by Peter Perkins
I am sure many of you are aware that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a serious threat to the ecology.
I remembered holding my breath when the Chinese coal tanker struck the Great Barrier Reef near Australia. I was relieved when it was dealt with so smoothly and with minimum harm. It was a wake up call to the world to pay attention and yet since it was handled so easily and far shorter than the time originally estimated people went about their lives as if it had never occurred. The world went back to sleep the way it usually does unless something personally impacts their own life. We are all connected what effects some of us effects all of us. The thought that oh it’s on the other side of the world it doesn’t effect me is a false one.
The wake up call came again when BP had an accident in the Gulf of Mexico that lead to a massive ecological catastrophe. Make no mistake this is a major catastrophe that impacts not only the Gulf of Mexico. The oil is poisoning the water and in an effort to show that everything is connected it is coming ashore and killing life not only in the ocean, but sea birds, and land animals that live near those coasts. People are only now waking up to just how bad it is because it is personally impacting their lives.
We see a lot of anger now at BP, as fishermen and others who made their lives off the coast have effectively lost everything. Tourism is being impacted not only there but in Florida, where tourism is their life’s blood. Yet anger doesn’t solve the problem, it draws attention to the problem, and at least in this perhaps it could work as a positive force. Anger, like fear, is destructive emotions and only serves to empower it. You might ask yourself, “How could anger or fear feed the problem?”
I will give but a few examples and won’t even begin to talk about the metaphysical aspects of negative energy feeding off of it; instead I will speak plainly in terms everyone will be able to understand.
The workers who are trying to solve the problem are under an incredible amount of pressure. This is without taking into consideration any emotions, they are simply in a position where all eyes are on them and BP is thinking mostly of the loss of money. (Fear of loss.)
Those workers don’t live in a vacuum though – they see the anger on television and the radio. They know people are growing more and more dissatisfied and I am sure they are trying their best to handle the spill. Still this (Anger) only serves to make the pressure they are under to get this done even more. We all know that under a great amount of pressure people make mistakes, they don’t sleep as well and they are not as effective. Then there is the (fear) of letting people down, of losing their jobs and fear for their families that someone vengeful will take out this problem on their families.
I have seen fear grow in another life. I tell you this here and now, it most certainly feeds on itself and grows. Just like the anger and fear build over the spill it grows steadily damaging more and drawing more anger and generating more fear.
How then, how can we stop such a thing? Fear paralyzes, it makes you think you can do nothing. If you’re afraid of something, you try to avoid it. It is so simple; you need to face fear head-on. Nothing makes fear retreat more then boldly facing it. You see, fear cannot standup to its positive opposite bravery. It just can’t do it.
I am so very, very proud to see so many people facing the problem bravely. Instead of turning away in fear feeling as if there is nothing they could do, people are stepping up. BP has received over ten thousand ideas from people all over the globe on ways to handle the spill and clean it up afterwards. Instead of running from the problem and saying “It’s BP’s problem not mine.” people are aware that we are connected. They have woken up to the fact; harm to the oceans is harm to them. I applaud all of the people who have contributed to BP ideas on how to deal with this tragedy. If even one of these ideas is effective then it has the ability to impact the world. Could you imagine if ten or a hundred of these ideas are effective? Good-bye fear, you’ve been met with courage and bravery.
Now as to anger, it is as simple as dealing with fear. Its positive opposite simply needs to be brought in to bare on the problem – love. This too is happening, people who love their land, love their ocean and the wildlife is stepping up. We are seeing compassion for the wild life and efforts to try to help creatures that are certainly not human. Once again people are waking up to the idea we are not separate but all part of a whole. What happens when anger is faced with love and compassion? Just like fear it retreats from its positive opposite. We can face these problems not just in the face of the BP oil spill disaster but in our own lives. Are there problems that seem insurmountable in your life? Face them with bravery and love you may just see a problem that seems impossible to deal with evaporate before your eyes.
I feel very strongly about this article, and I hope that it spreads even beyond this blog. It is important for the people who have been giving ideas and those who are spending time and resources to help the wild life and to minimize the damage to know we are behind you 100%. Likewise I want people to know the more personal truth that problems in our own lives may be faced as well.
With Love,
Peter
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