Negativity

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“No other life form on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other life form violates and poisons the Earth that sustains it.”

Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now Journal.

April 27, 2024

Although I know this statement well, the fact is that I am not always, in my daily living, conscious of the power of these words. I was born with the ability to reason and choose. No other creature on Earth has these abilities.

As an African. I grew up among many forms of wildlife, animals, bird life, reptiles, and insects.; Because of this experience, I am so pleased I don’t live by instinct alone. I love that my lifestyle allows me to reason and choose.

I have learned and lived through many events in my life. For example, look at our universe and our planet in particular. Our planet Earth is in a constant cycle of change. Land masses over millennia have altered their form, climates have altered, and temperatures have changed, to name a few. Humans have changed physically, mentally, and spiritually. It’s not difficult for me to understand that; speaking of our planet Earth, I can say that change is constant. While many characteristics have changed in humans, many have remained unchanged. As per ET’s quote, I will draw your attention to one in particular – negativity. A considerable number of people are negative about life in general. Humanity owes some of this to upbringing. But far more negativity is pumped out on unsuspecting audiences by media in our world every nanosecond. Why is this? Because negativity sells – positivity does not. How many souls suffer from critical diseases through anxiety and fear caused by negativity?

Many humans suffer from fear for their future and have bitterness toward their past. These thoughts consume them because they don’t have time to live in the present.

“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” – Eckhart Tolle.

It does not matter how much ‘going wrong’ is in my life now; if I took the time to note how much ‘going right’ is, I would see that far more is going right for me now. The struggle for me is not in the world around me. It’s in the world inside my mind. The world around me will never be able to inflict as much damage on me as the negative thoughts in my mind.

Managing your thoughts is your most potent weapon to fight negativity – use it!

Like ET’s quote, it also appears that our oceans are becoming a dumping ground; in particular, plastic waste is increasing in that dump. Our rivers are full of toxic waste. Forests are cut down without concern for the creatures who have lived there for millennia or the loss of life-sustaining gasses that emanate from this activity.

I am concerned about the destruction caused by war. Then there is air pollution, which is a human contribution to global warming. The list goes on seemingly without end. We try to solve problems by taking action and creating new ones.

In all of this, I am not without hope. The miracle of creation to me is such that the cycles of change and dramatic events like volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis will hopefully correct the damage that humanity has brought about.

While there is nothing, it seems, that we can do to stop this madness of destroying our planet, perhaps we can take the example of an elderly lady I know. Each day (seven days a week), she carries a large plastic carrier bag and a trash pick-up stick, and along with her eager little doggie on a leash, she sets out for a two-hour walk along the streets in our neighborhood. She picks up trash on the streets until her bag is full. Her week’s collection is then picked up by the ‘Tidy Towns’ voluntary men in their van and taken to recycling. Some think she is wasting her time, as tomorrow, there will be just as much refuse on the streets as before. She will tell you that at least it made a difference to our block for a few hours on the new day! Imagine if we all had that attitude.

Until our next meeting

Love and blessings

Peter-James Pienaar

[1] The Power of Now Journal 9781529383942 | Fruugo IE

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[1] Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now journal

Please Note:

Earlier parts of this series can be found here.

You will have noticed in this series that I reference “The Power of Now Journal – Eckhart Tolle.” The Power of Now Journal is just that: a journal whose pages are not numbered. The commentary you read on this page is a record of my personal experience arising from Eckhart’s comments on the relevant pages of the journal. With its dynamic wisdom, this beautifully printed book is available from Amazon. I feel confident that if you have read my piece, you will enjoy this delightful journal, even if you don’t usually keep or never have kept a journal.

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[1] The Power of Now Journal – Eckhart Tolle

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