Global Peace is in Our Reach

Global peace is a goal aspired to by many, if not most, human beings. Everyone seems to want it, but no one seems to know how to get it. Some even say that wishing for global peace is naïve, idealistic, and unrealistic. Others say that war has always been with us and always will be - because man is by nature a violent creature. However, man is a creature that is unlike other animals in his (or her!) capacity to grow and evolve. We can learn from our mistakes and make different choices. Unlike other animals, destined to function by instinct, we can actually shape the world around us.

Although many of us believe that our thoughts result from our situation on the planet, the fact is that the situation on the planet results from our thoughts. One reason that peace seems unattainable is due to five mistaken beliefs about life that most of us have held since childhood. These are that:

1. Human beings are separate from each other.

2. There is not enough of what human beings need to be happy.

3. To get the stuff of which there is not enough, human beings must compete with each other.

4. Some human beings are better than other human beings.

5. It is appropriate for human beings to resolve severe differences created by all the other fallacies by killing each other.
The first fallacy - that humans are separate from one another - is what enables us to mistreat one another. We fail to see that our actions towards others eventually make a karmic trip back to us one way or another, i.e. that "what goes around comes around".

The second fallacy - the belief in scarcity - causes fear and anxiety.

The third fallacy - that competition is necessary - leads to conflicts over food, territory, natural resources, jobs, inheritances, and even other people.

The fourth fallacy - a belief in superiority - allows us to justify our mistreatment of others.

The fifth fallacy - that murder is appropriate in certain situations - leads to war.

The route to global peace starts at home. We cannot expect to see peace on a global scale until we can learn to live peacefully with our own families. We cannot envision peace between nations, when we have fighting amongst friends. Peace in our hearts is just as powerful, if not more powerful, than peace on the streets. To quote Mahatma Gandhi, "we must be the change we wish to see."

That may be easy for others who don't have to put up with aggravating relatives, ungrateful children, or a demanding boss, but what about the rest of us? When my three children were little, I felt overwhelmed by their noise, messiness, and demands for attention. I kept waiting for them to behave so that I could calm down. My husband told me that if I would just relax, they would relax, and everything at home would run more smoothly. But I thought he didn't understand - I had so much to do and no help! Not only were the children making more work for me, it seemed as if they were working against me!

It took years before I finally understood that my unhappiness caused their unhappiness, and that we were caught in a vicious circle. Something had to give and it had to be me, since they were simply following my example. Once I made the conscious decision to start every day happy regardless of the mess or chaos around me, the kids transformed into delightful, cooperative angels. It was like magic!

Somehow it is easier to blame others for the problems in the world than to correct our own faults. However, the world is smaller than ever and every action of ours truly impacts those around us. We can't always see the results of our impact on others, but rest assured that there is an impact. There is a cartoon that depicts this perfectly: a man gets yelled at by his boss, then goes home and yells at his wife, who in turn yells at her son, who in the end kicks the dog. The violence not only filters down, though. It also spreads outward, like the ripples on a pond after a pebble is thrown in.

So, global peace must begin in our own small corner of the earth, from which it can expand outward, eventually touching circles from other peacemakers and spreading across the planet. Peacefulness in our hearts can begin by replacing the five fallacies with the five steps to peace, which are:

1. Acknowledge that some of our old beliefs about life are no longer working.

2. Acknowledge that there is something we do not understand about life, the understanding of which will change everything.

3. Be willing for a new understanding of life to now be brought forth, an understanding that could produce a new way of life on the earth.

4. Be courageous enough to explore and examine this new understanding, and, if it aligns with our inner truth and knowing, to enlarge our belief system to include it.

5. Live our lives as demonstrations of our highest and grandest beliefs, rather than as denials of them.
The first step, which says we have some useless beliefs, allows us the chance to see things differently.

The second step, which says we have don't have all the answers, allows us to seek them.

The third step, which says we could consider new beliefs, allows us the chance to grow.

The fourth step, which says we could change our beliefs, allows us to improve.

Finally, the fifth step, which says we could live life differently, allows us to be peacemakers.

Instead of stubbornly doing the things we have been taught, we can step back to see if they are truly effective. I found that I could yell at my children all day - because I mistakenly believed that they should follow all my rules - but once I acknowledged that yelling wasn't effective, it freed me to find another way to achieve my goals.

We can each make a contribution by examining our beliefs and then asking ourselves: Do our thoughts lead to peace or to war? Global peace - it's up to each of us.

(Author's note - The "five fallacies" and "five steps to peace" are adapted from "The New Revelations" by Neale Donald Walsch.)