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You are here: Home / Archive 2019 / Enough of the doom & gloom! We are in a time of great transformation, can we grab the opportunity it represents?

Enough of the doom & gloom! We are in a time of great transformation, can we grab the opportunity it represents?

March 5, 2009 by Kara-Leah Grant 13 Comments

Open your eye

Open your eye

At any one time, many possible futures are available to us as individuals and as a whole. Times of great change represent both times of great challenge and times of great opportunity.

This is one of those times and it makes me excited.

Yes – all the financial upheavals, and the crashing and burning of our current model of economic reality, has me seeing opportunities for creative and innovative change left, right and centre.

From my perspective, I see that this so-called economic crisis is providing the exact prompting we need to change the way we see the world, to change what we value, and therefore to change what we create.

For collectively, humans create their own experience.

Now, more than any other time before us, we are able to perceive and understand these connections via the power of the Internet. We are able to share with each other what works for us, and what we love about life on earth, and what we’re doing to make things better, and what kind of change we’re hopeful for.

Collectively we can set an intention for the world we wish to create, and steer a course for that intention.

All over the world, thousands of people are already holding their vision for an evolved world – are you ready to do the same?

We currently live in a world that has largely existed based on “survival” mode. Either people are focused on doing what they can to survive, or they’re a step or five up the rung doing what they can to make money to ensure their survival is as comfortable as possible.

In terms of the chakras, this is first, second and third chakra stuff. It’s all about material existence – prosperity, security, sexuality, procreation, power, control and will. These are the concerns that have driven humanity for much of it’s existence.

The boom of the last five or so years has been all about “making money”. Buying and selling houses to “make money”. Buying and selling shares to “make money”.  More and more money had to be”made” (credit) in order for people to access it so they could buy the stuff they needed in order to “make money”. It was an unsustainable bubble based on a concept that only exists because we all agree on it’s inherent value – money.

But what the hell is “money”? And why on earth would anyone want to “make” it?

Well doh! So I can buy more stuff, so I can feel secure, so I can quit my job, so I can look after my family, so I can be successful, so I can achieve…

If I’ve got more money then I’d be happy, then I’d be free, then I’d be able to…

These are the ideas that we’ve held to be true, and we’ve sacrificed everything else in the pursuit of “making more money” so we can finally achieve the material existence that we just know will make us happy.

Now, as corporations fail and share prices tumble and people lose jobs… our greatest concern is the effect this is having on “growth”, on “the economy”, on the “unemployment rate”. Yes, there are people who care about people, but the majority of the coverage and concern in the media is over numbers. We’re worried about how we can keep “growth” going, how we can keep the big companies going, how we can maintain the status quo.

But all transformation and change is preceded by destruction and the sooner we can face up to this reality, surrendering to it’s inevitability and embracing the change it heralds, the less painful this transition will be. Our current focus on shoring up and maintaining the status quo via guarantees and large billion dollar injections of funds is missing the crucial point in the evolution of humanity.

For human beings to survive on this planet, we must change what we value and what we aspire to, and we must change now.

Like leaves fall so that winter may come before spring bursts into blossom, so too must humanity let go of that which doesn’t serve them anymore.

It is time to embrace the ending of the old and make way for the coming of the new. And as with any transformation or change, our willingness to step back and see what is happening so that we can work with the flow of change will determine how much struggle we endure during the process.

It is not enough to “survive” anymore, because surviving will surely kill the planet. It is time for humanity to thrive, and to do that, we must learn the lessons of the three lower chakras and move up into the fourth chakra – that which bridges the material and the spiritual levels within. The lessons and learning of this chakra show us how to approach this time of great change, and what we must do to create balance for us, and therefore for our existence upon the Earth.

The fourth chakra is the chakra of the Heart. The heart chakra is:

…related to love and is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity. A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness.

Read those words again and ask yourself if this is the world you want to experience:

  • Do you want to live in a world where you feel integrated, and can acknowledge both the light and the dark within?
  • Do you want to live in a world where you love deeply, and are deeply loved?
  • Do you want to live in a world where you feel compassion for your fellow human beings, and they feel compassion for you?
  • Do you want to live in a world where you experience a deep sense of peace and centredness?
  • And do you think that you need to “make money” in order to live in that world, be in that world, experience that world?

No?

Then why oh why oh why are we so concerned about whether or not we are “making money” when it has absolutely nothing at all to do with whether or not we live in a world of love, compassion, peace and centredness?

