[OSList] Begin with yourself

[Birgitt Williams via OSList]

Dear friends and colleagues,
I write this to you because it may be of interest to you as something you
can do personally, in this time of turbulence in the world, with difficult
elections happening in so many countries, with challenges about water and
other essentials, and with humanity in some chaos.I was thinking about how
many people including facilitators of OST are getting swept up in the
chaos, getting in touch with their own anger, fear, positionality, and some
significant feelings of despair. It happens to the best of us...we intend
to stay balanced, to be of service to humanity....and we end up off kilter
somehow.

I was reading the posts on civil discourse and of course cheer on anyone
who feels ready to tackle creating openings for important and hopefully
bridge building conversations. However, if you are not ready, and find
yourself reeling, it may be time to focus on yourself, regaining your own
equilibrium, health and balance. This is not a selfish act. Rather, it
makes good sense. You might take a little time and invest in yourself and
your personal well being. Once you are ready, you will be coming at any
facilitation for civil discourse from a personal reservoir that can help
you stay neutral and balanced. It is that whole business of putting the
oxygen mask on your own face first. I am not referring only to those
affected by the USA election...no matter what country you are in or what
the issues and opportunities are that are generating the chaos in your
area. There is a lot of political unrest in most countries with elections
and strong polarizations.

 Even if you are not in a position to facilitate OST meetings in your area
for civil discourse right now, and even if you got your own self out of
your own personal balance and ability to hold steady without adding to
polarization, and even if you feel somewhat hopeless or in shock, you can
take some action about your state of 'being' as an important, important
gift to the world...likely a greater gift than your 'doing', although doing
is important too if you can manage it.

I just wanted to add my voice to say 'you don't need to do anything now' if
that is not possible for you. Your state of being is just as important to
harmony in the world.

Blessings all around,
Birgitt
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20161129/41a84dd8/attachment.htm>