It’s time for honesty, truth, transparency, realistic expectations, and taking responsibility to all return to our society, and in a big way as their absence is destroying us. The battle of our respective and collective egos to maintain, or regain, power is leading to an intolerant, alternative truth, alternative fact culture where we can call reality whatever we want. It’s no longer the search for truth, but the search for OUR truth. Whatever makes me comfortable is what I conform my beliefs and attitudes to. If something or someone lives contrarily to what I believe is right, or says anything I am not comfortable with, they are my enemy. Discussion, debate and disagreement have turned into hatred and demonization. We have become a laughing stock to the rest of the World and it has to stop, now.
The mainstream American has become a selfish, narcissistic lot; addicted to inflating oneself, self-branding, taking selfies, spending excessive time on social media, all trying to sell others and maybe ourselves how successful, sexy, and fabulous we are. The average person out there is so full of themself; it is difficult for those not steeped in ego to find a comfortable place to exist.
What are the horrendous habits of this unbearable lot? The list is exhaustingly long, but here are some of the worst character traits: their problems are always the result of the actions or inactions of others, they gossip often, excuses are commonplace, they rarely ask about or consider others and often make things about themselves, they are rarely, if ever, wrong, and they really relish pointing out how stupid other people are, and then there’s the hypocrisy…they will criticize attributes and behaviors in others that they are often guilty of, but rarely, if ever, admit. And the worst part of all of this is their ignorance and/or belligerence to all of it. They won’t identify themselves as being wrong or in need of help because so much rides of this house of cards standing; their whole persona comes toppling down when the fragile house of cards does…so whatever they think, say or do, it all has to match up with that house of lies standing.
How’d we get here? I imagine we all have 2 or 3 guesses, and like how some blame violence on kids playing video games with violent themes, some of our answers will be superficial, if not completely off the mark. The facts are, we have slipped down the World rankings in healthcare, education, quality of life, industry, and so on. This isn’t a coincidence. It is a direct relationship to what I’m talking about. We are no longer a team. We have become self-absorbed; glued to screens, allergic to productivity, turned off to the desire to educate and better ourselves, greedy, obstinate, and close-minded. Fear underlies so much of this anger, hatred, and stubbornness. We are afraid…of being unlovable, being alone, being poor, being unpopular, being irrelevant, being dumb, being passed by…and so much more. As a result, the ego takes great strides for it’s survival and the domino effect of this has a whole lot of people believing a whole lot of nonsense, hating and acting out towards a whole lot of other people, and the first signs of a culture beginning to fall appear.
Do you know what a scarcity mindset is? Why do you think it is so hard for so many to root for the success of others? What does it mean when everyone around you is doing great? The scarcity minded person doesn’t believe that there is enough to go around. When there’s not enough for everyone, they believe that unless they act accordingly, they will be left out. There is not enough money, not enough fame, not enough power, not enough good…there’s just not enough. And then there’s the lack of esteem; so many feeling so lousy about themselves; I’m not good enough, smart enough, good looking enough, and so on. When put together, a scarcity mindset in a person with poor self-esteem, and you have the makings of a person who gossips, blames, tries to diminish others, hates others and so on.
The opposite mentality is an abundant mindset. What would life be like if we all minded our own business, felt good about ourselves and rooted for everyone else? Could you imagine if everyone had your best interests in mind when they interacted with you, instead of their own? Yes, we have to take care of ourselves so we can be healthy and balanced enough to take care of others, but having said that, what if we all watched out for our fellow humans? What if there were no scams, theft, assaults, or malicious crimes of any kind? Altruistic? Sure…but think about your own beliefs and actions. How might you be different if what I’m saying was reality? Do you do the crummy things you do because others do their own versions of crummy? Can you see how we can snowball into better or worse behaviors?
My admission of guilt is that I am aware of my ability to use my mind for positive creation or as some would say: “positive manifestation.” I really have to work at this, though, as my default is to a place of fear and doubt. When I stay focused, I can keep my thoughts on positive plane, for the most part, and I am aware of the benefits, but as with so many of us, I fall prey to getting tripped up by, well, life. Bumps, challenges, unfortunate circumstances, lessons…whatever you want to call them, happen to all of us. It is staying the course that define the successful, and at this point in my life, I will fully admit that I view myself as only mildly or occasionally successful and that I have many battles still in progress. Most Practitioners don’t or won’t admit this, as this kind of frailty makes a potential Patient ask themselves whether they should be working with someone who hasn’t progressed through their battles/lessons to a near-point of enlightenment. That’s fair, and I’ll leave at with this statement: We are all led to work with the person we are meant to work with, be it for a particular lesson or for ongoing work. The lessons go both ways. I learn from my Patients every day, and I am grateful for the opportunity to care for all of them. I felt that sharing was important as I didn’t want you, the reader, to think I was putting myself above you, in any way.
Food for thought in a World that is reaching a breaking point on the stress scale. I hope you’ll do your part. We all need to. I will continue working on myself so that I can be a better version of myself for future Patients, or for my existing Patients. If I don’t grow, how can I expect them to?
Paul Gerst L.Ac. is co-owner of The Balanced Path Wellness Center in Medway, MA and has been in practice as an Acupuncturist and Natural Healthcare Provider for 25 years. He teaches meditation and other workshops/classes for the general public and for corporations. Telehealth/Online visits and classes are also offered. If you are interested in working with Paul, please call 774-283-2726 or email thebalancedpath@PM.ME