Here in the US our elections have become increasingly
polarized. Whatever side you take, the
Other Guys are clearly dangerous madmen, intent on the willful destruction of
the government/environment/social contract through lust for power, control
and/or shortsighted greed.
Whether this government takeover is a triumph of Socialism
or Corporate Fascism, those on either extreme have amazingly similar fears of a
terrifying dystopian future. Talk about having common ground!
Many folks I know choose to tune out all the fear and doom
saying—trying to stay positive. But
with more and more climate related catastrophes every year, it’s easy to feel a
bit nervous…are there any grown ups in charge?
Shouldn’t we be doing something about the weather?
Regardless of your own political views, wouldn’t it be
lovely to help steer the Ship of State away from the Iceberg of Total
Catastrophe? Can tapping help? I believe it can!
Here is my 3-step program for political progress:
Step One: Make a list
Tapping works best by clearing negative emotions—fear,
anger, resentment, hopelessness, feelings of powerlessness…whatever is
stuck. So the first step is to make a
list of the things that bug you.
And while you’re at it, don’t be afraid to get extreme
here...and be as specific as you can. I
know you really want to stay positive and imagine a better future, but first
let’s clear the decks.
Step Two: Tap Like Crazy
Put your negative thoughts and feelings into some EFT
“set-up statements” and start tapping (if you don’t know how to tap, here is a simple tutorial on the basics). For
example:
“Even though I’m terrified that ________ will steal the
election, and the economy will crash and all the jobs will be shipped overseas
and I’ll be thrown out of work, and I won’t have health care, and there won’t
be any safety net and I’ll end up homeless, living on the street, eating out of
a dumpster or starving to death, I’d like to get to a calm and peaceful
place”
Reminder phrases: “this terror…lose my job….I’ll be
homeless…etc.”
“Even though the ____________ party wants to round us all up
and throw us into concentration camps and I’ll have to watch my family starve,
or be tortured, or else die in a bloody civil war, I deeply love and completely
accept myself and choose to trust that things could actually get better”
Reminder phrases: “being rounded up and put in a
camp….bloody civil war…etc.”
“Even though the corporations are controlling everything,
and the whole system is totally corrupt, and the candidates are just puppets
doing the bidding of their corporate masters, and it doesn’t even matter who
wins, all they care about is money and power and we’re all going to die in a
global catastrophe, I want to get to a calm and peaceful place and open myself
up to new possibilities”
Reminder phrases: “it’s hopeless…corporations call all the
shots…we’re all going to die…etc.”
Okay, these are some fairly extreme examples. It’s best to make your own list and really
dig up whatever is bothering you so you can tap it away.
Step Three: Envision a Brighter Future
Once you’ve tapped away the emotional intensity around your
negative feelings, make a new list of the best possible outcome you can
imagine. Write out the headlines you’d
like to see the morning after Election Day!
Don’t worry about being realistic here. In fact, give yourself space to be wildly
utopian. Go into as much detail as you need to get a really nice picture and
then tap:
“Even though I really don’t expect this to happen, and I
feel ridiculous for even dreaming it could happen, I love myself for wanting
this to happen”
Reminder phrases: just go through your list…say aloud every
item as you tap through the points and once in a while toss in the line “I know
this could never happen” (just to address your subconscious resistance) and
finish us with “why is it so easy for me to imagine these good things will
happen?…why is it so easy to allow myself to see this better future?”.
The idea behind this exercise is to get unstuck. By releasing your negative thoughts and
feelings around the election, your personal reality becomes more fluid, so to
speak. You are much more likely to slip
and slide into an Alternate Universe where wonderful things are happening. Give it a shot!
