Every couple of years I get an alert on my iPhone that lets me know it’s time to upgrade my operating system. The new iOS inevitably comes with critiques and complaints as consumers pump the brakes on Apple’s desire to make change. They force us to shift our expectations about this new component of their technology regardless if we think we need it or not. Eventually, the noise dies down and even the most resistant hold-outs opt to upgrade for better system performance and to help our devices stay relevant.
As this political season accelerates towards the primaries I can’t help but think of the ways that our society is in need of upgrading its system to remain relevant in order to best address modern life. Resistance to change has locked whole factions of Americans into bitter debates and gross accusations about who will benefit from what and who is being left to wither.
Old systems are wreaking havoc with the daily lives of individuals and sabotaging best efforts at collective evolution. Our systems are not much different from ourselves. How often do we really sit to think about all the cells that die and grow and die every day in our bodies? What are the ways in which we forget our renewal? We are not the same humans we were a month ago let alone 10 or 15 years ago. We certainly are not the same society we were 25 years ago. On a personal level, many of us accept that emotional and physical growth requires work –inner and outer. Discipline wakes us up to what’s possible.
What’s possible is not the same as what’s known.
We seek answers to questions we have never asked as we expect guidance from people who have not earned it. The ways in which we divert our power towards external forces that may not have our best interests in mind gives us a hint of our potential. We seek leaders in lieu of stimulating our own competency.
Every so often, we are gifted with a lucid moment. It happens many more times a day than you think. A moment where the decision tree branches into a thousand different possibilities for who you will become and the world in which you will live. It is a world within a world within a world. A possibility within a possibility that screams for your attention louder than any handheld device.
But it requires system upgrades: little tweaks along the way that require full attention to act from a place that prioritizes your greatest growth to get the best performance out of the life into which you were pushed. Yes, pushed.
With all the effort that you and your Mother could summon you were pushed forth and called into the Earth for a purpose more grand than you could possibly know. You and all the people who were born into this generational cycle have a connection greater than technology. Our energy is electric, capable of great wonders. Great wonders that come from the smallest feats of everyday choices and a disciplined mind. We have more tools than ever before to aid us in any way we choose to walk. Modern life requires adaptation, attention, and discipline to function at its best. Upgrade often.
