You can feel it. There's a lot of negative energy swirling about, a lot fear and anger. It's in the news, it's on the radio, it's on the Internet, and it may even appear in your Facebook newsfeed or in your home. How do you handle all of this energy? How do you maintain your equilibrium and avoid getting "sucked in" to the fray?

To begin, let's understand how geese migrate. You've seen them flying in their "V" formations, knowing which way to go. How do they know where to go? Who's leading them? If one goose turns, the rest follows. How do they do that? They communicate with energy, just like every other life form on the planet. When one goose turns, the others pick up the signal, and they turn, too. They may fly in one "V" or several, but they all know where they're going and where they need to be to maintain formation.

People communicate energetically every day. We are electromagnetic beings. We communicate with our minds, our emotions, and with our spirit—all energy. So when we experience times like these where so much anger and negativity is present, we can feel it, and if we're not conscious, it often causes a sympathetic reaction in us. That is, it brings out our own anger and negativity. Like energy attracts like, and this causes a feedback loop that creates even more of that energy.

Our media reflects ourselves back to us, so the media is part of the problem. It is feeding the anger. If you can't read a news article without feeling angry, just stop reading them. Depending on how reading or hearing media makes you feel, you may need to take a vacation from it altogether. If that's difficult, avoid reading or watching the things that you know make you angry. Stick to the comics. Find spiritual content, anything to avoid engaging the negativity. On the other hand, if you trust yourself to read the news without engaging in it—without being invested in the outcome—then it's not a problem.

Being invested in the outcome is the same thing as trying to control the outcome. And of course, the only thing we can control is our thoughts and our reactions to things. But as we know, our thoughts are very powerful. Whatever we give energy to with our thoughts and feelings, we create. So if we focus on the negativity and anger—even to argue against it—we are contributing to it.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
—Mahatma Gandhi

We cannot promote peace and love if we are angry and negative. If we engage anger, we often become angry ourselves. If we find peace within ourselves, we can have peaceful thoughts and feelings, and we can more successfully divest from the negativity. It sounds easy, but...

We are human beings, and we feel things. We will feel negative emotions. This is not a problem, and it does not make anyone a bad person. It only becomes a problem when that is the only thing we can feel—when we live in anger and negativity as a way of being. Likewise, if we seek peace, we will find it. We probably won't feel it 24/7, though. Other feelings will get in there. But the point is to make the effort. Spend some time each day with the idea of being at peace. Seek out the things that cultivate peace in you, such as quiet music, meditation, yoga, a good book or movie. Seek out the things that enhance your feelings of love and peace, and avoid those things that bring out your anger and negativity.

As you give your attention to loving, peaceful things, you will affect not only your reality, but the world as a whole. We need the geese in our formations to veer off into the direction of love and peace, and then more geese will follow, as they are affected by the energy of this change. Anger, negativity, and wars ("cultural" or otherwise) are not inevitable. Love and peace are much more powerful energies, and they can accomplish the seemingly impossible. But nothing is impossible.

If you fear for the future, know that this is negative thinking. Fear is always negative. Find positive thoughts to replace your fear thoughts. For example:

Old thought:  I am afraid for the future.
New thought:  Everything that is happening is in divine order, and I accept the changes that are necessary for a healed world.

Old thought:  I fear for the Earth. Our environment is a mess.
New thought:  The Earth is healing now, and change is a natural part of the healing process.

Old thought:  That really makes me angry!
New thought:  Why has this challenge presented itself to me?

Old thought:  As a spiritual person, I fail if I feel angry or sad.
New thought:  What is my anger or sadness trying to tell me?

There are always two sides to the coin. The glass is half-empty, or is it half-full? Just because we don't understand what's happening or see the bigger picture doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. Systems are changing. People are changing. The Earth is changing. Change is scary because it brings the unknown, and it reminds us just how out of control we really are. How you experience these changes depends entirely on how you choose to experience them. Can you embrace the change and know that you will be protected and safe? Or will fear guide your choices? As always, you are the creator of your experience.

Related articles:

• To heal, feel
• Out of control
• Fearing the worst
• Psychic warfare
• Letting go of violence