What you want, need and have to do

Being at peace is understanding the differences of doing what you want, doing what you have to and doing what is needed. There are people such as those who fill the ranks of Daesh. These people will take every advantage to gain power over others. That is what they want to do. They do not need to and they certainly do not have to yet they are. The cost of these people wreaking havoc is bringing the entire world into fear. Again there are the option of wanting to fear, having to fear and needing to fear. We live with uncertainty every day and terrorism ads to the list of fears. However we also know that the best way to counter the actions of Daesh is to have a strong, supportive, loving and friendly community. It starts with saying hello to your neighbours, building relationships and allowing for unsettling times to be dealt with in a calm manner. In the world of politics we often get people who spit facts, history, rights, laws, morals and orders all to defend or justify their actions. Well this is the exact tactic being used by Daesh in their management of savagery guide book. There is no room for the other person in the plan, no diversity, no flexibility and certainly the end result is no peace. The war of power and influence is part of the experience we live in. At the moment we have pending wars in the South China Sea, A resurgence of the Cold War and it looks as though the Crusades have sparked up again. Why? What do we have to learn about killing each other that we have not already learned? We have proven that the best countries in the world to live are those that are the most peaceful. The most desired communities are those that have friendly, supportive, peaceful neighbours. Yet there are those that still want, need and have to wage war.

Solutions

Every time I write about an issue (when I complain) there is always the point of making sure there is a solution. There are three basic steps to every solution. First we explore what peace is, then we act in a peaceful manner and the third step is to support others peace. Here is an example of what I am writing about. http://www.peacedirect.org/us/the-power-of-one-peace-activist-in-pakistan-sails-story/

Motivations for peace

The connections of actions and reasons are the motivations for our behaviours. Of all the books, teachings, speeches and quotes about peace, there is no replacing actions. From actions we can begin to understand the reasons why we do things. Life involves every possibility in existence. That means there will be harms done on purpose and some that are unintended. In simple terms, at some point we all get a rock in our shoe if you walk long enough. The rock had no intentions of being in your shoe but still it ended up in there. Then there are time when the rock just will not stay out of your shoes. Everyone knows a person that enjoys being a pest. You know a person that will poke you just to see you get agitated. These people are part of life, as are the people that constantly complain and argue. How we deal with these people is the art of peace. For the most part we are able to be a peaceful society in the grand vision of the world. Then there are the moments when peace is completely thrown out of the way, which Daesh is all about. This is where peace is most tested. We can not ignore them, nor can we rid ourselves of them quickly. We must act to protect ourselves from such acts of terrorism. This puts us in a situation where peace is in a dangerous position. We must face reality that protection can mean killing another. This puts us in a direct contradiction of what peace seeks to be. This is the reason for what is deemed a last resort and also we must acknowledge that violence is often a first resort for some. Long term solutions using a peaceful approach is one of education. We need to understand the motivations of those that work to disturb peace. This needs to take place at an individual level first and foremost. At the individual level, people will seek out like minded people. Then the inner circle begins, thought becomes insulated, supported and grows. Peace is a flexible environment, hate and violence is very rigid. Oddly enough there is an element of hate that is quite interesting. Often the things we hate are more about changes we want to make in our own personal lives more than who or what we are directing hate and anger towards. Let that element take root in your thoughts when you seek to understand your motivations to act.

Unintended Consequences

Currently we are seeing past leaders such as Tony Blair put to the fire for the outcomes of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Now, I have written many times in various words that peace takes a great deal of projected thought. Often we act within moments of blind knowledge. Those acts bring us unknown reverberations. For those that seek lasting and real peace, they understand the impact of acting with blind knowledge or seeing unintended consequences. In such situations we often hear the phrase – “had I known at the time this would have been the outcome, I would have done something else”. It is within this phrase that the need to understand the reality of unintended consequences is paramount, especially within the context of war. However, there are some that will say that we have no clue what an unintended consequence can be. Yet, when we are dealing with peace we have a great understanding of what will transpire. What we have little knowledge of is the impact of war. Even though we have been engaging in war for thousands of years we have a wide knowledge base of how to get into war and manage war. Sadly we lack proficient skills with finishing or avoiding war at the global leadership level. One great example of unintended consequences is Alfred Noble and dynamite. He immediately witnessed the unintended uses of dynamite as a terrorist tool to kill others. Other areas of concern deals with technology. An example is the wide use of internet and global internet security. On one side, the use of the internet is great for sharing ideas and information widely and instantly. On another side we have not seeing as much theft of information. We are all experimenting with life and there are some things that we just can not know unless we take action. From a peace perspective we know that we can understand a great deal more of what will transpire than if we acted with non-peaceful mind.

Borders, culture, control and identity

If you have ever read my About Me side bar, thank you. Truly though, that side bar explains how connected I see everything in this world is. At the moment we have Britain leaving the European Union while the entire continent of Africa is seeking a single passport system. We also have an old rivalry heating up between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Further to these evolving dynamics we have the emergence of the Asian Development Bank and the Trans Pacific Partnership. In each of the above elements, there are global impacts which will have consequences for many individuals. It is the task of each individual to remain at peace during difficultly. These conflicting times really test our resolve to be peaceful. I think we have come to a point where we understand that war, violence, killing each other solves very little. Now at the same time I understand that insanity is a large factor of life and someone will act with deadly force. An example is Daesh (ISIS) and we must also note that every country has episodes of insanity. For example the Iraq war, Ukraine, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo and other civil wars should have all been avoided. Sadly they could have been avoided. Today, we must see the wisdom of peace. We must understand the large dynamics of global peace within the smaller elements of life, whatever realm we work within. No country will go without having some impact of Britain leaving the European Union just as no country has gone without being impacted by the Syrian war. Peace is very much about managing todays upheavals in context of tomorrow relational needs. This is where all the wisdom quotes, clichés, axioms and catch phrases come into play. However, what is needed is for us to actually act in the manner of those wise words. For those words to take hold we must understand why we need to act in such a manner. To answer the why question, the largest question that is before us is – What are we building. We are building, cultures, identity, homes and doing so within a set boundary. Each of us will have a different goal and path that will intertwine with everyone, thus conflict. Due to this natural occurrence we must control ourselves as we cross boundaries and culture. These are the experiments of life each of us engage in, whether we like it or not.