We're all doing the same thing. It just happens to look vastly different, depending on who we are.
Regardless of how it looks on the outside - whether it appears good, evil, normal, or bizarre - we're all operating under the same inner circumstances, attempting to get our inner energy to flow freely. And we do this by trying to change the outside world according to our inner blockages.
The reason we all go about it differently is because our blockages are all different. What turns one person on, turns another off. But both people, despite different outward actions, are doing the same thing.
The person who stormed the Capitol is doing the same thing as the person who fights for peace. They're both trying to get their inner energy to flow, and thus feel okay inside.
Of course, one person's mind tells them that in order to be okay, they need to commit a crime, while the other person's mind tells them to look beyond the anger and feel compassion towards others' pain.
It's easy to blame others and get mad, but it's hard to look beyond the actions people are taking and remember why they are taking them.
Other people take their actions for the same reasons you're taking yours; because they're trying to be okay. They're not okay - they're hurting inside - and they think the way to be okay is to do what they do.
You're doing the same thing! You just happened to have different life experiences, and so your mind has collected different data, therefore telling you to do something else.
It's easy to hate the actions of other people, but remember, hate never solves anything. It's like throwing gasoline onto a fire in order to extinguish the fire. It only adds to the problem.
It takes no effort to hate, because your mind does that automatically. It's hard to look past hate, and lean into compassion. That's hard because it's the opposite of what your mind wants to do. But it's what's required from you, especially during times of turmoil.
When you understand the struggle behind someone's actions, you can build off common ground, even if it means condemning what someone did.
No one said you have to like someone just because you're not hating them. You can still disapprove of their actions, speak out against evil, while not carrying the burden of hate.
That's how the people we admire, like Martin Luther King Jr., went about their lives. They didn't harbor hate and spew it back out. If they did, we wouldn't be celebrating his legacy.
MLK Jr. was able to look beyond hate, even if he felt it inside, and focus on what he knew was right, regardless of feelings. Talk about courage, and compassion.
If there's anything you take away from this post, let it be that you are better than the hate you bear towards other people. Remember that they, too, are not okay, and their minds are telling them to do what they think will make them okay.
The more you remember this, the better off you, your family, and your community will be because of it.
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
