Three Conscious Choices
To Shift Our Me-Centered Universe Into A We-Centered World By Christina Kunkle, CTA Certified Life and Wellness Coach, R.N.
I
t’s been hard to wrap our heads and hearts around the back-to-back adversities that our nation is grappling with. When gravity strikes, a mindset of fear can take over so quickly, can’t it? Distressing news, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires and shootings have left even the strongest among us feeling isolated, disheartened and helpless. In the face of suffering, we can run away, pick a fight, freeze in our tracks or blindly follow the crowd down the rabbit hole of fear. Our fight or flight nervous system is built for an occasional emergency, providing a surge of fast-acting stress hormones — like adrenalin and cortisol — when life-saving actions are required. Afterward, our rest and digest nervous system is designed to respond with a much-needed release of relaxation hormones — like oxytocin and serotonin — to restore our frazzled mind, body and spirit back into calm balance. But unrelenting assaults on our energy and coping skills can bring us to a breaking point. However, we can rise above the darkness to see the 14
April/May 2018
antidote to reactivity and panic. We can tap into creativity and stir up some powerful soul medicine by asking ourselves one simple question that sparks inspired action: Who do we want to be in this situation?” Will we: n Add light or throw shade? n Show love or feed fear? n Invest in possibility or fuel negativity? n Ignite a spirit of community or retreat in isolation? n Be me-centered or we-centered? n Invest in solutions or focus on problems? As soon as we ask that question, when we dig deep enough for the answer, the light of our combined awareness, love and leadership flips on to remind us that negativity can’t steal our joy, cause uneasiness or feed our fear unless we let it. In every circumstance, our actions reflect what we most value. There will always be a war between love and fear, and an endless feud between the light and the darkness. It’s an all-hearts-on-deck moment in history, and it’s