Now is the time for each and everyone of us to open our hearts and know that we are all in this together – one people, one planet, one future.

In this moment of great change and transformation, we are being given an opportunity to Wake Up and shift away from our preoccupation with survival issues like prosperity, security, sexuality, procreation, power, control and will. We can see what happens when we make these our priorities – we only have to read the news to see what kind of world these things create.

Now is the moment to let go of our need for prosperity, to let go of our need for security, to let go of our need to control sexuality and procreation, to let go of our need to have power over others, exercise control over others, force our will upon others. We don’t need to live this way anymore. This time is over.

And in the letting go, in the surrender, we create space for a new way of being to arise.

A way of being where our primary concern is not whether or not we’re making money, but whether or not we are acting in Love. Because we are one people living on one planet, and as hearts open up the world over, we become one heart – your heart opening to my heart opening to another’s heart, opening and opening and opening.

This is not an airy fairy wishy washy pie-in-the-sky concept.

When the heart opens, you will know it.

You will feel it.

It is as obvious and as real as the difference between walking around with your eyes shut and walking around with your eyes open.

Suddenly you can See.

Truly See.

And with this sight, it becomes clear in every second of every moment exactly what needs to be done. For all that needs to be done in each moment is for us to act in Love. Towards the car that cuts you off in traffic in the morning. Toward the boss that loads you up with deadlines when you’ve asked to leave early for family reasons. Towards the partner that forgets to go to the supermarket and pick up dinner. The children that race round and round the house when all you want to do is chill out. The friend that stands you up at the movies. The terrorist that bombs you. The army that invades you.

Because when we respond in Love, with Love we are refusing to feed into the drama of the situation. We are able to step into the other’s perspective and see where they are coming from. We are able to let go of our need to be right. We are able to see the bigger picture and work toward a solution that is best for all. Yes, it is challenging, yes it takes practice, but the rewards are huge.

In every moment, when our hearts are open, we accept and work with what life throws at us. We don’t allow other people to walk all over us, being clear about our boundaries, and being willing to accept that they may not respond in love (yet). We let go of what we think we want, of what we expect, of what we want to happen and instead relax into what is happening right here and right now.

There are moments of contraction, when the heart closes and you feel a contraction within… and all of a sudden you are back in a world ruled by survival issues and you know something has shifted and it feels so damn awful to be back here…

Ah… you remember, the heart needs to open.

Back and forth the shift goes, as each human being learns a new way to be, a new way to live. A way that takes practice, and intention. But just know that it’s happening all over the world – that other people are working on opening their hearts and living from a place of love, compassion and peace.

As our world shifts and changes at an ever increasing pace, this is all that truly matters – whether or not our hearts are open and we feel the connection that exists between all of us.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank, or how much your house is “worth”, or what your shares are doing or whether or not you’ll get a pay rise this year.

It matters how you listen to other people, how you love other people, how you open to other people, how you support other people, how you offer value to other people.

And the beautiful thing is that when this becomes your focus in life, other people will mirror it back to you.

They will listen to you.

They will love you.

They will open to you.

They will support you.

They will offer value to you.

So next time you find yourself worrying, fearing, anxious, freaking out, contracting, closing down, being nasty, gossiping, being righteous, condemning another, fighting back, getting mad, raging at the injustice of it all…

STOP.

Is this what you want to experience?

Take a deep breath, inhaling, exhaling… inhaling, exhaling… finding the gateway for surrendering into the moment, connecting with your heart, feeling the inhale open it up bright and wide, feeling the exhale release old patterns and old ways of being.

Come back into that place of love.

Come back into that place of compassion.

Come back into that place of peace.

This is the world we want to create.

This is the world we want to live in.

This is where we want to be.

This is where we can be.

Right now.

In

This

Moment

Today

Here and now.

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Filed Under: Archive 2019, Musings from the Mat Tagged With: Acceptance, heart opening, reality, surrender, vision

About Kara-Leah Grant

Kara-Leah is an internationally-renowned writer, teacher and retreat leader. Millions of people have been impacted by the articles, books and videos she has published over the last ten years. Her passion is liberation in this lifetime through an every day path of dissolving layers of tension into greater and greater freedom and joy. You can find out more about her, including when her next retreats are, on her website. Kara-Leah is the visionary and creator of The Yoga Lunchbox.

