Intro
Part I – Scale & Time
Part II – Cooperation vs. Competition
Part III – Seeing & Forgiving Each Other
Conclusion
Intro
Let us talk about love. Bear with me on this, and please open your mind and heart to hear me out. This isn’t about the fairytale love we are told about in movies or books; this isn’t about romantic love at all. This is about the type of love that is unconditional. It is a love that is not based on what someone does for us, or how they make us feel. It is a love that is given freely and without expectations. It is a love that is not earned, but simply given.
This kind of loves shines out of us in many ways. It is the type of love that parents often have for their children. The love you might have for a friend, a hobby, a pet, a dream, or perhaps humanity. It is deep, peaceful, and selfless. It can elevate you into a state with total clarity where life makes perfect sense. This is about being on the giving end of that love. Let’s talk about this love.
Now, I know I’ve already potentially lost you. You hear the word love and instantly your shields are raised, the bridge is drawn, and the archers have an arrow locked. You’re guarded, I get it. Maybe you have a bias against it. Maybe life has happened to you, and you’re fearful. Maybe you think that we need to use our brains more and our hearts less. Be logical and not emotional, right? Sorta.
Love is often seen as a sign of weakness in our society. Loving someone or something is often used against us or used as a way to take advantage of us. And sure, I won’t deny that love can be used as a tool for manipulation. But, that doesn’t mean that love itself is bad. In fact, love is one of the most powerful emotions we have. It is what motivates us to be better people and to do better.
If you are guarded against giving love, ask why. I’m sure you already know. Trauma, broken trust, heartbreak, manipulation, exploitation, taken advantage of, abuse, anxiety, fear, hate? Whatever your hesitation, I encourage you to have the courage to follow me openly on this train of thought all the way to the end. If now is not the time, try again another time.
Part 1 – Scale & Time
Let’s begin first with zooming way out.
Here we are. This is the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to be just one out of ~2 trillion Galaxies. Within the Milky Way Galaxy is our home, Earth, along with an estimated 100-400 billion other planets.
2 trillion x 400 billion = 8,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000(8 septillion) planets.
Take a moment, pause, study the image and take in the vastness.
I thought this was about love? It is, trust me.
Alright, let’s zoom in just a bit. Here is Earth, 1 out of 8 septillion planets.
Again, spend some time with this thought and image.
Earth is our spaceship and we are all aboard it. Huzzah! Our spaceship is enormous and comes with an abundant bounty of resources for all of us to thrive and benefit from. Furthermore, it is each of our responsibility to take care of our spaceship, our home. We don’t have an alternative yet, and let’s be honest, no other spaceship is going to be as cozy as Earth. After all, we have evolved and adapted to thrive on Earth. Migrating to another spaceship is going to take quite awhile for us to build up the amenities that we currently take for granted, such as breathable air, cozy temperatures, and a shield from radiation.
If something catastrophic were to happen to Earth, then this whole life thing is over. All of humanity’s trials and tribulations would be in vain. All of the suffering and sacrificing over 1000s of years would be for nothing. All of the learning, experimenting, liberation, education, inventions, labor, music, art, love, joy, family… it would all be over. Likely for forever.
Keeping this perspective, we can choose to love our spaceship and give grace to its hardworking, tired crew. Love is a choice.
However we individually choose to spend our time aboard spaceship Earth, it would be wise for us to each begin with our spaceship always in mind. Our first duty in life, is to ensure that our actions are benefiting our spaceship. Once we are able to get in the mindset that Earth is our spaceship that we must care for and maintain, like a responsible homeowner would, we can begin to think about our behaviors, systems, design flaws, and then begin to make improvements.
Taking care of the spaceship doesn’t mean we all need to be an environmental activist. Not at all. What it means, is that we each play a vital role in allowing this spaceship to function. The farmers grow our food. The nurses and doctors take care of our illnesses and injuries. The teachers educate the future generations. The police keep us safe from those of us who have lost our way and turn to crime. The artists connect us and entertain us. And so on, I hope you get the point. All of the private enterprises or “the corporate world” have a purpose and a mission they are trying to serve. Some better than others. Attach yourself to one you find truly meaningful and purposeful, or start your own. We each must find a way to provide value to others or to our spaceship. This is how you help take care of spaceship Earth. We all have our part to play, go forth and play yours to the best of your ability with love. Love for humankind, love for our spaceship.
