On Monday, January 21, this country recognizes the birthday of that great civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Most businesses, financial institutions and schools will be closed.  State and Federal agencies will also be closed.  Even as I type this blog, my computer sent me a reminder that “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is Tomorrow.”  I did not need reminding.  I will never forget the day he was assassinated because it was on April 4th, my birthday when he was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.  I, along with millions of people, felt such a great loss and despair on that frightful day.  I thought then: “What are we going to do now that the one person who stood for so much for so many would not be around to continue to champion the causes of the poor, the underrepresented and the down-trodden?  Who would step up to be our savior now that MLK was dead?”

Yes, many other civil rights leaders have advocated for the poor, yet no one quite compares to MLK.  It has been 50 years since his assassination and we are still asking those same questions.  Well, I have discovered the answer to those important questions.  The answer is:  You have to save yourself!  No one can save you! It’s a personal journey we each must take.  It would be easier if you recognized that there may be some information you do not realize is missing from your awareness — information that is crucial to overcoming and resolving the growing personal and global socio-economic challenges, conflicts and hostilities we still face today.  I ask each of you to carefully consider the following discourse.  Afterwards, decide for yourself what’s right for you.

There is so much more to life and living than what we have been taught to believe.  Most people hold traditional beliefs in our limited physical nature and in the separate-ness or separation from everyone else and of nature.  We hold beliefs that we are separate from that which we call our “Source,” “Creator” or “God.” This belief is comparable to saying an apple is separate from the seed, even though the seed is in the apple.  Everything that the apple IS, came from and is contained in the seed.  Human beings, like the apple (only more so), are each a unique physical expression or product of our “Source,” “Creator” or, “God,” or in this analogy, the “seed.”  What is in the apple came from the seed.  What our Source is, also is in us.  Most don’t remember that.

If we are to survive, thrive, or better still, ‘transcend’ the harsh realities of personal and global disparities, we must be re-educated about our true nature, power and potential.   When we can incorporate and embrace our true nature of connectiveness, wellness versus sickness, total wellbeing in body, mind, and soul, then we shift from a “me-only”, competitive, manipulative, fear-based conscious awareness.  When we become “we-conscious,” we realize there is no ‘me’ or ‘you’, no ‘those people over there,’ no ‘minority versus majority,’ no ‘brown versus white’.  Intrinsically, there is no ‘us’ versus ‘them.’  There is only us.  We are all in this together.

We must transcend to a higher state of awareness that manifests as inclusion, unconditional acceptance of diversity, compassion, empathy, forgiveness and collaboration.  Think of how boring and disappointing it would be if roses were only one color, one shape and one size! It is the diversity in colors, shapes and sizes that gives the rose its beauty!  Diversity brings strength, variety, beauty and endurance.  This is true for all of nature, especially in human nature.

Higher conscious awareness is aligned with the very nature and essence of life which includes, growth, expansion and evolution.  The stream of life flows along a path of least resistance.  Struggles occur typically during the physical birth of new life or with the sprouting of a seed into a plant.  So, give up the struggle!  What you push against will persist!  Haven’t you noticed that?   What you criticize or condemn becomes what you continue to experience.  Why is this so? It is because the subconscious mind creates whatever you give your attention to.  When you blame others, the government, or the system for your problems, you literally cut-off solutions to your own problems.  If you sow thoughts or words of anger, hatred, criticism and the like, you will reap the same.  This is an unchanging universal law of sowing and reaping.  Thoughts are seeds. Words are seeds. You will always reap what you sow.  So, pay attention to what you are sowing!

While I can appreciate the struggles and strategies of the 50’s and 60’s, I can see clearly now that we need to find other ways to achieve peace and prosperity.  We cannot continue using hostile, antiquated thinking and speaking as we did in earlier movements and expect to solve today’s expanding personal and global socio-economic challenges. Times have changed!  Yet, our approach to solving these problems has not changed!  I tell you, ‘That dawg won’t hunt anymore!  He is too old, too tired and too lame!’  We need to update our approach to problem-solving, in educating ourselves and our children both spiritually and secularly.  We have to change the way we view and treat ourselves and the world if we are to change the world.

Mainstream views focus only on sensational stories or issues that exclude the convergence of modern science and its relationship with human consciousness.  Dr. John Hagelin, Professor of Physics (Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa) and Dr. Ron Dalrymple, quantum field psychologist (Fort Myers, Florida), advocate the need for creating a “culture of enlightenment where we encourage and inspire each other to greatness” and understanding.  Furthermore, they believe that the mind extends beyond the human brain into a realm of the subconscious where a higher state of consciousness resides.  I call this higher state of consciousness “the place of infinite possibilities!”  All things are possible to the one who believes.

As a student of psychology, I see how quantum science can help mainstream thinkers understand the different states of human consciousness and its effect on the thinking process, which produces behavior patterns that create life experiences.  The wise person will quickly recognize that we can either create a world that harmonizes and embodies life-affirming beliefs and values, or we can continue to create a world that is increasingly divided, injurious, chaotic and distressing for the masses, while enriching only a few. All we need is just a change of Conscious Awareness!  It’s your choice! Choose wisely grasshopper!

I did not say it would be easy!  After all, statues and honors are heaped upon those who“fight against the current” and not to those who “take the road less traveled”!  I submit to each reader that it does not have to continue to be so difficult!  There are things we can do each day that, if practiced over time, will bring clarity and ease to your life, and will make your life more enriched, abundant, joyful and adventurous.  Life is for each of us!  Learn to do your best each day with honesty, integrity, moderation, appreciation and respect for yourself and your neighbor.  When you do, you make your life better and add to the global wellbeing of the planet.  After all, this is what MLK’s dream was really about — Loving your neighbor and loving yourself! You can do this easily when you have a change of Conscious Awareness.

Any comments or questions?  Contact me: vivian@vivianhardison.com

Abundantly yours, Coach Viv,
Vivian C. Hardison, BS, CPC, MA / vivian@vivianhardison.com / www.vivianhardison.com