Glenn Stewart Coles, 9251 Yonge Street, Suite 8-924, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, L4C 9T3
Text Box: Last week my world was rocked. When my cat Selena died I was taken completely by surprise. Two weeks prior to her death she seemed just fine, playing and eating normally. Then things quickly changed and within a week it was apparent that her illness was terminal. In retrospect there were early warning signs that I missed. Though her particular illness was incurable, over the past couple of months there were signs that could have given me advanced notice. There was even one episode where I knew she was trying to tell me something but couldn’t figure it out. As it turns out, she was trying to tell me that she was dying. The pain and emotion that I felt over the loss of Selena was stronger than any past feelings that I can remember. I realize that emotional pain aids personal growth and allowed myself to consider what lessons I had to learn from this episode. Then I understood. Selena had a sacred contract with me. Her role in dying was to shock me into recognition of my current and future path. I realized that I have been going downhill over the past year. While on the surface things seemed fine as I continued to create, underneath my body had started moving in the direction of bad health. From smoking to lack of exercise to improper diet, many of my habits lead towards future difficulties. I thank Selena for letting me know that once things have gone too far, there is no turning back. Fortunately I have the ability to make changes now and alter my future health. It crossed my mind that everything I do is reflected in the world around me. What are the signals that humanity is ignoring? Are there early warnings of problems that we currently have the ability to change? Will we wait until it is too late, or make serious changes now in order to alter the future? Sometimes it takes a big shock in order to instigate change. For myself, I realize that my desire to change has been with me for years, but my habits and activities kept me trapped in my old self. Only a life-altering emotional shock hits us strongly enough to make difficult choices that lead towards balance and health. The world has already had a couple of big shocks in the past few years. The 911 attacks changed the world as we know it, but the shift was more towards fear and security than towards positive growth. A couple of years later the earthquake that caused the tsunami shook the world and everyone began to realize how fragile our existence really is. This year more natural disasters have killed thousands. However, despite the depth of these shocks, humanity has yet to make the major changes required for survival. What will the next shock be? We are currently aware of many issues, including pollution, global warming, pandemics, oil shortages, food shortages, economic difficulties and international conflict. There are many early warnings that humanity is in trouble. Though we recognize and talk about some of these challenges, we are stuck in a pattern of behavior that is difficult to change. Only a big shock will make everyone sit back and decide to change the world. At the moment most of civilization is not empowered. Though each individual makes decisions, the process of mass change takes a lot of time. There is usually resistance to change, especially from those focused on personal benefits. In order for our species to survive, it must become more important for the masses to change. Stay tuned. © Copyright Glenn Stewart Coles, 2008 First Published June 22, 2008

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I realize that emotional pain aids personal growth.

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