Zooming out and keeping the big picture in mind is the first step in choosing love.
Time
As far as we know, time is one directional. There are no redo’s.
If you meditate on it, and give it some thought, our time here is incredibly short. A human lifespan is but a mere blip on the timeline of the Universe. In the grand scheme of things, we are here for but a moment, and then we are gone. Poof.
And in this short time that we have been gifted, what do we do with our time? How do we choose to spend our moments?
Do we spend our time building walls or do we spend our time building bridges?
Do we spend our time being angry or do we spend our time being kind?
Do we spend our time creating or do we spend our time destroying?
Do we spend our time living in fear or do we spend our time living in love?
The choice is ours, every single day. Like everything else in life, it takes daily practice to master, but it is certainly a choice.
Part 2 – Cooperation vs. Competition
Survival of the fittest? Unity is strength? Which is it?
Where does competition come from? Why do animals compete? Mainly for food and sex. Over 1000s of years, competition served our ancestors well. Survival was the only agenda. However, times are different now. We no longer live in the cave man days, yet we are still deeply influenced by these drives. Some people struggle with diets, workouts, arguments, cooperation, monogamy, and so on. Why? Primarily, and over simplified, the limbic system. Our limbic system is responsible for our survival drives, like sex and food. It is also responsible for our fight or flight response and consequently, our inflated egos. Animals in the wild today are operating off of this system. We are too, partially, but we are more than animals. We have the capability to pause, think, and choose how to respond thanks to our prefrontal cortex. We are highly intellectual beings with the capability to control our behaviors. With daily practice, we can strengthen this ability and learn to override our limbic system and choose our response. We can choose to lead a life from love.
Limbic system….love…? Hang on.
We no longer live in an ancient world, but our limbic system is still fully intact and driving us subconsciously. Through many generations, our ancestors have built us the tools, systems, technologies, and education to where there are now enough accessible resources for everybody. We no longer need to compete for the basics. There are plenty of mates to choose from, and there is an abundance of food. Yet, the limbic system still tells us that we must compete with each other relentlessly. It is incorrect and outdated. We are still operating and designing our systems as if we aren’t all in this together. We still treat each other as if we aren’t all on the same team. Plot twist, we absolutely are on the same team. We are on team spaceship Earth. We need not to treat each other like competitors in all areas of life. It undermines our spaceship when one person shoves another down to prop oneself up. Cooperation must come first. The sooner we all realize this, the better for our spaceship.
Ancient wisdom is trying to lead us away from our limbic system(survival of the fittest, competition) and into our prefrontal cortex(unity is strength, cooperation).
Here are a few examples:
We were born for mutual assistance, as the feet, the hands, the eyelids, as the rows of the upper and under teeth. So to fight each other is not natural.
-Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
-2 Corinthians 12:11
If you always give, you will always have. – Chinese Proverb
Radiate boundless love towards the entire world. – Buddha
The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified.
– Swami Vivekananda
However, competition is a phenomenal tool and we absolutely should compete. Healthy competition is vital to the success of our spaceship. There should be a competition among ideas, inventions, and solutions for the challenges we are facing on our spaceship. Competition drives innovation and is an accelerant for problem solving. The ultimate competition is to better take care of our spaceship, its people, and expand life onto other planets(spaceships). There are no shortages of problems to be solved; each industry has its own, small and large. From this perspective, competition should be encouraged and is an incredibly useful tool to make life aboard our spaceship a little better.
Competition can also go too far sometimes. People can get caught up in the competition and completely forget why they are competing in the first place. Their limbic system is in full control. When people forget that we are all in this together, they take things to the extreme in the name of winning. Ever seen someone go on a power trip? Life itself isn’t a competition. It is much more cooperative than competitive.
- Fear, ego, & hate lead to all out competition for the benefit of the individual.
- Acceptance, altruism, & love lead to cooperation for the benefit of all members.
So, while we want to encourage competition of ideas, inventions, and solutions, we need to also remember that we are all fighting for the same thing, a more efficient, safer, peaceful Earth. It is possible to work competitively inside of a cooperative environment. Cooperation first, then competition within, all out of love for our spaceship and its crew. Love is choosing cooperation.
