“Turn your light on for those with no vision.”–Pharrell Williams
I used to ADORE a good protest! I marched against war, against guns, against racism.
Nothing’s more exhilarating than carrying a sign and chanting in resistance with fellow comrades.
But it finally dawned on me that being AGAINST something only adds energy to a reality I no longer want. It gives things I don’t like more credit than they deserve. And it negates my power to create something better.
Now, I prefer to be FOR things. I prefer to create better things. Things that make the old things obsolete.
Remember dial telephones? Black and white TV’s? Card catalogs in libraries? Nobody carried placards to protest those things. Rather, someone came up with a better vision.
Fighting against something only makes it more real. Forgiving (AKA: no longer resisting) makes room for new things to burst forth. It makes room for a new vision.
There’s still no shortage of things I’d like to change. It’s just that now I go about it by using my true power to imagine new things.
I use two very significant words. What if?
In the comments section below, share your “What if?” for the world.
Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just-released, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.
62 Responses
What if everyone in the world just dropped their hatred, their fight, their resistance, and simply loved everyone and everything?
Ha, I love how we both posted the same message at the same time.
Pam I’ve wondered about this endlessly all year long. Here is a video I think encapsulates what can happen if we all embrace this philosophy:
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/897848428725587968
What if we fought hate with love?…Wait let me fix that What if we all just loved.
What if all parents did their job and actively and lovingly raised their kids…
What if Trump’s example points to a new leader who has the opposite approach?
What if a ” Servant leader ” emerges that takes the US in a whole new positive direction?
What if people prayed for the success of our President & our country??
And the success of all leaders and all countries.
What if somebody created a benign agent that could neutralize glyphosate?
What if divorced couples all got along, and step-families were celebrated throughout our culture as opportunities for even more love?
What if everyone could see the beauty of Divine spark in each other?
What if all the fossil fuel companies turned their attention to creating sustainable energy and cleaning up the environment?
What if the goal of every business meeting was improving service to humanity, and profits were just a side-effect of goodness?
What if we all challenged ourselves to do one kind thing outside of our usual patterns today?
Love it!
What if we all cleaned our own houses rather then stand in the street pointing at our neighbors house.
Amen!
What if we viewed all others as humans first and worked on problems with love and unity.
You always say it so well. Turn your attention away from what you don’t want to what you do want and you will get more of what you do want.
What if…we no longer even needed “health care”…..our bodies know how to be healthy…let’s allow them 😊
Ah! If this was even feasible at this time. This philosophy is wonderful if you are not directly affected by many of the things that are going on in our world today. If you are comfortable it is easy to say why can’t we all just get along. If you are one of the 800,000 Danca recipients who are fearful and trembling of their current situation the philosophy falls empty . Sometimes voices need to be raised for awareness to injustices so the people of love can act accordingly .How can you throw love at problems if you don’t know they exist?
Good point, my friend. But first and most importantly we must create a vision of a better way. The you against me mentality doesn’t work. I am for everyone
But what if this WAS feasible? Just ask the question, focus on the possibilities. That’s what this exercise is all about.
Thanks Pam for this. As a Religious Science minister I feel the same way and probably am in a minority in my movement. Many of my fellow ministers are constantly railing against what’s going on in politics and advocating action. That’s fine for them but seems out of keeping with what we teach. And I often feel as though I “should” be doing something. But I know deep in my heart that the best thing I can do is raise my vibration. So I do.
Brilliant!
What if…
Mother Teresa “…have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” I love you Pam!
Thank you, I wasn’t sure if it really was Mother Teresa, but I remembered the story !
Yes! It’s my desire too, to focus on the change I want, instead of resisting/protesting what I don’t want.
I went to the January Women’s March and brought my joy, not my anger. I made Pussy Hats because they were a playful way to address a serious situation. I smiled when I wore mine. (Actually, that’s the first March I had ever attended!)
Beautiful! It looked like a great celebration of a new vision.
Agree. The Women’s march was a show of strength and peace. It united us in a very positive, loving and respectful way. I will continue to march for those positive attributes and to raise awareness, all the while embracing Mother Teresa’s philosophy.
Pam,
I used to feel bad that I have never marched. I made the excuse that I grew up in lots of small towns. But the real reason was because it felt wrong somehow. Now when I meditate, or send Reiki, I visualize everyone waking up to who they truly are. I belong to a virtual healing circle. Every Sunday at 1:00 pm we include the planet and all beings on her in our session. That’s how we play what if. What if everyone was awake to the true reality. Thanks for your books, and blog posts. They keep me inspired.
What if I would teach every kid on the planet to eat healthy, be playful and love themselves fully. Love You Pam! Thanks for this absolute positive perspective. With Much Regards! Neena.
What if we all were inspired by love more often then fear?
What if we all visualized Irma making a sharp right turn at the last minute and heading harmlessly out to sea . . . and it worked.
And what if we visualized Jose dissolving into nothingness before it hits those poor islands again.
Those are the only what-ifs I’m focused on right now.
What if Irma hovered over Mara Lago for awhile and swept in into the Ocean?
“What if” is probably one of the greatest ideas expressed by John Lenon’s now a legendary “Imagine”. And, in today ‘s, or rather in FP’s, terms that translates as “what if”. Pam, I’m so grateful that you’ve reminded me and us that what we focus on expands. You’re great at reminding us of so many truths. Wish you the best and I thank you so much.
