The Simple Way to Solve Our World's Problems

We're days away from an incredibly volatile-feeling election in the United States. Hurricanes have ripped through the southeast, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying homes and businesses. War is continuing to claim innocent lives. Our medical system is broken, and a large portion of what we put into our bodies believing it to be "food" is proven to cause cancer and behavioral issues. Big companies choose capitalist greed over doing what's right. Housing prices are way up, as is the cost of a trip to the grocery store.

But I don't have to tell you any of this... because you feel it all too. If you're a sensitive soul like me, it can sometimes just feel like too much to bear. My dear empath friend, take a deep breath in and out, for there is one simple way to solve our world's problems.

This past week hung heavy on my heart. I'd grown so tired of watching people choose to buy into the divisiveness of politics. It seemed as though their chosen candidate was a football team and they'd wear that jersey regardless of what was said or done. In addition to this, continued reports of bodies being found and families suffering hurt my heart. I felt the weight of the pain going on around the world and it all just felt... well... heavy.

This worldly pain seemed to spiral inward, reactivating the pain of my own personal past hurts. My childhood wounds felt raw and occurrences of spiritual, emotional, and sexual abuse resurfaced. Top it all off with the end of a woman's luteal phase and we had ourselves the perfect storm.

What felt most challenging was that as a mother of two little ones (working from home and homeschooling) every time I needed a moment to process these intense emotions, that moment was nowhere to be found. I brought out my journal only to be interrupted for a snack. I began some gentle yoga only to have them both join me noisily rather than settle into a peaceful moment. I thought I'd get them down early to relax in the back only to have exhaustion find me falling asleep beside them instead. And when I finally surrendered to the idea that during our son's naptime I'd let our daughter choose a PBS show so I could have some time to myself, his adventurous little self decided to drop his nap that day.

I was so frustrated with feeling like I didn't have the time I needed to feel my feels!

The kiddos picked up on my emotional turmoil and began to bicker more as my patience dwindled. Thankfully I've learned enough as a mama to know that when we're all about to lose it... into nature we go! They had plenty of energy to burn so I loaded up their bikes, our dog, and headed to a local park on the water that's especially gorgeous this time of year. We began moving around the trails and I noticed something intriguing.

Within even the first five or ten minutes I was already feeling better than I had all week! And these same kids that couldn't stop getting at each other were now giggling as they raced one another through the magical arch of colorful leaves that surrounded us. My breath deepened as I felt all the scattered pieces of myself return together, led once again by my spirit rather than my overwhelmed mind. A majestic Cooper's hawk reminded me to zoom out, rise above the fear and doubts, and become the observer.

And so I did.

I observed the miraculous changes of autumn happening all around me. The melting of my own stress as I moved my body joyfully. The kindness of our daughter as she reached to help her brother down a steep embankment, then allowing herself to be led by him when he wanted to show her that he was big enough to help her too. The whole-body waggling joy of Lucy pup getting to explore along with us. The cheerful smiles and "hellos" of a few passerbys who had the same idea of how to enjoy their day. The simple joys of watching them discover a new little trail off the main path, witness a fish jump, and collect little treasures of acorns only to scatter them back out once they saw a squirrel collecting them for the winter. It all gently warmed my aching heart and soothed my raw nervous system.

This time I so desperately thought I needed to sit with to process my emotions? It wasn't what I needed at all. I needed to move them through, releasing them from my body and recalibrating my energy with that of the natural world.

As much as our sensitive hearts may wish we could, we cannot fix all of the world's problems. We can't cure other's ailments, nor rescue every abandoned child or animal. We cannot single-handedly stop the violence of war, nor change every heart of those stuck in their beliefs that are unkind to others. But what we can do is focus on what's right in front of us.

We can turn off the news and listen to the life perspective of our neighbor who has journeyed a different path than our own. We can release commitment to a label or a political party in favor of doing what feels most loving and kind. We can mindfully create the maximum amount of joy that radiates like the sunbeams through the last of the fall leaves clinging to the trees, reassuring them that it's okay to let go and accept change.

And those kiddos that I felt were interrupting my healing and reconnection with Spirit? Their intuitive following of their body's needs and innate sense of wonder is exactly what brought me back to it. I didn't need to focus more on the things that were causing pain. Doing so surely won't solve our world's problems.

What will is keeping our focus laser-tuned on the little things in our own lives that aren't so little. Raising our children with tenderness and compassion, so they have the space to become who they were born to be. Sending positive healing energy or prayer from your heart to the situations beyond our control. Choosing to see one another for who we are, simply humans doing our best in this life with the tools we've been given.

Instead of staying committed to feeling powerless, what if every one of us embraced the power we have to focus on the little ways we can create more love and joy? Can you imagine the kind of world we would heal our way into creating?

Because I sure can, and it's beautiful.

Love & Healing,

Ashley Kay

P.S. If you could use some support in shifting this focus, working through the wounds, or releasing your own stress, fear, and anxiety please email me at ashleykayandy@gmail.com. I'm here for this purpose, dear friend.