This is, I’m sure, something we all feel at some stage during our lives, or maybe even something that hangs over us as we walk our life path.
Specifically write to this, as is It’s something that’s been in my face for much of this life. From growing up in a religious sect, in a dysfunctional family, having close friends who have been on the side of massive injustice and then coming out into this world traveling, seeing the scars of war, genocide, and hideous crimes against humanity, for the most part, many humans today live in disconnected & sick societies where injustice is rife.
Traveling abroad, spending time overseas and seeing global injustice on a wider and larger scale is something that I never prepared myself for!
As the journey unfolded, I saw the leftover effects of brutal wars, some of the most horrific genocides committed amongst humanity, the exploitation of children and women, and the abuse of nature & our host planet, the earth, on levels i never thought were even possible.
Currently, we have a global system of governance that’s held up in the large part by small numbers of rich, greedy and corrupt people. We have war hungry nations like the USA that have created almost 60 wars in less than a century. The sickness of greed that cripples individuals, nations and corporations.
Its a hard topic to ignore when injustice is all around us, and you’ve seen and experienced so much of it.
Seeing with my own eyes the scars of war left behind in Vietnam and the people still suffering horrific affects generations on, one of the ugliest genocides in Cambodia where much of the population was wiped out (kids, babies, the lot), seeing and hearing firsthand about the ongoing rape, pillage and murder of our indigenous people globally, the brutal scars of colonization that generations on are still dealing with today, seeing 48 children killed in one month alone in Cambodia from landmines left behind from the wars in Southeast Asia.
These are very real, raw and hard to stomach injustices and the list is long…
The question is how can we overcome, live with this feeling of helplessness that some of us face so it doesn’t affect our well-being or our daily lives?
Maybe one of the first things is to acknowledge it, that there are injustices in this world, and much of it is outside our control. Despite how heavy it may feel not to take this weight of the world onto our own shoulders and let it affect our day-to-day lives.
From experience, I look back at periods of my own life where i carried the pain and injustice of others and it has had catastrophic effects on me personally. Carrying this weight around with you, consciously or unconsciously, drags you down into places that are not healthy or empowering for your life.
Eradicating injustice from our own lives, however that looks and taking stands within our own families, communities, and countries, within organizations, corporations, politically or even internationally, all have a significant effect.
These stands, however big or small, may not seem like much, but in the face of things we are facing collectively, they are significant.
Can you imagine if half or even a quarter of the global population took their own personal stand against injustice? How quickly things would shift?!?!
These stands we each can take will dissolve and take away this feeling of helplessness and transform it into empowered action that will create ripple effects out into the world.
We live in a time when the world has become more polarized. With national and international tensions on the rise as well as injustice, its becoming very clear its not something we can ignore or shy away from any longer.
Instead, we can look at it in the eye and say ok, its there, how can i make a difference?
Maybe it’s personal injustice that’s happened to you, people you know, family, friends or within a community.
Maybe start by looking at yourself and your own life deeply and saying, “Okay, let’s do a review.
Maybe there’s a bunch of weights you can personally put down, weights of injustices of things that happened to you or loved ones, maybe you’ve been carrying this weight too long and its time to release or transform it?
Maybe put some weights down, so you can move forward and take more direct action, freer with more energy and vitality.
Now you’ll feel lighter, and in time, you can use that to empower your life and take your part in standing up to injustices where you see fit, however big or small.
As we individually and collectively take stands against injustice, things in our world will shift. Not only in our personal lives but on a global level. This will create change and a better future for the generations that follow in our footsteps.
Taking a good look at our own lives, starting there and making the necessary changes and shifts. Then, with courage and a renewed energy, go about your life, taking your own unique personal stand against injustice.
This will have ripple effects in the world around you.
As we each empower ourselves through this process, we can change injustice to justice, war into peace, and hate into love.
Zac West 