Walking the Walk: Let It Begin with You

Q: Whom do you like for a Presidential candidate? What is your criterion for picking someone? I’m tired of politics.

A: Ironically, some of my favorite candidates didn’t make the cut! How wonderful that this election season has so many good people interested in helping America and the world.

One of the good things that has come out of the difficulties of these past years is the increased interest in politics, especially among young people. One young man used to tell me that politics was nothing but a joke, and now he’s even watching the news, following the evolution of the candidates and the whole process.
I’m traditionally a gut person; that is to say, I trust my gut over what anyone tells me, or tries to convince me of. “I’m a good person, trust me,” someone says, and I start to get a stomachache. Has that ever happened to you? Good indicator that the message you’re picking up is not the message they’re sending.
And we all want to put our best face forward--we don’t want anyone to see our baggage, our weak spots, our “defects.” In the political arena, we can see these discrepancies more clearly, so we can use it as a good place to practice discernment and trusting our instincts.

When you look at each candidate, ask yourself the following questions. How do I feel when I look at them? What message are they trying to get across? Do I trust them?

Turn the mute button on and just look at them--can you feel any energy coming from them, and if so, how does it make you feel?

When I look at one of the candidates, my stomach gets tight and I get an instant headache. When I look at another one, I get very nervous. When I look at yet another one, I feel very safe and warm. Yes, I watch the debates, yes, I read the news, but it goes beyond that for me--it goes to energy, new versus old.
Old energy is pushy, belligerent, overbearing, judgmental and hypocritical, rigid and dualistic (good vs. bad, right vs. wrong).

“Hey, wait a minute,” you say, “You just said it’s all about new vs. old--isn’t that dualistic?”

I tell you, “No,” because the old is a part of the new, whereas the new is all, because what you think is good, I think is bad; what I think is right, you may think is wrong. The new energy is all about unity, wholeness, unlimited potential and expansion. Anything else is old, worn out, tired. And people don’t want that anymore - they won’t stand for it.

So any candidate is going to have to embrace everyone, no more divisiveness. If you can find a candidate that does all of those things, in my opinion you’ve found the right person for the job of President of the United States.

I can understand why you’re tired of politics--heck, I get tired of everything sometimes. I want things to be new, I want people to be honorable and trustworthy and loving and gentle and caring.

But I think the best place to start is with yourself (as Michael Jackson says, “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change."). Walk your talk, live inside your ethics.

If you don’t know what your ethics are, take some time to craft them so that they make sense to you (ie. “It’s important to keep your word, it’s important to be honest, it’s important to help others").

Then you can start the work of looking outside yourself to the rest of the world and to the candidates and the whole political process. See how everything can come into alignment with your beliefs and your thoughts and your heart. Then I think you’ll be anything butbored, because politics will be dynamic and exciting. Other people and projects will hum with potential, because you are now in the new, and that’s all there is, really--the old has already faded away.

I will be interested to see how this current election pans out, because I think it will be a testament to people’s desire for this newness I’m speaking of, and it all is very exciting to me. Change can be difficult, but in the end, it’s crucial to our existence.