Audio narrated by Will T. Wilkinson. Image by Rafael Javier
How do we create world peace? Einstein advised that we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them. He also defined insanity as “doing the same thing and expecting a different result.”
Our human habit is to identify a problem and then try to fix it. That must change. But what’s the alternative? Examining how G.P.S. works gives us some clues.
First, we enter our destination. The system identifies where we are and begins to guide us. There are three necessary elements here: destination, starting point, and guidance.
Destination: world peace
Let’s say our destination is world peace. Next, let’s acknowledge where we are right now, personally, in our community, and globally. This is not easy for idealists who mistakenly believe that it’s counter-productive to focus on the negative. Yes, getting overwhelmed by what’s wrong is depressing, but it is important to acknowledge real problems, like our chaotic world of 2021.
The third element in this formula is guidance. With G.P.S., we get voice directions and maps. As humans trying to solve problems, we get ideas from our minds. But this is the same guidance that created a world in conflict and it can only direct us towards the same destination: more conflict.
The new thinking Einstein is calling for requires accessing a different kind of guidance. Again, G.P.S. gives us an enlightening clue: directions come from a seemingly transcendent direction, transmitted from a satellite far above us.
As John Lennon sang in Imagine, one of the all-time great songs about peace, “… above us only sky.” I interpret this to mean an absence of dogma. There’s no separate God up there, no belief systems with rigid rules and punishment for sinners, just … sky. Just the invisible intelligence that fills space (and us), steering the stars and digesting my lunch.
Love's guidance
I call it Love and Love’s guidance is fundamentally different than what I get from my human mind. My mind produces ideas; Love gives me feelings. And the primary feelings that guide me are gratitude and appreciation.
Isn’t it rather easy to be grateful for this gift of life, regardless of the suffering that comes along with it? What an adventure, to be alive at this time on a planet facing so many challenges! We can feel gratitude just to be here!
Appreciation happens through what we express. While it’s habitual to express appreciation reactively, for instance, “Thank you for …” whatever, we can also express appreciation proactively. “I appreciate you in my life.” Appreciation increases value!
Love’s guidance is a two-way flow: we receive with gratitude, we give with appreciation, like breathing, in and out. Gratitude… appreciation… gratitude… appreciation.
Choosing your destination
It’s easy to tell if someone is being guided this way because they are enjoying life and in service to others and, regardless of personal or global problems, they refuse to be victims. They are contributors, helping to create what we call “world peace” by ensuring that their own world is peaceful, because Love is guiding them in each moment to their single, constant destination which is uniquely positioned right here in the present moment.
Following Love’s directions takes discipline and it requires making choices that tend to disrupt familiar habits. For example, the other day I began to tell friends a joke. But I stopped when I realized that, although it was funny, the joke contained sexist concepts and championed behaviors inconsistent with the destination I’ve chosen (a paradise world filled with loving friends). So, I chose to not tell that joke.
G.P.S. might tell me to “turn right in 600 feet to merge with I-5.” Love told me to shut up!
We can get there (world peace) from here when we choose that destination, honestly acknowledge the way things are right now, and then follow directions from above.
My chosen method? Daily meditation and reprogramming my consciousness through digesting and applying insights like these. I’m glad that others read what I write and seem to find it helpful, but I’m the first one to explore their meaning. And that keeps me humble because I often realize that I’ve ignored a few directions and gotten lost. Fortunately, I keep waking up to the equivalent of those comforting words from my GPS: “Recalculating…”
Copyright 2021 by Will T Wilkinson.
Book by this Author
Now or Never: A Quantum Map for Visionary Activists
by Will T. Wilkinson
A time-traveler's guide to personal and global transformation. Discover, learn, and master simple and powerful techniques for creating the future you prefer and healing past traumas, to improve the quality of your personal life and help create a thriving future for our great grandchildren.
"Now or Never reveals how to balance authentic mystical experience with radical, urgent, wise action in the world." (from the foreword by Andrew Harvey)
Click here for more info and/or to order this book. Also available in a Kindle edition.
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About the Author
Will T. Wilkinson co-founded the Thriving Leadership Academy in Ashland, Oregon. He has authored, co-authored, ghost-written, and contributed to over 30 books, designed and delivered personal improvement programs in seven countries, hosted a variety of inspirational television series, and is now developing a new spiritual practice for advanced students of life. He founded The Noon Club, a free member alliance that focuses intentional prayer every day at noon to uplift human consciousness. For more information, visit willtwilkinson.com
