07 May Be the Energy You Want to Feel … (not “just” the change you want to see)
If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
(No, Gandhi never said, “Be the change you want to see in the world…” Instead, his message was far more profound — change ourselves, and those around us will change as well…)
by Bob Tipton
I was always kind of a weird kid – and many would say that’s translated into the fact I’ve become a bit of a weird adult too (just ask my wife and kids!). If you’ll indulge my weirdness for a moment, I’d like to talk about this strange place in which we live – the universe.
I was terrible at physics as a kid, but as an adult I have a deep fascination with understanding how the universe works. One thing I’ve come to learn is that underneath everything, at the root of all things, is energy. Therefore, all things in the universe – at their essence – are made of the same thing. Energy. Great danes, sunflowers, Delft pottery, fig newtons, skateboards, Norwegians, daydreams, your crazy uncle – everything.
“Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine; it is stranger than we CAN imagine.” Walter Heisenberg
If you’re still with me (and, thank you), we can say some more things about energy. First, energy has resonance – a frequency, an amplitude, and a phase. It vibrates. It seeks coherence. In other words, like attracts like when it comes to energy. As an example, imagine a room filled with tuning forks. Big ones, small ones – a cornucopia of tuning forks (not sure that sentence has ever been written before!). Now, start all of the tuning forks vibrating… Given enough time, the tuning fork with the MOST energy (likely the biggest one) will cause all other tuning forks to eventually vibrate at the same level of energy as the big one. But, the $64,000 question (showing my age here) is this – what energy does the big tuning fork possess?
Interesting thought experiment Bob – but what does this have to do with the real world?
It’s like this – “Be the change you want to see.” Or – my revision of that, “Be the energy you want to feel.”
Intention is one of the most powerful energies human beings can generate. In fact, when we get enough of us generating intention at the same time, studies* have shown we can actually alter the course of the “clockwork universe.” Random event generators (REGs — the electronic equivalent of flipping a coin) have been proven to be influenced by the intention of those involved in the experiments. This, ladies and gentlemen, is just not supposed to happen.
(*In 1979, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory began collecting large databases in a REG experiment with particularly rigorous controls and a variety of optional parameters to assess the reliability and the nature of the apparent mind/machine interaction.)
Again, so what? What difference does this make? To begin to answer that question, I want to share another of my favorite quotes — this one from Albert Einstein: “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there’s no hope for it.” In other words, let’s suspend our preconceived notions about something – and let’s be open to a potentially absurd idea.
Mine is this.
What if we use our intention to CHOOSE the energy we prefer to radiate, to share, to reflect, to intentionally shift the energy of those around us? What if we choose optimism, hope, health, compassion, well-being, peace, justice, etc.? On the other hand, what if we choose fear, anger, hatred, discrimination, marginalization, and bias?
Do you see the potential in shaping the events in our lives – simply by intentionally choosing the energy we radiate? NO QUESTION, I do.
So – here’s my invitation to you. Focus your intention. Be clear about it – and be thoughtful about the energy you choose to radiate. We all have FAR more impact on events in our lives and the people around us than we imagine. In fact, we have MUCH more impact than we CAN imagine. Let’s radiate some positivity, some hope, and some optimism. What do you say?
As a way to demonstrate the idea of “be the energy you want to feel,” transformational change leaders within Team Tipton share approaches for leaders to reimagine strategy and their path(s) forward.
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