Separate yet Connected

When I was younger, I believed that my thoughts were my private domain – that it was safe to think whatever I wanted without affecting anyone negatively.

Why?

Because I was a separate entity who could affect others only through my actions.

For example, I knew too well that acting negatively towards others could, of course, cause harm. However, thinking negative thoughts about others, provided that such thoughts were not backed up by actions, was – I thought – totally private and harmless.

As I studied more about the Law of Attraction and human motivation I began to realise the power of thought and the importance of sustained, positive thinking in getting desired outcomes.

[box type=\”shadow\”]“We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically.”

― Neil deGrasse Tyson[/box]

A primal web of energy

The more I learnt about thoughts, the more aware I became of the interconnectedness of everything and everyone in the universe. I started to reason that thoughts were energy forms that rippled through that sea of interconnectedness and that any thought could have consequences for myself and others.

In his book, The Divine Matrix, Gregg Braden talks of the existence of a “primal web of energy that connects our bodies, the world, and everything in the universe.”

Braden mentions experiments in quantum physics that show that the simple act of looking at a particle such as an electron can change its properties. In other words even the act of observation is an act of creation.

We may feel separate but we are most certainly not.

Thoughts matter more than we think

I have come to realise the effect that my day to day thoughts can have on the lives of others. When acting in the interests of others is not practical, simply thinking encouraging thoughts can have a real effect.

In researching the phenomenon of being connected to – while feeling separate from – others, I came across this delightful little fable.

Perhaps, like me, you will rethink the idea of throwing up your hands in situations where you feel powerless to act.

The mouse

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. \”What food might this contain?\” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed a warning to his animal friends: \”There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!\”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said \”Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.\”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him \”There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!\” The pig sympathized, but said: \”I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it right now.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said \”There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!\” The cow replied “Oh dear, Mr. Mouse. That must be scary for you, but it\’s no skin off my nose.\”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer\’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer\’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer\’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital for treatment but she returned home later with a nasty fever.

As we know, there’s little better for a fever than fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard to obtain the soup\’s main ingredient. Despite the nourishment, his wife\’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them all the farmer butchered the pig.

Sadly, the farmer\’s wife deteriorated and finally died. So many people came to attend her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for everyone.

The mouse, viewing proceedings from the safety of the crack in the wall, had at first been relieved not to have been caught in the trap. But now he felt great sadness for the unexpected demise of his animal friends.

The moral of the story

The next time you hear of a friend who is facing a problem don’t just think it doesn\’t concern you.

Remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved together in this journey called life. We should  keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Each of us is a vital thread in another person\’s tapestry!