The New Normal
The term “new normal” was something.
I picked up watching CNN as it tried to make sense of all the violence that was the Paris terrorist massacre. Or the violent shootings of innocent children in the US. The new normal is all about the global issues that affect all nations of the planet and which cannot be treated as mere isolated cases anymore. These issues range from poverty, terrorism, child trafficking, climate change, war and, yes, food security to name a few. While these have been ongoing for many years, the role of technology in bringing this to our homes on a daily basis has really been a new normal.
If we look at our own lives, we may also identify new normals of our own: family members aging, friends dying of cancer, relationships shifting forms. Or we ourselves may be suffering through a life-threatening disease, our finances cramped and tight that our lifestyles need to be changed. We may be in a new challenging job, living in a strange new country, redefining our lifestyle and even our own definition of ourselves — all acquiring a new normal from the changes happening around us. Change — it is the very essence of life. And as we change, we need to flow with the wisdom found in listening to the rhythm of our growth process. In each phase: a new normal emerges.
When changes come swift and challenging, there is nature to look to as a mirror, inspiring and teaching us, deepening our sense of belonging in the world. Our patterns and that of the natural world resonate in similarity and it is all about growth. We emerge, we unfold, we experience, we shift and change, we awaken, we realize, then emerge and unfold and experience, again shift and change. The process and patterns moving up to higher and deeper levels. We live our lives according to the same principles of the trees, the earth, the clouds and the animals.
So, if we looked to the new year to create a new normal within the space we can control (our own lives) — what would these be? Let me suggest some.
• Be gentler, not just stronger.
• Be whole, not just healthier.
• Be wiser, not just smarter.
• Be healing, not just striving for competitive success.
• Be sustainable, not just consumptive.
• Be one with our planet’s preservation, not just live in it.
• Eat, breathe and go slow, savoring each moment.
• Embrace your unique voice, living with purpose, authentic, creative and free.
• Bring meditative gratefulness into your every day.
• Rise beyond the shadows of your past and be in the present Light.
• Beyond enjoying the sensory, celebrate the Spirit!
The new normal is what we create and want our lives to be. It is also about not accepting as final whatever is happening in or around us. It is our own way of capturing our power and knowing that we can mold the future we want. As in every new year, we begin with hope and confidence to develop our wills to align with the natural rhythm of our lives, to bless the moments of our continuum. Wherever we are now, we can move. Whatever situation we are in, we can prosper. However difficult our lives are at present, this, too, will change. However terrible all these seeming global issues come at us through the media, news and our mobile handsets, we can still choose the higher, the better, the lighter…striving to strengthen all the good we can muster in ourselves so we can influence our community, too.
Happy new 2016! It will be a blast!
