I have been thinking lately about the times in my life when I’ve hit a bottom, when I felt compelled to reach out to a power greater than myself, and I decided to start making some life-long changes.

Most people do not change unless they are truly forced too, and even then, most change ends up not lasting. It can be so easy for us to slip back into old behaviors– no matter how unhealthy or destructive they may have been.

Right now, I am really reminded of the vigilance following 9/11, and I’m really reminded of the kindness that was shown to one another at that time. It was beautiful to see and experience, but then life quickly went back to what we call ‘normal’.

I find in my own life, if I don’t exercise the ‘change’ muscle every single day, I fall straight back into old patterns. In times of crisis, my relationship with God is so strong, but then I get out of the crisis, and I immediately forget who guided me out of it.

Today, we are faced with a crisis of faith– a crisis shared by all of humanity. This crisis raises a lot of questions worth looking at: Are we going to use this experience as a reason to change? Are we going to make permanent shifts with how we treat one another? How we treat nature? How we treat ourselves? Or, will we go back to the way it was and has been, living in the pursuit of toys, material possessions, and greed?

In my personal journey, I have experienced many mini crises along the way. These crises were God’s way of guiding me back toward the path that my soul needed. For me, it took a swift kick in the behind; I needed to truly lose what was my most valuable currency—money—in order to wake up and start making changes. Along the journey, I too tend to forget, and I too yearn for the way it was before the mess began. Yet, I must remember my purpose, in that I’m here to help others– not to collect the most toys.

This crisis too shall end; the world will go back to a new normal; and the question becomes: Are we going to make the changes necessary to save each other’s lives? Or, are we going to quickly forget what we are trying to do?

Truth be told, if we don’t create a daily routine to remind ourselves to be kind, we cannot maintain the changes we commit to making. If we don’t establish a community of friends that will hold us accountable, it will only be a matter of time until we go back to the way it was before.

This week, let us choose a commitment of kindness that we will maintain even after this current crisis, and let us focus on ways to hold ourselves accountable to these changes moving forward.

Accountability, Community, Unconditional Love

Asher

Posted in Thought of the Week