Oil Spill In the Gulf - Finding a Silver Lining in the Midst of the Challenge
The news has been awash with reports of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the devastating impact this may have on the environment and economy in that region. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this situation.
For the past fifteen years I have been practicing the art of paying close attention to external events that I find to be disturbing. I used to be in the habit of falling into the trap of channelling my disturbance through activities such as complaining, criticizing, judging harshly, blaming, claiming victimhood and demanding that someone else do something to fix the problem that I was disturbing me. As I observe the media reaction to the current situation in the Gulf I am reminded oif how fruitless this kind of reaction has been in my experience.
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In the mid nineties it became apparent to me that anything occurring outside of me that I find disturbing in any way, is a perfect reflection of a challenge that resides with in me. If I project my disturbance on others, I intensify the challenge both with in and outside of me. On the other hand, if I closely examine the source of external disturbance and inquire within myself how this may reflect a challenge that resides with in me that I am not aware of, I can shift my creative energy from a life-negating projection on someone or something else, to a powerful, life affirming choice to turn my creative focus inward and solve the source of disturbance and challenge that resides in me.
I have been rigorously testing this hypothesis for years now and as of this day, I have not found one external source of disturbance that did not prove itself to be a perfect reflection of a change that had to occur within me. I am so in awe of this that I have made a commitment to myself to invest the rest of my days in testing this idea to see if I can find an exception.
Let me illustrate how this game works by applying the oil challenge currently occurring in the Gulf of Mexico.
When I first heard the news of this occurrence I reacted with an explosion of critical thoughts, I couldn’t belief how stupid people could be to have created a situation like this, I then started feeling sorry for all the people and wildlife this would impact. Then I got caught up in being angry with the way the media was covering this event…and on and on…
The fascinating thing is that as my reactivity raged on, projecting negativity all around me, another dimension of myself sat quietly and patiently, without one bit of judgement. It patiently observed without needing to judge, fix or change anything. My attention shifted from my reactive angst to the unusual peace that resided in this observer self.
As the unproductive chatter in my mind and emotional field began to settle, I heard myself pose the question, “How is this seeming disaster a perfect reflection of what is going on within me right now? As always, this question stopped me in my tracks and I began to playfully explore this within. Here is what surfaced for me.
From what I have heard reported, the source of the oil leak is nearly one mile beneath the surface of the ocean. Large bodies of water have always served as a metaphor for my subconscious mind, so given that this challenge is occurring this deep in the ocean, I suspect that the challenge it reflects within me is also deeply subconscious.
The cause of the leak is not yet known. This challenge has also never been encountered before. This points to the fact that the inner work I have ahead of me will be challenging and will require an expansion and deepening of my conscious awareness to heal myself and find new creative possibilities to sustain my healing.
The greatest concern that continues to be reported is the near and long-term impact this will have on the ecosystem, wildlife, people and economy in this region. This shows that within me I am generating something from deep within my subconscious mind that is continuously spewing out into my ecosystem (my mind, emotional field, and physical body) and it is threatening the health and well being of my thoughts, feelings, spoken words, actions, relationships, financial success and attracting undesired circumstances into my life.
Then I began to sit quietly, focus my attention in the moment and observe to see if I could find anything that may be flowing from my subconscious mind that could be having the same impact on my ecosystem within that the oil in the gulf may have on that regional ecosystem. As always, what revealed itself amazed me.
I became more consciously aware of a deeply subconscious, relentless stream of negative self talk that had a sole purpose of tearing me down, painting and feeding an image of myself as a small, impotent, worthless being only capable of creating screw ups. Then over the next few weeks I began to more closely and sensitively notice the impact this stream of negative self talk was having on my inner ecosystem. What I noticed humbled me. After nearly 28 years of actively expanding my conscious awareness I had encountered yet another deeply subconscious limiting belief that was feeding this stream of reactive thought that was as poisonous to my system as the oil is to the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem.
My challenge is to determine how I intend to disable the subconscious source that is spewing these limiting thoughts into my ecosystem and begin replacing them with the powerful, inspiring, life-giving intentions and thoughts that a creatively magnificent being is designed to think, create and enjoy.
Once again the external source of disturbance I initially experienced with this Gulf incident, redirected me within to locate the actual source of disturbance that resided one mile beneath the surface of my subconscious mind, where my real work resides right now. As I have begun my work I have found the cause of this subconscious stream of poisonous thinking and negative self talk and I am more aware than ever of what to do about it.
Given the work I am doing on my self, I am also noticing that the disturbance I was projecting early on has now transformed into a very different energy. I am now finding that I have incredible compassion for every one and every thing being impacted by what is occurring in the Gulf. Because of the creative challenge I am facing on the inner dimension, I have greater empathy for the leaders and engineers trying to come up with a solution for capping the leak. As I witness the subtle but profound impact that my stream of negative, life-negating self talk is having on my life and well being, I have greater compassion for the impact this oil leak is having on the people and wildlife in the Gulf. As a result, cleaning up my own mess within me changes the energy I am sending to the Gulf area from negativity, judgement, criticism, and hopelessness to empathy, compassion, love, and the possibility of finding something of great value in the face of a tremendous challenge.
I am grateful for this situation, for without it I would still be spewing limitless amounts of poison into my human system while remaining oblivious to it. This situation has blessed me by providing a silver lining in the for of a wake up call that is already enriching my life right here amidst the challenge.
If you want to learn more about finding silver linings in the middle of the challenges you face each day, go to http://howtofindasilverliningineverydarkcloud.com/
Jim M Anderson
Samurai of Self-Development
Profound comments and great self-reflection. I will take it to heart.