Attention environmentalists, human/animal rights activists, vegans, and all aspiring leaders who have a vision for a harmonious, compassionate world:
I think that as people with a vision for a more compassionate world, we may tend to give so much of ourselves. At times, I believe, it can be overwhelming because we may not take enough time for self care and we may be frustrated by our progress. It can be challenging when people around us do not share our values and when we find ourselves ineffective at influencing them to consider our perspective. We can get burned out. We may struggle to find fulfilling work that resonates with our values and to create abundance for ourselves or relationships that fulfill us. Day to day living can be exhausting!
My name is Dave Rubin and it is my perspective that if humanity is to find peace, it will require two major shifts. The first is to shift how we judge. Instead of judging the rightness or wrongness of people or actions, let us judge if an action serves our life and our values for compassion, love and respect. The second shift is to extend the circle of compassion around all beings.
It seems to me that in our culture, we learn to judge if we ourselves or other people are right or wrong, good or bad, or deserving of punishment or reward, We learn to relate using guilt, shame or other punishment when we disapprove of an action and with rewards or compliments to get ourselves or others to do what we want. We learn to blame others for our feelings, take responsibility for other people's feelings and to avoid responsibility for what we can control. I believe this way of relating causes strife, conflict and inner turmoil. If instead of judging the rightness or wrongness of people or action, we humans learn to judge if an action serves our life and our values for compassion, love and respect, we will have achieved half of what it will take for humanity to find peace.
The other half of the picture I think is that for thousands of years we have had a culture of domination and control. We get what we want by taking, dominating and exploiting other people, sexes, races, nations, animals and our planet. We learn that this domination is normal, natural and necessary. I believe shifting this is essential for our very existence and it will require extending our circle of compassion around all beings.
I believe that extending the circle of compassion or concerning ourselves with the impact humanity is having on our world, without also shifting how we judge is likely to be a very challenging experience. Suddenly, people, even our own family may appear evil. We may try to do more things than we are able, leading to burn out. We can be so passionate about what we want to say and be ineffective at communicating in a way that people hear us. My program is designed to support you in dealing with these challenges.
About Dave Rubin.
