“The Secret of Change is to focus all of your Energy, not on fighting the Old, but on Building the New.”

-Socrates

Perhaps one of the most influential quotes of my life recently, this short verse tells you all you need to know in order to bring about the happiest possible existence for yourself, your community, and the world at large. I’d like to dedicate this post to the continual evolution of our species as a whole; to finding our true purpose and living it each and every day.

What is Change?

Let’s talk Change for a second. As we’ve established before, Change is the eternal constant. The only thing we can rely on is that this too shall pass, and the future holds in it limitless possibilities to what we can achieve, because the old will always give way to the new. We may experience our history as a repetition of itself, and for very good reason: to teach us the lessons we need in order to form the new ideal for the world and ourselves. This does not mean that change isn’t happening; we still all experience life and death, joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, in an endless kaleidoscope of visions, feelings, and interactions.

So what sort of Change is Socrates referring to, when he says we should focus our energy on “Building the New” rather than “Fighting the Old?” If you know much about Socrates, you know that he was ever diligent in improving the human condition through means of education, critical thought, expanding awareness, and examining our future potential. A man so dedicated to proactive change must be speaking only of shifting our consciousness to become more aligned with each other and the entire expanse of the Universe.

In Western society, so much emphasis is placed on the individual that we have forgotten the truth of where we came from: the atoms that make up our bodies existed as stars and stardust billions of years before our comprehension of consciousness. Separateness is an illusion, as most of the matter that our bodies consist of contains empty space (aka dark matter). This fact, combined with the knowledge that our beings are made of pure light energy, means that we are more intertwined than we can ever imagine while anchored in the physical reality of the 5 senses.

What significance does all this have in the process of Change? Well, the Old way of understanding the Universe and ourselves is now outdated. We no longer need to believe that we are alone in our personal lives or as intelligent beings occupying this galaxy. We are all in this together, so we must work together to form a New way of understanding in order to bring about the world that we all envision for ourselves. The purpose of individuality is to allow our unique consciousness to fully experience itself, and in that experience to remember who we really are and what we are here on Earth to do. This is what Socrates always sought to do in his own life and his lessons and interactions with others. He inspired so many to develop their personal talents, to enact proactive change in their own lives, their local communities, and the human community at large.

Now that we have revisited the process of Change and established that Socrates is referring to proactive and developmental (rather than destructive) Change, we can begin to explore the difference between fighting the Old and Building the New.

Stop Fighting the Old

First of all, what does it even mean to “Fight the Old?” We’ve established that the Old is the self-centered view that we are each separate from each other, in a mortal struggle to live out a single life, only to die alone and dissolve back into the Earth (we will ignore the discussion of the afterlife for the time being). This way of thinking brings not only selfishness rather than selflessness, but it can lead to greed, suffering, destruction, and tyranny. All of these conditions are proponents of what we will call destructive change. They reverse forward progress and force us to begin our experience over and over again until we learn the lessons needed to break free from the cycle of death and destruction. Some would call this the antithesis of Enlightenment.

So, what are we really fighting when we fight the Old? We are fighting an outdated thought process. We are fighting a tradition of brutality and aggression. We are fighting an IDEA. What does fighting an idea solve? Is this even a tangible concept? The only effective or even possible way of fighting an idea is through critical thought and debate. Action cannot dissolve an idea if there are those who wish to hold onto it, perpetuate it, and manipulate it to their own purposes. Nay, the only real way to dissolve an idea is to introduce an adaptation of that idea that can be accepted by the mind that holds onto the original. This adaptation must be, if any forward progress is to be made, NEW to the individual. If you introduce an old way of thinking, or try to completely counter or refute this idea, you will only be met with apprehension, aggravation, or outright mutiny.

When you tell someone they are WRONG, what happens? Do they accept it if they do not see it? Of course not. Rather, they will do whatever is in their being to stand up for their original idea, hence completely rejecting your introduction of a new idea, no matter how relevant and helpful it may be to their life. We see this on an individual level, as well as on the communal, religious, and global scale. Different cities compete with each other and send hateful thoughts and actions towards one another. Religions cause rifts between large groups of people by spreading hateful lies and ideas about one another. Countries war over resources that can be shared, or over mere ideals for the human condition. This is all a result of fighting the Old. We must progress to Building the New if we are ever going to end violence and separation, and bring about peace and unity among all livings beings.

Start Building the New

Building the New is a difficult concept to wrap your head around. It involves developing an Ideal form for the human condition that can be transmuted to all other languages, cultures, and walks of life. This sounds daunting, because it is. In addition to considering all other humans (most of whom we will never meet), we must consider all other life forms that inhabit the Earth, as well as the Earth herself, with her natural resources and elements that allow life to exist.

