Do the Right Thing
I used to know exactly what the “right thing” was. In my younger years, and in most every situation, I had my opinion and felt strongly it was the “right” one.
Then I lived a few more decades and got a tad wiser. Not a Yoda by any means, but I gained the type of insight that comes from living life and through societal changes.
When I was a very young girl, the “right” thing was to send children to specific schools based on their race alone. As I grew into a teenager and young adult, I was led to believe the “right” thing was to pay women a lower wage than their male colleagues doing the same job. Well into my adulthood, the “right” thing was to only recognize legal marriage between heterosexual couples.
A lot has changed over the last sixty years and thankfully so. I’ve come to recognize that prevailing opinions shift based on societal norms, customs, spiritual practices and developments in science and technology.
So how do I know what the right thing is now?
I do my best not to worry about it. I ask myself, “What is the most loving thing I can do, think or say here?”
It’s not a particularly popular stance. And that’s ok with me.
The idea of what’s right or wrong shifts with the cultural environment. Love never changes. Not the real love, the big love, Divine Love.
The opportunity is for all of us is to tune into our inner wisdom, not the fear of our ego self, and proceed with the peace and confidence that comes from our connection to Source. Neuroscience even tells us we make better decisions from a calm state than when we react from regret, shame, guilt or resentment (all shades of fear).
FYI…I screw this up all the time. I get scared, go into judgement, and avoid conflict whenever I can. When I stop, take a breath, and get quiet…I hear the voice of Love gently guiding my path forward.
Not everyone will agree on what the loving thing is in a specific situation. That reminds me of my favorite Maya Angelou quote:
“Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better.”
We’re all doing the best we can with the knowledge, experience, and understandings we have. All that changes as we grow and mature, individually and as a society. Our perspective of “right” in certain situations can shift as well. We all change.
The one thing that never changes is the intelligent, creative, expansive energy of Divine Love.