The greatest danger we face right now however, is not the rate of change, but the strength of resistance. The human response to change is to decide whether or not to transition. And the greatest and most difficult step in transition is letting go of what you are holding on to now.
You see its a bit like being a circus performer--a trapeze artist to be exact. The only way for the trick to be performed is to let go. And life rarely offers you the opportunity to let go with one hand while holding on with the other. No my friend, the other bar is just out of reach and you must let go to grab on!
The fear of letting go only means you will swing back and forth and back and forth wondering why you can't just get back on the original platform. But the old platform isn't available either. It's gone. And sooner or later you'll just drop from exhaustion. The exhaustion of holding on.
When I hear what is going on in the town hall meetings on health care reform, I don't see a bunch of calm, cool agents of the Republican party (although there may be a few of these as well). Instead I see a few people who we would call kooks in any situation and a whole lot of terrified citizens. Someone asked me what they could be terrified about--almost any change to the health care system is going to be better than what we have. I agree and I think they probably know this. What they don't know is what they will lose next.
Look at the dramatic change to the status quo that has happened in the last twelve months. Not just the election of the first black President, but a complete and undeniable "regime change" so welcome by the world that there was dancing in the streets from Bali to Paris. Not just the slow awakening of the business class to the realities of climate change, but clear indications that even moderate and some conservative thought leaders acknowledge we can't go on as we are and must change our basic tenets for conducting ourselves on this planet. Not just an economic bubble brought about (as they inevitably are) by financial wizards with more chutzpah than wherewithal, but the continued erosion of the basis for wealth creation on the planet (see basic tenets for conducting ourselves on the planet).
And no one, no matter how sure they may be of what we should NOT be doing, is that sure about what the future holds. We have a vector and we are gaining some clarity and agreement on the vision, but the vision so well articulated by President Obama before his election has gotten a little cloudy in the reality of "making it so." It will get clear again and articulated in ways so that we can all see and carve our own, better futures there. But in the meantime people are scared.
And so they are holding on to old ways and well formed habits of mind. They are screaming for the platform to be put back and they are lashing out in inappropriate ways--like you do when you're scared.
I for one, want to move beyond the anger and inertia as quickly as possible and I think there are a few things we can do to help this happen.
The first is to let people be angry and then engage them in a new kind of question. Ask them what they want and ask for their cooperation in creating something new and better that works for everyone. There's an important distinction in what I just said--asking someone for their cooperation is very different than asking for their help. It creates a very different response. If you think I'm wrong, test this out with the next angry kid you have to engage with. "Help me" suggests that you need me and I should do this for you. Cooperation is about doing something together that benefits us both.
Second, lets get some momentum going and build our confidence. You can't let go of the old trapeze bar until you have some confidence. Interestingly, each of us has a personal gyro for when there is enough momentum to make something work. When you're learning to ride a bike, momentum is your friend. When you are trying to breed success, momentum is your friend.
Finally, every aerial feat requires altitude. Aerobatic pilots will tell you that "altitude is your friend." And altitude is your friend when you are asking for mega-social shifts as well. We have to have some height! We've got to aim high with a vision for the future. I didn't vote for Barack Obama because he said we could make it a little better. I voted for him because he said we could make it a lot better. We need to get that momentum back arching through the air and pumping our legs to get there. And we need to bring more and more people along. I know it doesn't seem like it (largely because the media loves a good fight) but MOST people of all social and political persuasion, that I am talking to are ready to make a leap if they could see a little better where we're going and "catch the wave" of the movement to get us there.
So I say go for it. Let's be bold and respectfully disagree with those who tell us we can't and disrespectfully disagree with those who tell us they wont let us (more in the near future on the incredible mess created by US lobbying and influence brokers and what we must do to stop that).
So here is me being clear and building (at least for myself) some momentum.
I will have a world with a good economy--one that actually works for everyone alive now and for future generations. I will have a world where women and the ways of women are respected and incorporated into our global consciousness and therefore I will have a world where love and peace prevail. I will have a world where differences are seen as the weft of the fabric of our lives--something to make life interesting and not to be eliminated. And I will have a world with more laughter and friends and less stuff to clean!
All this takes is the intention to state what you will have and confidence.
The confidence to let go.
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