The goal of Building the New is to create the highest good for all beings (we are including the Earth as a being as well). When all beings are experiencing the highest good, our vibrations will be the highest, allowing us to easily connect our physical selves with our higher selves. We must focus on Building a world that takes away violence to others, violence to self, harm of the Earth, waste of natural resources, destruction of important elements (ie Earth’s atmosphere), judgment of others, self-hate, and Fear as a way of thinking and living.

When we are able to remove these aspects of human life, we begin to pave the way to connection with our higher selves, and bring about evolution of our species to the next stage of existence; one of harmony with the Earth and all her inhabitants. This next level of humanity will be one of internal and external peace between humans, protection of the Earth, conservation of our natural resources, sustainability of important elements that are crucial to life on Earth, acceptance of others and of self, and will bring about Love as a way of thinking and living.

There is no better existence than the one mentioned above, and this would bring us into perfect unity with each other and all life on Earth. The specifics of this existence have always eluded the greatest thinkers, philosophers, spiritual leaders, and scientists. We cannot wait for the experts to formulate their Ideal to distribute to the rest of us. We must all form our own personal Ideal. We must be self-governing. We must be self-choosing, for no one else decides the way we think and live. We are completely free as individuals to start living TODAY, the exact lives we wish to see in the entirety of the Earth and the surrounding Universe.

So the question is, how do we get there???

Focusing Your Energy

A great concept I was recently introduced to is called co-creation. Instead of the Old way of thinking that places ultimate power among a supreme omnipotent being, aka the “Creator,” the idea of co-creation suggests that each individual is a fragment of the whole, or in other words, we are all God. What implications does this have? Well, if we are each part of God, we all have the power of God, which means that we are all creators. But are we creating separate realities that do not intertwine or interact with other realities?

The answer is quite obviously, no. As aforementioned, we are all made of the same physical properties, so by that assumption, our nonphysical properties must also be similar if not the same. Since we are all fragments of the whole and are all creators, then the better term for each and every one of us is a co-creator. Therefore, if we all create this reality together, each of us has an incredibly crucial role to fulfill.

That role is impossible for anyone to describe for you. Each of us defines our own role is this existence. That is why “soul-searching” is so vitally important to discovering your true purpose and the limitless potential each of us has. The more we spend time with ourselves, the more we uncover of our identity, and remember who we were when our consciousness split from the whole. This recognition of our soul, unadulterated by the illusion of reality that has been placed upon us by religious leaders, corporations, and even our parents (in some cases), leads us to the spiritual path of Enlightenment that many people spend their lives working towards.

Once you begin to remember your true self and are shown the full picture of your soul, you will start to see where you fit into the grand design which we have all co-created. You will begin to realize your purpose and what gifts and passions you can bring to this reality. As your gifts and passions come to fruition in the physical reality we all share, your individual effort will raise the vibration of your own being and all of those around you who experience your art. Yes, what you bring to this world that is inspired by your true nature is completely unique and will always be considered art. Art has so many forms that it can never be contained in one definition, but it is the channeling of your higher being into the physical realm for all to experience.

As you continue to develop and refine your art, you will be harnessing the limitless potential of the Universe into your individual effort. This is what it means to Focus Your Energy. We are all beings of light, and light is energy, therefore your expression of your true self can be considered a focusing of that energy. When you do this, you are creating something the Universe has never experienced before in this current state of reality, and you will truly be Building the New.

As long as what you co-create in the physical realm does not violate the earlier described principles of non-violence, non-judgment, and non-waste, then you will be working to Build the foundation for a more peaceful existence and the highest good for not just yourself, but for all beings. The good news is that the channeling of your energy into physical artwork can never harm others because it is a representation of the everlasting beauty that exists in all of us and is implicate in all of the Universe. No single person alive (or dead) could ever define art as death, destruction, or chaos. Art is proactive change, not destructive. Although art may depict destruction, it cannot and never will bring about destruction. I welcome debate on this topic, but I think it will be short-lived.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. We have analyzed the ancient words of Socrates about as far as they will go. You now know what Change is, and what is the Secret behind it. After reading this article, if you are able to take it to heart, hopefully you will begin to let go of those things that you cannot change; you will stop Fighting the Old. Now you will realize that the only real way to enact peace and positive change in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours is for each and every individual to find themselves, Focus their Energy, and begin Building the New, which can only be defined as sharing your art with the world. Stop being afraid of what might happen, let go of your thoughts of rejection and failure, and realize that the more you share your gifts and passions with others, the more you will raise the vibrations of this reality to one where we can all exist in harmony with one another. I love each and every one of you, even though I’ve probably never met you. I hope you enjoyed this piece as much as I did writing it, for it is my gift and my passion. Please feel free to comment below. Namaste.