Against? Or, For?

My sweetie has been away for much of April and all of May so far with another week or so to go. This means I’ve had a lot more time alone—a lot. I’ve enjoyed it, and there’s been some missing going on as well.

More time alone means that I have a lot more freedom to think, ponder, wonder, daydream, meditate and just be. A full-time relationship takes time. Anyway, I started to ask myself what was the predominant idea that had been coming to me during this alone time. Here it is:

I’m tired of being against things.

I mean it. Really, I am. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote over a hundred years ago: What you resist persists. It’s one of those winsome phrases that sticks in the memory because of its alliteration. Re-sist. Per-sist.

The other thing about it is that it’s true. The classic example I use to demonstrate this when I’m speaking to audiences is . . . okay, whatever you do, don’t think about the Statue of Liberty.
. . .
How long did it take her to show up in your mind? Less than a nanosecond I’d bet.

The other thing about this Law of Resistance is that it’s universal. That’s why it has the status of Law.

Resisting ANYTHING makes it persist. Try these on for size: Democrats, Republicans, global warming (which has recently had a linguistic upgrade to ‘climate change’—far less threatening-sounding, don’t you agree?), parents, kids, neighbors, the church. I could go on and on but you get it.

After I realized that “against” had been the primary idea for me, I began to consider its far happier-for-me corollary:

What am I for?

I mean it. Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity, wrote (sorry, I have to paraphrase because I can’t find the quote at this particular moment): Show me someone who is for something, and that one can change the world.

So, what am I for? I’m for love, for kittens, for Oreos, for books and more books, for breezes, responsible living, listening, giggling, massage, humanity, trees and more trees. I’m for Rogers & Hammerstein musicals, political candidates who can say they don’t know, joy, Spirit, God Herself. I’m for computers, the Healing Codes, babies, zaides and nanas, chick flicks, theatre of most kinds, breathing, prayer. I’m for curiosity, I’m for prosperity, I’m for all kinds of things.

What are you for?

All this musing has left me wondering that if we humans were to shift our focus for just one day from what we are against to what we are for would we change the world? I have to hazard a guess at the answer: Yes.

P.S. Suggestion: Why don’t we who are inspired by this idea try it in our own lives one at a time? Let’s spend, say, Thursday, being for things and against nothing and see what happens.