming increasingly apparent and destructive to planet earth.

Insight 3: The third insight follows evolution around the perception of invisible energy with the fruition of quantum mechanics. All things are made of matter and energy, the one influencing the other, but not separate from each other. The simple act of observation changes the relationship between matter and energy itself. This creates a heightened sense of beauty.

Insight 4: Insight number 4 then goes onto to explain how humans then use this new insight of energy and matter to compete for natural resources and power. If we look back at history, we can see that all the wars fought along with human struggles stem from this insight - the need to conquer earth and other humans to gain more power and energy. This insight is driven by fear and the need to control external factors for fear of losing control.

Insight 5: Insight number 5 speaks of a shift in consciousness, a progression back to an ultimate consciousness. What precipitates this progression? The prophecy talks of connecting to a higher source of energy. I think this is related to increased awareness or mindfulness. Connecting with this higher source of energy means increasing our focus and attention to both our inner and outer states of consciousness. This means integrating different world-views from the understanding that we are all part of one unique, holistic system.

Insight 6: This insight has to do with facing up to our particular way of controlling others as a way of imposing our ideology onto others to get what we want. This just creates tension, anger and misunderstanding. So this insight is about letting go of our unconscious control dramas that we've learnt from childhood. We do this by bringing our control dramas into full consciousness. Here are some of the drama personifications the manuscript talks of; the intimidator, the interrogator  being aloof, and the poor-me complex. The first 2 relate to people with outward personalities. The second 2 relate to people with internal personalities.

Insight 7: This insight builds on the idea of increased awareness and using this awareness to guide us on our personal development journey. Objects will begin to jump out at us, certain thoughts will guide us and dreams may tell us something about our lives that we're missing. It is our responsibility to tap into this intuition by building our powers of mindfulness.

Insight 8: The penultimate insight is about how people act towards each other. This insight speaks of an interpersonal ethic that guides our relationships with each other so that more messages can be shared. The more that can be shared, the more abundance can permeate scarcity structures that have been built into our consciousness over time.

Insight 9: The final insight is the most important as it ties together all the previous insights. This insight talks of a change that will happen in this millennium as a result of the evolution of human consciousness. This change will be guided by our higher intuition which is tapped through increased awareness. It is also about letting go of the need to possess and control for security purposes. It speaks of a human world that has slowed down and become more alert for the next intuitive message regards our development. The human population will decrease to live in harmony with nature. This will automatically increase our energy and vibration levels to a higher realm of personal and spiritual development.

Fear lowers ones vibration and much of the industrial growth economy has been driven by fear. Is it not time to transcend this more infantile, monopolistic perception of human development?

Visualization

I believe that visualization can be used as an effective tool to help you take relevant and aligned action with your goals.

However, visualization needs to be focused on the action rather than the thoughts or the feelings that arise in any particular situation.

The problem is that most visualization techniques focus on visualizing a state of consciousness such as being relaxed, calm, serene or in control of feelings and thoughts.

This only serves to set one up for disappointment and possibly failure because we are not in control of our thoughts or feelings. These are transient, forever changing from one moment to the next. We do have a degree of influence over our thoughts and feelings, but never 100% control, 100% of the time. And this is the trap we fall into when it comes to visualization.

No matter how much visualization we do, when it comes to pressurized situations, there's still the propensity to feel anxious, nervous or overwhelmed. This is part of being human.

What we do have control over however is our attitude. In other words we have control over how we relate to our thoughts and feelings. Using our observing mind we can come to accept our negative emotions for what they are, allow them to pass and then take effective action.

When it comes to visualization though, action is the key word! Visualize your behavior and what it is you need to communicate or do to accomplish your goal, regardless of your thoughts or feelings. This won't necessarily guarantee your success, but it will help pave the way for you to take effective action aligned with your values, making the likelihood of success more real.

Over-thinking...

is one of the characteristics of being stuck inside a victim mindset. This can cause a whole host of negative emotions that impacts our well being and our sense of self worth.

Why do we over-think things and what are some of the symptoms of over-thinking?

We tend to over-think things when we're stuck inside a mindset that plays a broken record that limits us and prevents us from moving forward to connect with our values.

More often than not, over-thinking is caused by the idea that there's something wrong. Our attention then bounces around from one thought to the next, trying to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling. But this only serves to exacerbate the problem, causing a lack of focus and clarity, limiting our outcomes.

The more we try to control our thoughts, the more anxious, overwhelmed, tense, angry or depressed we become. We may have trouble sleeping, tossing and turning we can't get the tape recorder to stop playing. And it's likely that those thoughts are limiting to some extent or another. We lock ourselves into negative stories, either about the past, or fear of the future, reminding us about everything that's wrong with us.

How do we escape such thinking so it doesn't have such a negative impact on our sense of well being?

Well, first we have to recognize that it's unlikely that we'll ever get rid of negative emotions or limiting thoughts. But we can create, through mindfulness training, the space in which these thoughts and emotions no longer affect us as badly. How do we do this? Here are some pointers:

• Increase your mindfulness. This is something that can be practiced throughout your day through moment to moment awareness training. A good place to start is by focusing in on one thing, like a blade of grass or an object in your office. Maintaining your focus, integrate a light peripheral awareness at the same time. You'll be amazed that you can be focused and aware at the same time. Practice this throughout your day.
• Spend 5 minutes focusing on the sensations in your body. Close your eyes for 5 minutes and place your attention on sensations from the top of your head running down to the tips of your toes. Be sure to cover every part of your body. Once you complete the cycle you can run your attention back up to your head again. This is an excellent grounding exercise, taken from the principles of vipassana meditation.
• Focus on your breathing. When we're over-thinking things its easy to get locked into a contracted state of consciousness. In order to break this we need to bring our awareness back into the present moment and focusing on your breath is a great way to do this. You can just place your attention on the in-flow and out-flow of breath whenever you notice your attention drifting to multiple thought processes, especially those negative, limiting ones.
• Another great way to create some space between you and your thoughts is to just observe your thoughts without judgement. How do we do this? Well, let's say I have the thought that I'm not good enough. Then here's what I do with this thought; I say to myself, "aah, I'm noticing I'm having the thought that I'm not good enough." Doing this distances you from the victim thought, giving you the space to reconnect with your values or vision.

Thoughts are just words that run through our mind a million times a day. But what we do have control over is where we place our attention. We can choose which words to believe. Some are more useful than others, in that they serve our growth and development. We need to then become acutely aware of those thoughts that reinforce limit and prevent us from living the life we want. And choose very careful the stories we choose to tell ourselves and believe. 

Did you find this article useful? Please let me know your thoughts/opinions below.