Our United Millennium: An Opinion
© Ann Catherine Pawelczyk, C.Ht.
How we live individually naturally spills over into the large-scale scheme of life and vice-versa –
we are cyclic beings living in a cyclic universe.
Areas affected by our individual beliefs, attitudes, and actions daily are collective and
omnipresent in politics, economy, finance, big business, and culture and society. The facets
that create these “institutions” are the very same varying blend of characteristics we embody
singly and that we share with the world.
All aspects of the “group” and whatever we choose to see are nothing more than a large-scale
reflection of the components that create the human condition - us.
“I” Syndrome
Subconsciously, through societal and cultural interactions over time, we have been
programmed for quasi-survival mechanism (otherwise known as the “I-Syndrome”).
On a subconscious level we (individually and collectively) act in ways that support pseudo self-
preservation and sense of security, even when realistically, these attitudes are free from
serving our highest purpose, or being legitimate. It doesn’t feel good to live in survival mode,
and generally doesn’t bring happiness or peace of mind…so why do we do this to ourselves?
Money, career and social status, relationships, and possessions all fall within the realm of
subconscious protection. This means its automatic! As a society, through learned behavior we
become fierce protectors of what we believe to be “ours”. Does this really get us any bit further
ahead? Nope!
Living with these lower-level energies of “it’s mine and you can’t have it” influence our
experiences with business, government and politics, economy and finance, all the way down to
family and personal relationships, sense of self, self-image and esteem. And not in a good way!
When we hold onto something fiercely we are afraid of losing a couple of things happen. First,
we block the flow of positive energy. We aren’t giving it out and we’re not getting any back –
survival mode becomes a moot point. Second, when we focus on potential “not having”, that’s
just what we get - lack and loss.
The Trickle Effect
For example, in today’s business arena (and the trickle effect we find upon ourselves), we find
many types of ethical viewpoints and behaviors negatively expressed.
For instance, negative expression of human characteristics is clearly and boldly reflected in the
state of current housing markets, on Wall Street, foreign relations, in our checkbooks and in our
homes. Our ideals as participants in society directly effect how the world turns.
So how do we separate the blame we place on society, government and politics or big business
from sense of personal or individual responsibility? I don’t think we can. Our political structure
and big business environment is a reflection of a societal and cultural belief system we created
and continue to perpetuate. Bridging the gap between “theory” and execution is tough – on an
individual level and in a financial or political sense, but whom and what do we blame for
starters? Where does real fault lie in creating the problem? Fault lies with us on an individual
level.
When addressing problems such as this, before we can expect to see changes in our society,
political administration, corporate and big business structure, and even in our own lives, we
need to change our beliefs and attitudes about lack and loss.
Existing Instead of Living
How happy is our existence? For starters, let’s take a look at our attitudes about work and
money on paper.
Intuit recently used Decipher, Inc. of Fresno California to conduct a survey of American workers
and their viewpoints on job satisfaction. What they found was that an average 67% of American
workers thought constantly about quitting their jobs, 72% expressed desire to start their own
business, and 56% of American workers polled were fearful of not making enough money.
What do these percentages convey about our business world and corporate superior-
subordinate relationships?
Statistics like these enable us to understand the reason why so many of us suffer work and
finance-related anxiety, insomnia and sleep issues, health, financial, family and relationship
problems. It’s easy to make the connection between business, government and politics,
economy, finance, society and culture to how powerfully these components of American life
affect us on an individual level with daily living.
Aristotle believed that when a person realized full potential in alignment with innate nature, they
would live rightly, and be content in doing so. Aristotle’s ideology is often referred to as “virtue
ethics” and focuses more on character than action or behavior. Unhappiness, discordance, and
frustration result from unrealized potential in this perspective and rational development is
necessary for self-awareness.
Wealth and social status is simply means to an end - in which happiness was the ultimate goal,
found only when innate nature is discovered and talents developed. Conduct governed by the
elements of moderate virtue enabled one to not just live, but live well.
