Groundedness

     “Being A World That Works for Everyone!

Experiencing that we have a family of eight billion members and counting.

A combination of many things listed here in random order:

A World That Works for Everyone already exists.

Experiencing that you are loved without condition.

There are those who suffer needlessly.

You experience that all violence and damage arises from fear and insecurity.

You experience that your value and worth in the world is the equivalent of anyone who has ever lived or may ever live.

You are worthy because you are breathing.

All solutions require honest discussion and coming to a grounded decision.

You experience that grounded solutions are rooted in unconditional love.

The experience of being able to love one of eight billion and counting.

Experiencing that your value and worth are a given, not a function of anything you have or have not done, achieved or not, thought or said.

You count (matter) and so does every other being.

You experience that love is the essence of all living beings.

You are disciplined.

You experience that everything is interconnected; everything impacts everything else.

You keep agreements or, if necessary, renegotiate with integrity.

You strive to be present in this moment, and this one and this one as well.

You listen as if you were the person speaking.

You are complete with and have learned from the past. Anything that arises, you take care of immediately, not put off until another time.

You are determined, consistent and persistent.

You experience there is always a choice, though not always a pretty one.

Loving-kindness is the foundation of groundedness.

You experience miracle in everything.

You are truly present wherever you are.

You are impeccable with your words, always speaking the truth with compassion and understanding.

You begin the day with self-care, experiencing the miracle, feeling the interconnectedness and deciding how you will be today.

All beings are sacred.

You experience that the capacity for all things, wonderful and damaging, reside within all people.

All damage comes from ungrounded human beings.

You do not take things others do personally.

Here are some quotes that express aspects of grounded experience.

Socrates, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, “Because you are alive, everything is possible.”

Helen Keller, “Security is an illusion. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of men and women as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Don Miguel Ruiz, “Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

Ann Rand, “We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.”

Nelson Mandela, “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”

Mother Teresa, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Jane Goodall, “And if we dare to look into those eyes, then we shall feel their suffering in our hearts. More and more people have seen that appeal and felt it in their hearts. All around the world there is an awakening of understanding and compassion, and understanding that reaches out to help the suffering animals in their vanishing homelands. That embraces hungry, sick, and desperate human beings, people who are starving while the fortunate among us have so much more than we need. And if, one by one, we help them, the hurting animals, the desperate humans, then together we shall alleviate so much of the hunger, fear, and pain in the world. Together we can bring change to the world, gradually replacing fear and hatred with compassion and love. Love for all living beings.”

Albert Boothby, “That would make you the problem. You must learn to love the bigot and hate the action or things will never change.”

Rumi, “Close the door of words
that the window of your heart may open.
To see what cannot be seen
turn your eyes inward
and listen, in silence.”

Anthony de Mello, “These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness.”

St. Francis de Sales, “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, “For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”

Albert Boothby, “You have more to learn from absolutely everyone than you will ever know.”

Jane Goodall, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

© The Boothby Institute, 2022, bill cumming & grace m. smith
(Revised 7/21/23)

© Reprinted by G-Core 365 with permission from The Boothby Institute