Protection (pt 1): Choice

How does one talk about protection?

We live in a world awash in negativity. Turn on the news or read any newspaper, and you will have your choice of stories designed to terrify you. The dominant culture thrives upon fear and hate. You never hear about any of the positive things in life; good news makes poor copy. Fear is a very powerful motivator, especially if your goal is power over others. Look what has happened in the United States in the past ten years. They chipped away out our rights, got us to tolerate government interference on a level never even conceived of before all because some whackaloons drove a plane into a building.

Now, I am not downplaying the seriousness of 9/11. Not at all! The world was unified that day in its collective horror, and we were given a choice of which path to choose: it could have unified us or divided us. Guess which one we chose?

Yes, we chose it. It wasn't chosen for us. We let our fear and horror overcome our sense of justice and ethical imperative; we surrendered our dearly held freedoms for the security of a government with a mandate to control our lives that much more than it had before. We get the government we deserve and the world we chose, and if that world is not to our liking, we have no one to blame but our self. The whackaloons won. They got us to change our beliefs. They taught us the oppression was okay in the name of security and safety. And those whose faint voices were raised in objection, that cried, "Stop! This isn't right!" were branded traitors and even worse.

Just as the voices that raised the warning about pollution, and global warming over thirty years ago, the difference being the charges against them were of insanity instead of treason.

Fear is our enemy. Hate stems from fear, and violence is their child. A frightened population is a controlled population, as any dictactor can tell you. Want to take someone's power? Want to direct their lives and make them do what you want and not what is right for them? Twist their morality, distort their ethics, manipulate them into accepting that which their own hearts tells them is dangerous and wrong? Make them fear. It's easy.

Gandhi was a brave man. He stood up to fear, and in the process, made those he was fighting against look like total fools. There is a lesson in that.

So how does one survive in a world governed by fear without giving into that paradigm? How does one keep the negativity at bay?

By making the conscious choice to reject it. By teaching the sub-conscious to reject it as well. By telling the Universe "I do not accept this! This is not who I am. My choice is mine alone, and I will not allow others to make it for me. Period."

Easier said then done, and yet, easier done then you might believe.

What is often talked about in metaphysical -- dare I say new age? -- circles is the natue of intent. It's a concept that is difficult to take in if you are raised in the dominant culture of fear and intimidation. How can it be possible? You can say you intend something until your blue in the face, and people can still come along and violate your intent at a whim. What matters is not the outcome, but the intention. If I give to a charity, and that donation is embezzled or used for a different purpose then I intended, it does not change the nature of my intent. I gave it for a specific reason. That it did not end end up that way is not my choice or my responsibility. If there is karma in the incident, it is not my karma to deal with but the karma of the person who diverted the funds.

Intention is important. How does one make an intention? By making a choice, and sticking to that choice come hell or high water. The Universe will test this choice. It will ask you, "Is this what you really want?" because if it is convinced that it is, it will give it to you. Then it will sit back and watch to see what you do with the outcome.

Inherent in both intention and choice, is permission and this is where it gets tricky, because permission can be granted sub-consciously as well as consciously. If deep inside yourself you believe that you are deserving of nothing good, you will get nothing good. You can do affirmations until you are blue in the face, but if your sub-conscious, which drives your motivations and actions without thought on your part, does not believe it, it won't work. You have to take intent, choice and permission sub-consciously as well as consciously. How to do this? By learning who you are, what you truly believe in and what you really want in your life.

Again - easier said then done. Takes actual work, and a bit of time, but hell, take a lesson from the stones for they have the patience of eons on their side. That is why they can be so helpful to us on our path. The energies they produce interacts with our own, and with their help, we can find our balance, ground our psyche and find the firm ground we need to make our conscious choices. It's not like the Universe leaves flapping in the breeze; the stones are only one tool and ally that our available to us. All we have to do is reach for them.

What is your choice?