Time magazine says, ‘2024 is not just an election year. It’s perhaps the election year.’
In an article published late in 2023, it states that at least 64 countries, plus the EU, will hold elections in 2024. The article estimates that this represents around 49% of the world’s population.
It’s no secret that people everywhere want better lives for themselves and a better world for us all. And they see elections as their only way of achieving this.
And so, they’re willing to do a lot more than simply vote! They’re happy to invest their time and energy in many other ways.
They donate money and attend rallies. They follow the news and watch the political debates.
Some volunteer their services and help their favourite candidates to campaign. And some even lose friendships arguing about who should win!
We have billions of people, with a myriad of differing views and opinions, yet with a couple of things in common: they’re hoping that someone else will come and save the day for them; and they see the ballot paper as their golden ticket to a better tomorrow.
Time and time again, they fervently pin their hopes on a political messiah who promises them the world. And time and time again, they vote in earnest, only to be bitterly disappointed, not too long after.
There are at least three ways in which we could view this situation: the logical way; the cynical way; and the spiritual/metaphysical way. Let’s take a quick look.
The Logical
On the one hand, and in fairness to the elected candidate or party, whatever mess the country and the world is in right now, it took a whole lot of people a whole lot of years to create.
We’re talking millions of people over decades, if not centuries.
So how fair is it to expect the newly elected handful to clean up the mess they just inherited, and to do so in just a few years?
But wait, there’s more logic!
Someone once defined insanity as:
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Yet isn’t this what countless voters have done over centuries? And with precious little to show for it?
Things only seem to get worse, election after election. Yet people are still obsessed with this process and insist on repeating it. Insane!
The Cynical
Some bright spark once said:
If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.
I’m inclined to agree.
I don’t mean to say that the political process is entirely without merit. And I’m not saying that people shouldn’t bother voting at elections.
But I am saying that elections don’t necessarily change things for the better.
And I am saying you don’t need to wait four years at a time to vote for change. No, sir.
The Spiritual and Metaphysical
Voting doesn’t only happen at elections. You may not realise, but we vote every minute of every day.
Thoughts create reality, remember?
So, with every thought we think, we are, in fact, voting for the kind of world we want to live in.
That’s the level of power that you and I have. And we don’t need anyone’s blessing or permission to use it.
But if we’re thinking the same thoughts and doing the same things, year after year, then we’re not voting for change at all.
We’re actually voting to keep things exactly as they are!
And if we pin our hopes on others, as we’ve done in the past, then we’re not voting for change either.
And most importantly, if we don’t accept our responsibility to do what we can do to change ourselves for the better, and insist, instead, to hold others responsible for the state of our lives and our world, then we’re definitely not voting for change. And so, nothing will change.
Nothing changes unless we do.
Change happens from within. And we must change in order for our lives and our world to change.
It’s ok if it’s too much to ask of ourselves to change. I get it, we all have so much to deal with. But in that case, let’s admit to it and not act all surprised when change doesn’t come.
True Power
True power to effect lasting change lies with us, the people. Yet sadly, most of us seem unaware of this basic truth, or forget too easily.
And we’re far too ready to give our power away–often to the very people who mean to deceive and oppress us.
This happens time after time, election after election and generation after generation. Insane!
True power lies in our thoughts and intentions, because thoughts creates reality. But again, the vast majority of us remain unaware or unwilling to engage at this level.
And so, we continue to tell the stories our grandparents told, thereby (unwittingly) perpetuating the problems and suffering of old.
We continue to believe the same falsehoods and limitations, and to harbour the same fears and prejudices, thereby dooming ourselves to more of the same.
And we still wonder why things are the way they are! Insane!
Spiritual Revolution
But as with every problem, there is always a solution. And the solution is simple:
Stop doing what is not working and look for something that does!
Elections have a lousy track record for bringing about any real and lasting change.
Revolutions, on the other hand, seem to fare better–at least in the short term. But the rot still sets in, eventually, because the change is superficial. A change will not last for long if the thinking and the consciousness behind it hasn’t changed.
But I’m not advocating for violence or bloodshed. Perish the thought!
I’m proposing a spiritual revolution, instead.
A revolution that is 100% peaceful (and no donations required–just an investment of time).
I’m not a history buff, but I don’t think we humans ever tried one of these.
I mean, the hippies sort of tried, but they were hijacked and sidetracked with the drugs and ‘free love’ side of things. So we’re still in virgin territory here.
I say it’s time for a spiritual revolution. And it’s time for Human 2.0.
Spiritual practices like meditation have been scientifically proven to work, and you can start today, from the comfort of your armchair.
Plus, there are zero downsides to them but an infinite upside. So there’s no excuse not to do it.
The ‘How’
It starts with educating ourselves and understanding our true role in all of this. We have to understand the power we have within us to create our own reality. We can then act, from a place of power, clarity, and wisdom.
When we learn the lessons that spirituality and metaphysics can teach us, we realise, that in order to create and experience a happy, peaceful, loving world, we must become these very things.
We also understand that if enough people commit to changing their inner worlds in this way, our outer world too, would change as a result.
So maybe it’s time to ditch the rallies and the debates and time to start praying and meditating instead?
At worse, nothing will change and we’d be no worse off that all the generations that have gone before us.
But on the other hand… we might just end up changing the world!
Resources
For the background information on how reality works and how to use your power to create and influence reality, please see the previous posts linked below: