One of the things I love about living in Ashland, Oregon is the Food Coop. It’s a thriving cooperative business that supports local agriculture and economy. And it’s the best place for an unplanned meetup with friends. Perhaps the Ashland coop does so well because there are no Wholefoods-like corporate “health food” stores here in Ashland. But I think the Coop would thrive even if there were more competitors, because so many people in the Rogue Valley support cooperative, community-minded businesses.

In our current “market-driven” economic system, competition creates a healthy consumer market. It keeps prices down and product quality up. Similarly, in sports, competition keeps athletes in top shape and encourages peek performance and skill development. A certain amount and type of competition is healthy and helpful in our society. Unfortunately, competition has been our mode of operation on a personal, national and global level for thousands of years. And, rather than creating a healthy framework for a thriving, just and free society, competition has put us at war with ourselves, each other and our planet.

The kind of competition I’m talking about shows up in many forms: judgement, unworthiness, jealousy. It is our unrecognized reaction to fear. And, most often, the fear we are reacting to is also unrecognized. Unconscious fear drives much of our behavior and decision making. How often, in relationship to someone, anyone, do we feel less than or better than because of something the other person says or does? How often are we afraid that we are not good enough, won’t say or do the right thing, will hurt or be hurt, betray or be betrayed, scorn or be scorned? How often do our interactions with another person cause us to compare ourselves with them, thus feeling better than or less than?

In truth, we are the same, and our differences are only appearances. Competition denies the truth and puts us at odds with everything. It puts us in pain and effort because instead of simply allowing ourselves to be what and who we are, and to feel what we are feeling, we are trying desperately to be or feel something else. Competition says “your not good enough the way you are right now, you have to be better, do better, have more stuff, feel differently.” Competition has us constantly comparing ourselves to others, thinking we are better than or worse than another in some way, which only leaves us feeling illusory superiority or inferiority.

What if we could completely accept ourselves in every moment just the way we are, with whatever we are feeling or experiencing? This kind of “radical self-acceptance” would not only allow us to be happy no matter the circumstances, it would unleash tremendous creativity, and the compassion and peace necessary to work cooperatively with others.

2012 has been named “Year of Cooperatives” by the United Nations. I see this as a wonderful initiative and call toward a global shift in how we relate to ourselves and each other. By bringing attention to, and celebrating, cooperatives on the planet, we are recognizing the potential we have for relating, creating and living cooperatively rather than competitively. In order for cooperation to replace competition as our mode of operation on the planet, we first need to acknowledge where we are in competition with ourselves. We cannot hope to manifest global cooperation if we are competing with ourselves internally. If we are not happy with ourselves, it is a sign that we are competing with ourselves. When we are not happy with ourselves, we have believed the lie that we are not good enough, smart enough, rich enough, old or young enough.

In competition, we aren’t enough. In truth, we are unlimited, infinite Spirit. How could the unlimited and infinite not be enough? It is only the appearances when we are in this world that hypnotize us into believing the lie of scarcity and succumbing to the war of competition. As we remember and continue to recognize our true nature, we allow the creativity and abundance of cooperation to heal our divisions and restore harmony, sharing and well-being to humanity. While cooperation unites us and multiplies our potential, competition limits and divides us: it undermines our ability to create what we’d like to create in the world, and prevents us from being happy with ourselves.

May we all see and forgive the divisions of competition with ourselves, and relate with acceptance and generosity toward ourselves and our fellow human beings. This is how the new paradigm of cooperation emerges.

It’s getting to be that time again, when politics and elections are the buzz of many a conversation. I usually steer away from too much political talk, because I know I have a tendency to want, or need, to be right. And that’s prime territory for an ego trip.

And yet, I enjoy sharing my perspective, my experiences and information. (One of the reasons I blog! So, I have been enjoying political discussions lately, because I remind myself when sharing what I see, think, feel or know, that I am not responsible for how my sharing is received. In order to truly share, we must be able to give “with no strings attached.” We cannot give anything–whether it is our opinion, advice, a hug, a monetary gift–and need for it to be received a certain way in order for us to be happy. If I share an insight and someone ridicules or disagrees with me, I can still be happy if there are “no strings attached.” However, if I have an agenda with my giving or sharing that includes being agreed with, then I am doomed to be unhappy, because I cannot control what others think, see, or believe. Having strings attached when giving means trying to control the outcome, or trying to control the other person, because I have given my power to be happy over to my need to be right. (You may need to read that sentence again

As I was sharing my perspective about a presidential candidate today, I noticed again that when someone disagrees with me, the internal reaction is that (ego) impulse of needing to be right, and therefore wanting to persuade the other that they are wrong because of this and that, and I am right because of this and that. Underneath and around that impulse to be right are layers of judgement, fear and control. The fear is that I will be wrong, which leads to guilt and punishment according to the unconscious mind or ego. Then of course there are all the judgements that go along with proving that I am right and the other is wrong. “What’s wrong with them? Don’t they get it? Why don’t they understand? They’re stupid idiots!” LOL And with fear comes its partner control. For where fear has been given power, control steps in attempting to ease the pain fear inflicts.

It’s a funny game we play with and on ourselves: a massive, hopefully hilarious, albeit painful ego-trip which always and inevitably leads to unhappiness. Fortunately, that’s our barometer: our happiness. If we notice we are not able to be happy, to be at peace, with whatever circumstances we are in, we can know, with certainty, we have taken an ego trip. And we can return home to Wholeness with the decision to be happy rather that following the ego’s need to be right. We can continue to share who we are, to give our insight or perspective, with no strings attached, no agenda, no need to be right. When we share from our certainty that we Are, regardless of appearances of right and wrong (or any other dichotomies), then we truly share from Love. We truly share peace, and offer ourselves back to Wholeness.

Since the earthquake that devastated Haiti on Tuesday, I’ve been watching people come together over the internet to create financial support and direct assistance for the people of Haiti. How beautiful it is when humanity joins in a collective effort of love for our fellow beings. I’ve been aware of the intense pain, confusion and chaos happening there: the souls lost in abrupt transition, the bodies left to die or suffer indefinitely, thousands needing help to survive. My heart is touched by how connected humanity is, and how often it takes an apparent tragedy to make that connection more real.

The question I keep hearing in my mind is: Why does it take a huge earthquake to get our attention? Why weren’t we inspired enough to help the people of the poorest country in the Western world before? Was the suffering of severe poverty not enough to motivate our collective action? Is it just too easy to be complacent about rampant economic inequality and human rights abuses when there isn’t an immediate and enormous devastating event? Granted, many of us are not complacent, and/or feel there is little one can personally do to completely change such a systemic and deeply ingrained problem as global poverty. (And, I certainly include myself in the too-often-complacent category.) What is it, then, that inspires me to action on a daily basis? How can I remember to love and serve all of humanity, to inspire greater peace and well-being for all, and to give where and when there is need every day?

The events in Haiti, and the global support in response to it, are serving to awaken many to the need for global sharing and teamwork, as well as our ability to meet that need. Individuals, foundations, humanitarian aid organizations and governments worldwide have responded to the devastation in Haiti, like tending to the immediate needs of a newly inflicted wound on collective humanity. And it is beautiful and wonderful that we are helping in any and every way we can to heal this wound: with our prayers, thoughts and visions, financial aid, networking, organizing and mobilizing.

Follow this analogy further. If what is happening in Haiti is like a huge gash in humanity’s “body” that requires treatment and healing, what are some of the systemic imbalances in our “body” whose symptoms are ignored or medicated away with ineffective treatments? How can we address the imbalances and the symptoms they produce (ie poverty, starvation and malnutrition, war, abuse, genocide…this list could go on and on…you get the picture) right here, right now? How can we create new political, economic and social systems based on cooperation, sharing, mutuality, peace and prosperity for all?

We can certainly begin within. We can treat ourselves with love, respect, compassion, gentleness and forgiveness. We can recognize our worth, our divinity, the wholeness of our Being. And we can extend that recognition “outward” by recognizing the inherent worthiness, divinity and wholeness of every Being, of all of humanity and nature. With that awareness, with that Love, we can act and serve in any way we feel inspired. No action is too small to make a difference. Our actions may come through how we treat our children, our neighbors and friends, the person driving really slow in front of us when we’re in a hurry. Our actions may come through how we talk about our political leaders, how we talk about our families, how we talk about ourselves. The form of our actions may or may not appear to be helping the world become a more peaceful and generous place, but if we are coming from a place of peace and generosity within, our actions will make a huge difference. The Love we give, in whatever form, will ripple out and touch the world in ways we do not know. In beautiful ways, like miracles.

This New Moon, this New Year, this eclipse, the world events capturing our attention and waking us up, they are all opportunities to begin anew, to take action, first from within. The most important “action” to take, the first “action” before any other action, the “action” that inspires our next loving actions, is forgiveness. To see through the pain, not ignore it but see it and then see beyond it to Spirit, is the act of forgiveness. To recognize the Truth of wholeness–beyond the appearances of disaster, disease and depression that emerge as symptoms of our collective mistreatment of Self–is the act of forgiveness that is crucial and miraculous. From there, do what your Heart tells you: sing a song, care for a child, love your neighbor and your enemy, send money to an aid organization helping people in need around the world, plant trees and gardens, visit a nursing home, write a letter to a political leader thanking them for their work…whatever your heart tells you.

When we begin within, with the “act” of forgiveness, miracles happen. When we seek to change our minds about what we see in the world, rather than trying to change the world, by forgiving rather than condemning and fighting what we do not like, change happens effortlessly, gracefully, and the results are more wonderful than we could have imagined. Forgiving and responding from Love gives Spirit space to Be. It allows Spirit to fulfill the miracles it offers every moment. Forgiveness is how to be in the world, but not of it.

There are many opportunities every day to begin again, to go within, to forgive, and to take inspired action. Today I’m reminded not to fall into the sleep of complacency, to wake up, every moment, to the Love that Is, and to offer this Love anywhere and everywhere it is needed. I offer It first by forgiving, then by giving Spirit space to Be, to share miracles through whatever actions I take and through every person I meet.

May all of our actions be inspired by Love, and may we begin again, each moment, with forgiveness.