The Times They Are A-Changin'

With a quick nod to Bob Dylan and his ageless lyrics, we can't deny... these times they are a-changin'. Dylan, recent winner of The Nobel Prize in Literature, was happy someone took the time to ask about whether his lyrics were actually literature. See, he was too focused on his own artist endeavors to worry about it.When asked what the song was about, Dylan rarely spoke on it. But Tony Attwood, a Dylan expert found this quote when Dylan said, it is "about the person who doesn't take you seriously but expects you to take him seriously." A-Changin'? The song was written in the early sixties, but the message is perfectly placed here in the 2000's.When dealing with change, and after decades of study, it's kind of easy to see what's happening. We are dissolving the identity that we held. Our identity as we knew it, is gone.We, in the United States, are in chaos. Whether you are a supporter of what's happening here, or not, this is the end of the world as we know it (as another famous musician sang...). We are all trying to create a world that we yearn for, a lifestyle that supports our heart's desires, but the condition we find ourselves in through this process is daunting. It sounds morbid but actually in the long run, it could be quite positive. That is, if love prevails.I'm a big believer that all decisions have their basis in love or in fear. Right now, what's happening in the US is all about fear. As a Martha Beck Master Coach, I am completely aligned with the idea of an essential self. The Self we come with, the self we are born with; and that that Self already knows what we desire. Then along the way we become socialized in the ways we think and feel about things. Our socialized belief systems begin to drive us, if we let them.Usually there is some kind of positive or negative catalytic event that moves us (or throws us) into a change cycle. But throughout our lives it's our job to find our purpose, to tune in to ourselves and seek out the essential breadcrumbs that lead the way. The gist of all coaching is to help you find your way and lovingly pick up each crumb to track the path and peel away the covers that allow your essential self to shine.In this national period of change - and oh, we have just stepped on the path! - it's exactly the same.The people that live in our nation create our nation. All those that want to find their purpose and tune into wherever those breadcrumbs are will bring us forward. The kicker is millions of us see "forward" one way, and millions of us see it another.So how do we begin to find our way and uncover our purpose as a nation? Will it be based in openness and acceptance (love), or will it be based in control and grasping (fear). We each get to decide.When trying to decide for yourself, I suggest you think about your own personal endeavors. Do you want to live with acceptance and liberation? Or do you want live with suppression and control? Neither one protects us from change, but again, you get to decide every single time you come to a fork on your path.Personally, I couldn't have said it better than Tony Attwood, "Yes, [Dylan] was right, the times were changing. I just wish that change had less to do with rampant capitalism and religious fundamentalism and more to do with humanity, honesty and perhaps most of all, trying to be a decent sort of bloke... But that's just me."