Responding to Disaster

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BE WELL! ™

Between-Issues Special Edition

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17 March 2011 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ISSN:1549-0017

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Published for The Science of Being Well Network
by Dr. Alexandra Gayek
http://www.scienceofbeingwell.net

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This special edition comes to you in answer to some of the
questions raised by the sudden and dramatic change in our world
this week caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, so soon
after the earthquakes in New Zealand and Haiti, floods in
Australia, and amidst so much war.

On my island at least, here on the west coast of the USA, there
are lots of people who are extremely nervous about impending
nuclear disaster, on top of their distress about what has already
happened.

I’m writing this as much for myself as for you, as I seek to find
my own peace and clarity, and I humbly offer these thoughts to
you. I hope you’ll add your own thoughts below.

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SOME QUESTIONS … SOME ANSWERS

What does The Science of Being Well have to do
with natural (or human-made) disasters?

While it appears that Mr. Wattles wrote SOBW for individual
healing, his ideas can also be applied on a larger scale.

In a way, what individuals and families face with unexpected
death of a loved one, an unexpected diagnosis of a serious
disease, a serious accident involving injury, and what
communities face after a hurricane, during epidemic disease,
drought, war, and other traumatic events are all different
versions and intensities of the same sorts of stress.

All these things involve events that seem beyond our control, and
that threaten or destroy our health, families, homes, livelihood,
communities — all the familiar structures that give us a sense
of security.

All of them bring up a similar range of emotions and reactions —
terror, numbness, denial, anger, overwhelm, apathy, guilt, shame,
confusion, anxiety, grief, the desire to rescue others, feeling
powerless…

And to all of them similar remedies may be applied to the
individuals involved. In this case, those individuals would be
everyone in the world who witnessed this event in person, on TV,
in any form of the news, or anyone who knows or knew people or
places involved. That includes me. You too?

So what are the remedies?

Once you and those in direct reach are out of immediate danger,
and a plan is begun for your basic needs for water, shelter,
clothing, food, the primary need all of us have no matter how
close or far we may be from the actual traumatic event, is …

…to accept that we are loved.

If this sounds strange, remember that when we experience trauma,
we all revert to pretty primative emotions, even if for a short
time. It’s human nature, and it’s predictable.

After dealing with immediate survival issues, we turn to make
sure we still belong, we’re accepted in the new order of things,
the changed situation. This becomes particularly important when
there is the appearance of scarce resources, and/ or there
appears to be continued danger. If we feel loved, we feel more
secure, and this helps us pull ourselves back to feeling
centered, thinking clearly, and able to function normally.

This is where Mr. Wattles’ ideas begin to come in. You are loved
unconditionally. The breath of your life is freely given to you,
with no requirement other than that you take it in. You are not
required to be brave, smart, compassionate, efficient, helpful, a
hero, a “good patient” or a “good person.”

If you are a survivor and others are not, you do not have to
prove that you are more deserving to be alive. Life is not
something you have to earn. So, the best thing you can do is to
breathe deeply of the life that is yours, and live it abundantly.

It is to no one’s advantage that you play small, live small,
wallow in guilt or shame, behave as if you do not deserve good
things. You can’t do yourself or anyone else any good this way.
It is to everyone’s advantage if you open yourself fully to the
power, energy, wisdom, health, and wealth that come naturally
when you ACCEPT the life that is “pressing in on you.”

*************

How does my living abundantly help the suffering
of people who have no shelter, food, water,
sanitation, or health care and who are thousands
of miles/ kilometers from me?

First, remember that we are all connected. At the level of
molecules and atoms, there is no separation between your body and
the air you breathe, the food you eat, and the water you drink.
In this way, you are continuous with every physical form, living
and non-living, on the planet.

Because of the ability of plants to make matter out of sunlight,
and the ability of animals, including you, to transform matter
into energy and energy into matter, you know that you are
continuous with every form of energy. This includes heat, light,
wind, electricity, gravity, magnetism, and yes the power of
earthquakes and tides and waves in the ocean. It’s all one.

When you understand how thoughts and emotions work in the
physical body, you will understand how your thoughts and emotions
are continuous with everything else.

So there is no way that what you think and do halfway around the
planet does not impact people who are suffering.

YOU MATTER AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHETHER YOU INTEND TO OR NOT.

You can, of course, take direct action that will have quicker and
greater impact, and there is plenty of information available
about how to do that. Remember though, that the intention and
emotion in your actions is at least as important as the actions
themselves.

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So does that mean people’s thoughts and actions
are to blame for causing the earthquakes and tsunami?

