Before I answer the question about the number one cause of violence in our world, let me ask you a question:  Have you had enough of the violence yet? If your answer is YES, then please read on.  If you are excited about continuing the cycle of violence in our world by contemplating retaliation and retribution, then don’t bother reading this blog, you won’t get it anyway.  Today’s blog is for those who have ears to hear and for those who have hearts that yearn for an end to the violence and who want to play a role in bringing this violence to an end….once and for all! 

Short Answer: The number one cause of violence in our world is rage over a world that is too small, and feeling powerless to change it.

Longer Answer: This is not about a world that is literally too small – as in size, shape, volume, etc. Neither is this about a world that doesn’t have enough resources to feed, clothe and house every single human being on this planet (because we DO have enough resources).  This isn’t even about the systems of distribution that have failed in their duty to care for even the simplest needs of the beings on this planet.

No, this is about a deep inner knowing of the SOUL that the lives we are living are WAY TOO SMALL!

Even Longer Answer: The Soul knows who we are, the reason we were put on this planet and the mission we are here to accomplish.  Throughout our life, the Soul tries to communicate this truth to us and draws into our presence opportunities to nurture, cultivate and ultimately live out this call.  The problem is that we don’t know how to listen and the world doesn’t know how to support us in the fulfillment of our Soul’s mission.  When we feel thwarted in the fulfillment of our Soul, RAGE erupts and if we don’t have proper tools for processing our deep-seated anger at not being able to fulfill our Soul’s duty, we either do violence to ourselves or to others.

Perhaps the violence we do to ourselves is internal through all the voices that tell us:

• You have nothing significant to contribute to this world.
• Who are you do think you can do/be/…xyz?
• Good girls/good boys don’t do that.
• Your family, friends, tribe, church, won’t understand/love you if you choose this path.
• If you follow the path of your Soul, something in your life will have to change.

Maybe the violence we do to ourselves is the cultivating of resentment, or the suppression, repression, wholesale rejection of our anger – the very voice that is trying to help us understand our Soul’s calling.

The violence we do to others has many faces:

• Seething resentment
• Blame
• Cultivating inner anger or hatred.
• Making someone else the cause of our world being too small.
• Physical, emotional, mental, sexual acts of violence.

When enough individuals are unsupported in the fulfillment of their Soul’s purpose, the rage that we hold within us individually becomes a collective rage where pretty much everyone on the planet is pissed off because their Soul is being ignored.  Yes, we have all sorts of coping mechanisms that self-medicate the pain of a meaningless and unfulfilling life (consumerism, materialism, money, power, achievement, fame, status, drugs, alcohol, sex, war after war after war after war), but there are not enough of any of these things, especially war, to satisfy the ache of a soul unfulfilled.  Until we tend to the deeper call of the Soul, we will never be satisfied and will be forever looking outside of ourselves for the satisfaction of that longing.  When we find that none of those things satisfy, we either turn toward more violence, or we WAKE UP and turn within to the ONLY source of the satisfaction that we seek.  This is as true for the young, dark-skinned men who turn to terrorism, hoping it will satisfy a life unfulfilled, as it is for the pasty white guys gathering piles of wealth as the rest of the world is starving.

Longest Answer: Our world is a mess and it is a mess because for lifetimes, we have not supported ourselves or each other in the QUEST FOR OUR SOUL.  Instead, we have turned to outside perceived authority as the author of our lives and have allowed them to create structures while crafting rules, regulations, expectations, etc. that tell us who we are and the roles we will play in THEIR games.  (hmmmmm…..sounds like Hunger Games).  We have followed their rules because, quite frankly, it is easier.  It is way easier to do what we are told and to follow the 10 rules for “happiness” than it is to take the time to BE STILL and listen for the voice of our Soul.  It is also easier to follow the herd of sheeple than it is to follow our own inner voice and calling.  Listening to the voice of our Soul takes work and it takes, COURAGE.  This is not a journey for the faint of heart, especially in a society that mostly wants us to follow the rules – or at the very least, to follow the crowd.  “Don’t rock the boat.”  “Don’t disturb the status quo.”  “Don’t question, challenge, turn away from what WE want you to hear, know, do.”  These commands are then followed up with the biggest threat in their arsenal – “Do what we tell you or LEAVE.”  And in some places, “leave” means “die”….literally.

The Solution: As much as we would like to cure the world of its violence, the solution to the problem will not be exacted on a global scale (yet).  Instead, it starts with ONE person – YOU deciding to make a CHANGE.

1. It starts by turning away from the violence in the world – turn off the TV. Stop watching Fox News. Don’t read (or believe) the newspapers. Find sources of information that are not influenced by the institution of violence and propaganda. If you aren’t sure which ones those are….LISTEN TO YOUR GUT! Your intuition will guide you. (Turning away from the violence doesn’t mean we aren’t informed. Neither does it mean we don’t care, or pray, or hope for a different outcome. We are just choosing not to participate, not to add to it, and not to allow it to harm or influence us toward fear or violence).
2. The second step is all about SELF CARE! Turn into your SOUL. Listen as it tries to communicate truth to you, your mission, your gifts, your purpose and your call. Learn how to manage your anxiety, anger, frustration, impatience, sense of powerlessness. Find support in overcoming your fears and resistance to your SOUL and in moving through the societal constructs that week to keep you from the path of your SOUL. Find support for living the path of your SOUL. (PS THIS is what I do for a living….if you want support call (920) 230-1313 or email lauri@authenticfreedom.love.)
3. Find community. You are NOT ALONE in the desire to be free of a world of violence and to live in a world where all people are supported in finding wholeness, meaning, purpose, fulfillment, peace, love, and joy. Find others like you who have had enough of the violence and who are willing to do the HARD WORK of extracting yourself from the herd of mindless sheeple blindly following the voice of fear and who desire instead, to create a new wave – a wave of love that will one day grow large enough to wash the world clean of fear and restore it to the world of love that it was meant to be.