Peace Within Polarity

There are a lot of polarities we humans deal with inside ourselves all the time. Perhaps the most pervasive and persistent one is the pull/push duality.

This can manifest as yes/no, seeking/avoiding, desire for connection/ desire for solitude, attachment/ aversion, and so on. Fundamentally these are all just varieties of a fundamental division within us where we want things that are mutually exclusive.

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Try as we might, we will never reconcile these competing forces within our minds. They cannot be reconciled for they truly are mutually exclusive.

But we also don't have to be knocked back and forth by them indefinitely, forever plagued by dissatisfaction for one reason or another.

The Key To Stopping the War

If we are to stop the war within ourselves, we have to reconcile these forces within our hearts. You see, each of these polarities carries an energy.

It stands to reason when you hear the word "polarity," doesn't it? It's not just an idea, but an actual energy.

Try it for a moment to see for yourself:

Think of something you really enjoy, and feel desire. Let your entire body fill with the feeling of intense desire....

Now shake it off and come back to empty.

Then think of something you really hate about your government or society, about "the way things are." Think of this thing and feel intense repulsion toward it, as if your entire being was rejecting it. Let your entire body fill with the feeling of this repulsion....

Doesn't feel very good, does it? Well shake it off, and come back to empty.

Finally, think of both of these things and allow their energy to arise, but instead of letting them engulf you, just hold the energies in the area of your chest around your heart. Focus your attention there as you think about the wanted and unwanted things and feel them.

Just feel it for a minute, without explaining it or analyzing it. Be with both feelings at the same time, and notice that nothing bad happens. You aren't torn apart. There is nothing to fear or resist. There is just this moment, just as it is.

Then let it go.

You can see from this little experiment that these polarities can be felt energetically. And this energy can also be integrated. It can be brought to a place of peaceful coexistence.

Yes doesn't suddenly become no or vice versa. They continue to be two different energies.

But we discover that within the heart, difference does not mean war.

The next time you're feeling torn about something, with part of you saying yes to it and part of you saying no, give this a try. Find the energy of each feeling and then allow them to coexist in the area of your chest around your heart. Just sit with them.

Don't reach for understanding. You don't need to be able to explain how they are reconciled to yourself or another. Hopefully you don't need to take action right away, and can let them sort themselves out within the manifestations of your life, just by your reconciling their energies.

This is a mysterious world!