I remember Wayne Dyer telling a story about Mother Theresa. She was asked to participate in an anti war rally or something like that. Mother Theresa declined and said she would only participate in a peace rally. What if we could all put our energy and imagination into loving our neighbors whether they are next door or on the other side of the planet. What if we didn’t see each other’s skin color. What if we didn’t care about each other’s sexuality, religion, or political affiliation. What if we only recognized and appreciated each other’s differences because that’s what makes them special and less boring. What a boring planet this would be if we were all the exact same yellow butterfly.
What if we loved our neighbours like ourselves ? What if we realized that everyone is our neighbour ? 🙂
What if I stopped being against people being against things? Ahhh, that feels better.
What if no one was offended?
I Love You Pam Grout! Always making us think and because of that I have just become Life Coach with specifics in ADHD @ well let’s say what most people do at my age is retire, but I’m just getting started! Thanks to Louise Hay (our beautiful angel) and people like you, I am forever grateful 😉
What if we had a new education system based on knowing that children LOVE to learn and don’t need to be forced or persuaded?
I would have loved that as a kid! I would have learned twice as much. Then, and now, curiosity is fine – as long as you’re curious about exactly what teach wants to teach you…
I Love You Pam Grout! Always making us think and not believing in self imposed limits, because of that I have just become Life Coach with specifics in ADHD @ what age? Well let’s say what most people do at my age is retire, but I’m just getting started! Thanks to Louise Hay (our beautiful angel) and people like you, I am forever grateful 😉
While I agree with your philosophy in part, what I see too often is people using this idea as an excuse to do nothing. Or worse yet, a reason to completely ignore the suffering in the world. Yes, effective protests should be “For” something. For example, the civil rights protests were not against racism, but instead for equal rights. Knowing when to say “No” is an important part of living in Love.
What if.. every person on the planet acknowledged that they are part of the collective and therefore, responsible for correcting their own errors that have led to collective problems.
Beautiful what if?, Faith.
What if I am just happy, successfully prospering, having others ask me how, starting a chain of change!
“.”
Cat
What if there were less people on the planet, meaning lots more space and resources for all? What if we reused and recycled for all our resources and the seas and rivers ran fresh and clean?
Mother Theresa said the same thing!
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
What if people no longer littered the streets and placed all of their garbage in the appropriate place for proper disposal.
What if humans started using the pure potential of their powerful minds, instead of letting their minds runaway with reactivity and impulse… and then, it went viral? What if this sea change could start right now? 😀
How can a word that starts with Pro- be against anything (the word “Protest”)? Words against things start with Con- or Anti-. “Protest” means to attest forth or publicly. It’s in one’s mind that it may hold some negative connotation. Of course if someone’s sign says something negative, then it’s easy to see why that can happen. But we can march in the street & keep it positive & proclaim what we want. I go to marches often & see that everywhere I look.
There’s a Mother Teresa quote – someone invites her to an anti-war rally. She says something to the effect of ‘if there’s a peace rally I’ll be there’. Mucho aloha to all of you.
what if everybody could see we’re all connected x!
What if we all played it forward.
What if every day was a solar eclipse – it was the one day when we all came together and did something peaceful. I didn’t have any glasses but there were so many loving people willing to share eyewear so we could all enjoy in the experience together! This photo says it all: http://www.youseemore.com/greenwood/uploads/girls%20viewing.png
What if we all started judging less, forgiving more, seeing beyond the prejudices we all grow up with and are unconscious of (left/right, black/white, rich/poor, etc). What if the love that exists deep within all of us were to come forth easier… and what if the leaders of our world were to act more responsibly and make decisions that benefit all of humanity.
Everyone blessed everyone.
Love your post of today . . .”Now, I prefer to be FOR things. I prefer to create better things.” As I was reading it, a thought came, what if we all think:
IRMA, RELAX, RLEAX, RELAX! .
Thank you FP for leading me here…I could swear Pam & I are soul sisters- But I don’t want to digress.
What if neighbors at least recognized each other by sight? Didn’t judge by appearances? We just went through Harvey here but nary a permanent shift. I can not accept some of these glaring contradictions in our hyper-connected” time in history. It’s b.s., pure but hardly simple. So, I forgive the error in perception and try live by example, impervious to what people say and and do. I can’t let that render me meek and mute.
As a paraphrase for Neale Donald Walsh – What if I do something, the doing of which changes EVERYTHING?
For years, every time the holidays rolled around, and everyone was always praying for Peace on Earth, I have always wondered, and wondered deeply, what if it really happened? What if there was suddenly total ” Peace on Earth and Good Will toward Man”. And I wonder that so many people are hoping and praying, I wonder why it doesn’t happen. I think, someday, it will. I believe that strongly, I don’t know how long it will take, but I believe we will all evolve to that stage. I think there is a strong movement toward that, so many people are reaching up toward higher Conscience. It is happening incrementally. We’ve plenty of time
What if … we all lived out of our heart space vice our head space.
Sooo good!
Reading you has changed the way I write.
I used to spend time on the past, things that I needed to heal from..blah, blah, blah. AMAZING how it feels to focus on what you want to manifest rather than what you’re trying to forget or heal from. That one little shift has made a huge difference in my life and those around me.
Thank you – I hope you have an amazingly awesome day 🙂
That one little shift is HUGE. 😀
What if you put your best foot forward every day, and made one bright moment in someone else’s day.
I so agree now. I think being against carries too much negativity. It encourages people to be negative and it seems to encourage too much anger. What good is all that anger?
What if… there was lasting peace on earth!!