“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.” —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
These words, written by Charles Dickens in 1859, could easily apply to many aspects of modern-day life. It is both the best of times and worst of times, depending on our perspective, depending on our resonance, and depending on how we choose to relate to what appears to be happening.
How we choose to relate to what is happening in all facets of our lives influences our ability to integrate, transform, and transcend all perceived conditions and circumstances.
Consider that humanity is in a position that we have never been previously. We are in new and entirely unfamiliar terrain. As Dickens wrote, “We [have] everything before us, we [have] nothing before us.”
From a strictly horizontal perspective, if we look at what seems to be occurring, we might conclude that the world is falling apart. It is the worst of times. Our environments seem toxic, our governments are in flux, our economies are threatened, and traditional prevailing paradigms are under scrutiny, revealing deception and breeding distrust. Fear is rampant.
Wherever we turn, there seems to be a breaking down of the structures and systems that have largely driven our experience of order in everyday reality. There is chaos. Collective reality is in flux.
However, when we look at what “appears” to be happening from an expanded frame of reference, through heart-centered awareness, we also gain a vertical perspective that essentially gives us an eternal, albeit synchronized, view. We can see that things are not necessarily falling apart. Rather, they are coming together in an entirely new way.
A vertical perspective enables us to see that the horizontal paths we have been traveling are limiting and may not be sustainable; rather, they may serve only to perpetuate destruction, distraction, and disconnection for the individual and collective WE experience.
Old paradigms based on fear, division, and control are reconfiguring. These old structures are dissolving so we may evolve into new realities based on unity, love, connection, integration, and individual command as an extension of community.
We are indeed at a crossroads where following old maps and old ways of doing things will not lead us to sustainability.
As long as we follow old maps, we will continually re-encode for more of the same. Our past will always catch up to us because we are perpetually re-creating old programs based on outmoded imprints we continue to follow. Old maps will not navigate us through the morphing terrain.
This crossroads is where the heart of it all intersects with the power of choice.
What new maps will we create? How will we choose to PLAY?
Excerpted from The Art of Limitless Living – A Guidebook for Navigating with Integrity through Unprecedented Times by Melissa Joy Jonsson