Mr. Wattles is very clear that there is no benefit to focusing on
the causes of problems (diseases, poverty, etc.) or speculating
on their likely outcomes. Nor is it useful to focus on the
disaster itself, or to judge or blame anyone.

What this means is that by allowing ourselves to be mesmerized by
hours of television that prompt us to gasp in horror and shock
and grief, we are actually pouring energy into perpetuating the
problem. And by spending time and energy worrying and being angry
over how what humans have done to wreck the natural environment
contributed to this disaster, or how all the violence we do to
one another around the planet surely is the cause, we are
contributing to the very energy we complain about.

Similarly, if we make predictions on all the terrible diseases
that will surely develop because of the conditions, how difficult
it will be to rebuild what’s been destroyed, all the obstacles
the rescuers will face, or what other “acts of nature” are sure
to come, we are again reinforcing the energy that feeds the
problems instead of turning our energy toward the solutions.

Regardless of what we choose to do to support distant rescue
efforts, the first place, always, is with ourselves. To focus
with love and compassion on the peace within ourselves and our
connection with our Source. When the impulses for our actions
come from this connection, and not from our fear or need to prove
ourselves, we cannot go wrong. We look to see where we can make a
difference creating peace and harmony right where we are, in our
own families, workplaces and communities, as well as how we can
reach out to those far away.

Mr. Wattles also directs us to act toward those in need with
respect for our common humanity rather than with pity. With a
vision of certainty of our common strength, wisdom, health, and
all positive things rather than be distracted by the appearance
of suffering and struggle, or the difference between “them and
us.” We’re all in this together, and we can drag each other down
or raise each other by our attitudes and actions.

In this way everything we do is focused on building the world in
which there is more life to all and less to none.

*************

But how can you trust God, Nature, the Formless
Substance, the Supreme Intelligence when it lets
these things happen? How can it be all good?

This question, “WHY do things happen?” is the foundation of all
of science, religion, philosophy — all our human attempts to
understand and make sense of our world. We humans like the
security of the idea that we can know how things work, that we
can control our world to have only what we like, that we can
preserve what we love. We fight wars over these things.

Mr. Wattles tells us that we go wrong when we attempt to figure
out the how and why of things, and instead to trust in a power
that may be greater than our ability to comprehend.

He asks us to CHOOSE to believe that there are no evil forces,
only the force of good, to CHOOSE to believe that all the natural
forces at work are those moving toward more abundant life for
all.

The appearance of our world is constant change. The seasons, the
weather, our bodies, our relationships, the economy… Much as we
may want to cling to our favorite parts, everything changes. At
the level of science we can understand, there is constant motion
in EVERYTHING, no matter how solid and still it may seem.

Sometimes the change is subtle, like gradual aging. Sometimes
it’s dramatic and abrupt, like these earthquakes and tsunami.

We can choose to think we are being buffeted about like hapless
victims in a world we can’t understand. We can choose to think we
are being punished, or are the victims of someone else’s bad
behavior, or even the collective “sin” of human nature.

Mr. Wattles suggests we choose to believe that we are not victims
at all, but are powerfully creative parts of a greater good, and
that we can influence the appearance of things to everyone’s
benefit by our participation in this belief.

He offers us a deeper security possible than what we can have by
hanging our beliefs on how things appear in the world. If we
choose to believe in his version of how the world works, we can
turn our attention from trauma, disease, problems and obstacles,
and focus instead on what we can be and do.

************

Thank you for being there to receive these thoughts. I welcome
yours, either on the blog, or directly to me, even if just to let
me know you are okay. You do matter, and I’m thinking about you.

============= SPECIAL FREE RESOURCE ===========

I highly recommend the lovely tapping audio Jessica Ortner made
to assist you. It’s free, takes only a few minutes, and you’ll
find it by clicking on the BLOG tab on this page:

-> http://www.scienceofbeingwell.net/tapping

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If this is an especially difficult time for you, please consider
taking advantage of an individual coaching session. You can
register for a session here:

-> http://www.scienceofbeingwell.net/consult.html

I’ll be back with you soon with lots of goodies in the normal
monthly edition of BE WELL!(tm)

Until then, I wish you infinite blessings.

Be well,
Alexandra
Dr. Alexandra Gayek

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BE WELL! ™ is a trademark of Alexandra Gayek, ND, Olga, WA

Copyright (c)2011 Alexandra Gayek, ND. You are welcome to quote

this entire ezine, if you include “by Dr. Alexandra Gayek, http://www.scienceofbeingwell.net”

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