It feels quite the daunting task to take a look at a question such as “How can I help this world?” I am no authoritarian.  I am no researcher of factual information – whatever that means anyways. I have no letters after my name that would inspire people to listen to me. However, what I do have is field work done in the laboratory of life.

It seems like everybody has answers to what is taking place in the world today, but if those answers were true answers, don’t you think we’d see a different world playing out on the screen of our lives instead of a repetitive one of continued pain and suffering?

Could it be that what we think of as change is simply a “rearranging of furniture” and not true change? I ask that because if it were true change, the same patterns of hatred, violence and unkindness that we see in this world now wouldn’t continue to come around again and again if they were true answers.

Most of us are familiar with the quote “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – the law of retaliation. It’s the idea that if someone does something wrong, that person should be punished by having the same thing done to them.

Unknown to many in this world is spiritual law that runs through this one consciousness that we all share a part in. We are all connected, each and every one of us, in and through this consciousness. The law of karma exists as a principle that is built into this consciousness. What harm we do to others, we first instantaneously experience the pain of ourselves.

That law, if understood, is our greatest gift.

To know and understand that the idea of taking personal retaliation isn’t necessary because spiritual law fulfills itself. I want to be clear here, I’m not saying that dangerous behaviors don’t need addressing, but what if people truly knew that what they do to others, they first do to themselves.

If I knew that the pain of judgment, blame, hatred, violence and resentment was first the pain added to myself, would I work more diligently at watching myself and the thoughts that cross my mind and any actions they are pushing me to take?

If it is one consciousness (and it is), then not adding to the pain level in that consciousness is something helpful we can do. There are countless ways to help in that regard. Here are just a few things we can do in any given moment:

• Let go of the need of having to be right, to prove our point
• Let go of the need to explain ourselves for any action we are taking or have taken
• Let go of the need to gossip or speak negatively about others
• Let go of the need to add our opinion to a conversation
• Let go of the need to have the last word
• Let go of the need to bring up negative current events that are taking place in the world
• Let go of the need to use force in any way, shape or form
• Let go of the need to fix others

In letting these things go in the moment, we experience a suffering of sorts, because the patterns of those old part of ourselves that we have allowed to manifest for eons are fighting for their right to continue to do so.

If we suffer them properly by not resisting them but letting the need for them to pass through, we help not only ourselves but the world as a whole, because it’s all one thing, one consciousness. The law of karma is then used in the proper way where I first reap the goodness that is bestowed upon “others” and the world.

There is a certain level of rebirth that takes place in that moment. It is the true meaning of laying down your life for another. We can do this drop by drop, moment by moment, individual by individual. Little drops of positive energy that really aren’t little at all as they truly change the world.

Terri Knuth (a/k/a Terri Poppins) started an on-call nanny business in 2009 after a 31-year career as a paralegal because she felt a certain calling to work with children. She has cared for well over 100 families with children of all ages, including doing respite care for special needs children. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, swimming, and attending classes at the Life of Learning Foundation, a center for self-study. You can find more information on her site: www.terri-poppins.com.

Image courtesy of Anna Shvets.