Comments

  1. michael says

    March 6, 2009 at 12:40 am

    yes i join with all those who look forward to a better tomorrow. these are the signs that show the end of the times, the times of the first 3 chakras. we need to move over that bridge and actively participate in creating joy. in as much as you have done it to others you have done it to yourself. let us focus on that thought and all that is in this article of enough of the doom and the gloom. we want joy!

    Reply
  2. Kara-Leah Grant says

    March 6, 2009 at 6:40 am

    Hey Michael,

    I love your sentence – “In as much as you have done it to others, you have done it to yourself”.

    If I could help people to understand one concept… that would be it.

    For anything we do to another, we do to ourselves. That which we project externally, we also feel internally.

    A better tomorrow is within our grasp, all it requires is that we take “right action” today.

    What’s “right action”? Simply being the way you wish all other people would be to you. Not hard is it 😉

    Thanks heaps for the comment.
    KL

    Reply
  3. Vitor - The Fractal Forest says

    March 6, 2009 at 8:40 am

    “There are moments of contraction, when the heart closes and you feel a contraction within…”

    I know exactly what this feels like. It’s like being trapped in stone, unable to breathe, to move. And then you remember that your heart was once open, and the mere memory loosens the grip this prison has on you.

    An open heart is the synonym of freedom.

    Vitor

    Reply
  4. Seka says

    March 6, 2009 at 8:52 am

    Incredibly inspiring and meaningful article. I think that if more people took this mindset, the world would (will?) be a better place.

    For the time being, we all have the power to make our lives a… ‘better place’. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Liana says

    March 6, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    This reminds me of a beautiful man I met in India, who has seen countless acts of violence, terrorism and tragedy in his own country. He believes that the only way to rise above this evil is to have an open heart and flood the world with love. I was humbled at this approach.

    I was also talking with some people during the week about how if we are stuck in survival mode, we are little better than animals, concerned only for our own safety and well-being. It is only when we can evolve up through the chakras (using whatever path you choose) that we can fully realise the human condition. Humankind really does need to make an effort to evolve and become fully human, accessing their higher selves in whatever way works for them. Yoga asanas are a great way to start!

    Reply
  6. Kara-Leah Grant says

    March 6, 2009 at 5:01 pm

    Wow! Thank you everyone for diving in and leaving your responses. It’s so great to know that other people see more than what the media feeds us.

    Vitor – I love your last sentence… an open heart is the synonym of freedom. So very true!

    Seka – Yep, will be a better place… and even, IS a better place. The beauty and power of language huh?

    Liana – You state it so clearly. When we respond with violence, cruelty, or judgment we are only being that which we fight against. In the end, it doesn’t matter who is “right” and who is “wrong”, it’s still all fighting.

    So awesome to see this dialogue, blessings all,
    Kara-Leah

    Reply
  7. Bonnie Nelson says

    March 13, 2009 at 6:17 am

    I’ve given speeches on this very subject and this subject matter is a matter of our lives on this planet. Liana’s comment that we are ‘little better than the animals’ should be amended to read ‘we are lesser than the animals’. If we can wrap our fingers around our egos and thrust them aside, we will see that we are the only animal on the planet that does not live in the moment. We fret over the past and agonize over the future and fail to see what is before us right now. We don’t see money as the tool it is meant to be and instead worship it as if it were some kind of deity. We have built an organization called the Cheetah Alliance that is run by the children of our planet where they draw resources from a Talent Pond instead of using money. If we all use our God-given talent for Good, we will overcome the perceived “need” for money. I truly enjoyed this article.

    bonniejnelson

    Reply
  8. Kara-Leah Grant says

    March 13, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    Hey Bonnie,

    Awesome to have you join the discussion. I love your point about us being the only animal that doesn’t live in the moment – so very true!

    I’m a big believer in offering something of value to society to build our community – hence the seva yoga classes at Pump Dance Studios. Creating a Talent Pond sounds like a fascinating idea!

    Thanks for stopping by,
    KL

    Reply
  9. Tash says

    April 27, 2009 at 9:03 am

    Im gonna have to agree with Bonnie on this one!
    It’s so true that we are the only animal that doesn’t live in the moment, and thats one thing that animals show us. I believe animals are our teachers, they show us how to be balanced and live in the moment.

    Tash =)

    Reply
  10. Kara-Leah Grant says

    April 27, 2009 at 10:57 am

    Hey Tash,

    Yep, it’s very true. When we shift to living only in the present moment, life opens up in the most magical way.

    Gotta love that!
    KL

    Reply

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