Part 3 – Seeing & Forgiving Each Other
This part could be emotional for some to read.
We are more alike than we are different, but we are certainly different. That’s by design. Remember, we have a lot of different roles and needs aboard spaceship Earth. It is a feature that we are different, not a flaw. Everyone has a place here. Everyone is needed. We all deeply rely on each other.
Look around at the services or products you might take for granted, such as food, shampoo, silverware, clothing, technology, toilets, etc. Think about all of the humans that might have been involved in the process of getting that to you. Absolutely none of them are perfect humans.
Even better, take a walk in your city or village and just look around at each individual object that has been created by humankind. Remember, we started with just plants, animals, dirt, rocks, minerals, and water. Humans built all of this amazing infrastructure and entertainment, and absolutely none of them were perfect either.
Our world isn’t perfect, our people aren’t perfect, but we are far better now from where we started. Forgive people for not being perfect and choose love.
Furthermore…with all of the generational trauma in the world, it is a wonder that people still give love and that anything gets done. Most people are doing the best they can, and most people just want to be accepted and loved.
Each human was born into a different set of circumstances, to no fault of their own. Some were born into circumstances similar to yours, but many were born into a drastically different one than you, for better or worse. While some homes are stable, other homes are chaotic. While some homes know love and abundance, other homes know hate and scarcity. Some homes are supportive, other homes are destructive. Some homes are warm in the winter, some homes are cold. In some homes people get abused, in other homes people are protected. There is a variety of every type of home environment imaginable on spaceship Earth. Each home leaves a lasting mark on each of our crewmembers, for better or worse. If only we knew the depths of each others’ stories, would we be more understanding, forgiving, and loving.
People who hurt others, are often hurt people themselves.
Consider that adults are just really old children. If those first 18 years of life were hateful, abusive, miserable, and chaotic, how can we expect that person to be a shining ray of love, stability, and kindness? We can’t. How would they know what that even looks like or how to model it? They’ve never been given the tools. However, we can acknowledge their suffering, offer them help, be the example of what love and stability is, and be patient with them as they learn. This requires us to see people. It requires us to hear peoples’ stories.
For those who are angry with the world, they need love the most. Truly. Even if they deny it. Be patient with those. Life has likely been extra hard on them. They will need a lot of time. Some are lost for forever, and that’s truly sad. My heart hurts so much for them, for everyone was once just a baby, a child, with a future full of potential. The potential to help us improve our spaceship earth. I often think about the ideas that might get lost because someone had a heart filled with anger, sadness, or fear.
There is never an excuse for cruel or hateful behavior. However, we can take a moment to consider and ask our fellow crewmember why they are upset, and then choose to meet them with compassion and forgiveness. You lose nothing by giving love, understanding, and kindness. After all, helping a fellow crewmember is going to benefit and improve our spaceship. Love is choosing to see and forgive each other.
To love is very different than to like. We can love humankind and wish each individual happiness, fulfillment, and peace, and still not like them. That’s okay. For example, I might not personally like baseball, performing open heart surgery, fixing cars, or horror films, but I’m happy for those that do even if I don’t understand why. It doesn’t take away from me what others find joy in and the value they provide to the spaceship. Live and let live, see and forgive.
Conclusion
So, what is love?
Love is zooming out and realizing our place in the cosmos. Love is realizing that we are only here for but a moment, and that the future of humanity will stand on our shoulders, just like we stand on those before us. Love is seeking to understand, hear, and to see each other. Love is knowing that we all have different stories, histories, and a part to play. Love is remembering that we are all needed in this life together. Love is a choice.
Love is choosing to see the big picture.
Love is choosing to be cooperative.
Love is choosing to forgive and see each other.
We weren’t born into a perfect world, but we each have the choice to try our best to make it better for all generations to come. The only way love exists in this world is by individuals who choose to give love out. We can each be one of those people, if we choose.
Each day when we wake up, we can choose love. We can pause when moments don’t go our way and choose how to respond. We can give grace and offer our help when others aren’t the best version of themselves. We can remember how precious life and our Earth are and choose to be cooperative first. We can choose to lead with love.
Love is a choice.
♥ Tony
