A few years ago I made a conscious decision to follow the path of light and become more balanced, open, and authentic. Amongst the many things I am learning on this journey is a fundamental truth by which I now live, that is, treat people the way you want to be treated.
You may be thinking, ‘That’s too simple! Surely following the path of light involves spiritual stuff like lots of meditation, eating vegan, or practicing yoga?’
I agree, and while it’s important (in whichever way works best for you) to focus internally, be present in the current moment and connect with your higher self; underpinning all of this is a core fundamental truth that applies to every single person on this planet – how we treat each other.
It sounds simple, but as I’ve been learning it’s something you have to think about, and this thought drives everything you do, because we always have a choice. Our choice is to act in the way of light or the way of shadow.
What do I mean by light and shadow? I think the way of light simply means doing the right thing by people, such as: being respectful, honest, tolerant. The way of shadow is the opposite, such as: being intolerant, dishonest, lazy, greedy, and basically letting your ego drive your behavior.
Can you imagine what it would be like if we all acted in the way of light? Even small things would make a difference – drivers would let each other in, pregnant women would get a seat on public transport, we would give more generously to charities.
I’ve been doing these things and you know what – good stuff comes back to me! On a bigger scale, imagine if there was no such thing as corporate fraud or violence or discrimination! It sounds like utopia doesn’t it? But I don’t think it’s impossible if everyone does their bit.
Look at Canada (okay, I’m biased). Justin Trudeau is one of my heroes. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying to treat people the way he wants to be treated. His Cabinet has an equal number of men and women and is also representative of the ethnicities living in Canada. Medicine Hat (in Alberta) is the first Canadian city to eliminate homelessness!
I was reading an article recently that said there is enough food in our world for everyone and there is a growing food wastage problem in developed countries. So, why do some people have to go without food while others throw food out? I know I sound naïve, but why wouldn’t we share? Maybe it’s the way of shadow.
Unfortunately, we see lots of examples of shadow in our world today: war, violence, greed, corruption. But look closely and there is also light. In France for example, they have just passed legislation to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charity!
We are all connected and each thing that we do has a ripple effect. For a long time we have underestimated our individual power. This is not surprising. Given all the distractions and our various responsibilities, it is easy to lose sight of what’s really important.
Maybe this is simplistic, but if we thought about our actions or the consequences of our actions, maybe there would be less greed, violence, and lies. All of our individual behavior has a collective impact. Little points of light collectively can create huge rays of light and positivity in our world.
How to start? Just treat people the way you want to be treated and see what happens.
