“Political correctness” has become an albatross of limitation and as we continue our rebirth into a new state of consciousness, it’s important to allow our perspectives to expand as well. The modern roots of it sprouted from an understandable desire to teach society how to become more aware of the impact of our words and actions in response to a deep divide around various, volatile social issues. I grew up in the South during a great deal of turmoil around The Civil Rights Movement. Dr King was assassinated in the town next to mine and I saw and felt the ugliness and pain in my own way just as every other person did. I was horrified by the racism and hatred I bore witness to and experienced as well on many levels.

I always found it curious over the years as different races and cultures demanded to be referred to by various terms of their own choosing… Negro, Black, African American, Indian, Native American, Women’s Libber, Feminist, Queer, Gay, etc.… It’s a basic human right and need to feel we matter and to be validated for who we authentically are. The problem was as each generation rolled in with their own ideas of what was an “acceptable” term, the rules changed and it became a quagmire of ideology. Higher truth is static, not subjective. It’s impossible to create hard, fast “rules” based on each individual’s spectrum of experiences and intense emotions.That doesn’t create the peace we long for and deserve.

Some things are put out there with the intention of creating conflict and hatred and those who fall into this group have little or no regard for “political correctness”. Rules don’t create respect and kindness… hearts do. Others come from a place of naïveté and ignorance requiring more education and there are also those who come from good intentions that someone else decided from their own perspective was derogatory anyway. We experience things as WE are and each of us has the opportunity to choose love and compassion for others across any and all lines of culture and race… or not.

Like so many good ideas, this concept has become unbalanced. In hindsight, beyond the initial awareness it may have created, the truth is it only shoved the issues underground and created a box that feels like a jail cell where people have to tip-toe around everyone for fear of being judged as uncaring, unaware or worse. It becomes an exhausting, counter-productive, no-win situation. In the BIG PICTURE I’ve noticed very little effect on creating any kind of real, lasting change.

Nobody can deny there are serious social issues out there but we need a fresh way of looking at the situation. WHAT IF each person was responsible for not just his or her own perspective but also for how they “chose” to let something affect them? I learned a long time ago that I had no control over the thoughts, emotions or words of others but I did have the ability to control how I chose to react to them. Choice is what being sovereign is all about.

The more I’ve learned to love myself, the more the opinions of others cease to matter. It’s an INSIDE JOB… painful at times but many things which are worthwhile aren’t easy. Each time I get triggered by something, there’s an opportunity to see where I need to work on my own healing. That’s what personal responsibility is all about and we can’t really be free without it. What someone else thinks about me is none of my business. Of coarse, I’m always a work in progress by virtue of basic human nature and that’s OK. Growth is a process and not an event. Self-awareness and empowerment…these have given me far more freedom than anything else ever could.

                                                                 Get curious… Remember