Poverty and Perception
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of uninsured Americans rose by 1.4 million
to 15.6 percent, or 45 million, in 2003, up from 15.2 percent in 2002, the third straight annual
increase. Meanwhile, the nation’s poverty rate also climbed to 12.5 percent in 2003, from 12.1
percent in 2002 (more current statistics are not yet available).
The Census Bureau largely attributed the decline in insurance coverage rates to the drop in
coverage from employment-based health plans, partially offset by increases in government
health coverage. (Employment-based health insurance coverage fell 0.9 percentage points
between 2002 and 2003, while Medicare coverage increased 0.2 percentage points.)
Personally, I believe insurance coverage dropped primarily because:
a) Pharmaceutical companies want to maximize their profit (lots of large lawsuits to pay for as
well);
b) Companies we work for want to maximize their profits too, and/or;
c) Many companies cannot keep up with rising costs of premiums for workers (sometimes due to
irresponsible executive spending and/or decrease in product demand);
d) Many companies choose not to offer worker benefits and because people need jobs they go
along with it;
e) Workers offered benefits cannot afford to pay high-cost premiums taken from paychecks,
which decreases demand and the revenue insurance providers collect, resulting in higher
premiums.
Extreme child poverty grew 11.5 percent in one year from 2002 to 2003, and extreme poverty
for a family of 3 met paltry income thresholds of less than $8,000 per year. Minority calculations
were lower in statistic than reality due to short-reach of Census polls, though a whopping 4
million Latino children lived in poverty in 2003, and 1 in 3 black children were deemed “poor” by
Census standards. Minority children living in poverty during the poll were accompanied by a
143,000 increase of poor white children. Half a million newly poor children lived in a household
with a single mother in 2003 (Dateline: August 31, 2004.) This was just a few years ago and our
economy and living standards and conditions have continued to decline drastically. Why?
“Big 5” Factors of Poverty:
1. Ignorance from lack of information and/or knowledge.
2. Disease, which lowers productivity in general and decreases the generated money.
3. Apathy lacks when people don’t “care” or feel helpless about positive change.
4. Dishonesty about where our money goes – for the collective or in a private pocket?
5. Dependency when we feel so poor and helpless as to be unable to help ourselves.
The most plaguing issue affecting all of us individually and across the nation is misguided
thinking and beliefs manifesting in actions and conditions.
Ask yourself this: Am I holding the energy of poverty consciousness? Do you often affirm to
yourself that you’ll never be “caught up”, or do you tell others how “broke” you are? Do you fail
to believe you can help yourself and others? If so, you are holding the energy of poverty
consciousness in your life!
Getting More Out of Life: Inside and Out
Expectation or anticipation of monetary gain and “things” should not be more important than
thinking and acting with integrity and what is right, and this most definitely includes how we treat
ourselves and other people in the course of daily living.
Positive living with mindfulness of ourselves and of others we encounter creates a
metamorphoses-type shift inward that reflects outwardly an individual level of collective
experience and perception. Do you deliberately choose love and light, or the latter in your
dealings?
Energy exchanges of a positive nature naturally increase love, abundance and prosperity (for
your self and others), by both beginning and sustaining positive inward and outer cycles of
positive human interaction and transformation. This transformation is birthed into existence from
a deep inner level of individual consciousness and becomes collective as the energy continues
to be exchanged and grow naturally.
Socrates was one of the first Greek philosophers to recognize, speak out and support the
ideology of turning attention from the outside to the interior condition of man. According to
Socrates, one will do what is right, if s/he knows what is right. Conversely, evil and suffering are
the result of ignorance. Knowledge related to human life is of primary importance, and
knowledge is related to virtue and virtue to happiness. In this view, self knowledge is obtained
through self-awareness, equating an automatic right and happy existence.
Taking Personal Responsibility for Positive Change
Many of us do not examine the interior (or exterior) of the human condition, and instead
continuously seek outward and instant gratification to fill voids – spiritually, emotionally,
mentally, and physically. We also ignore a lot of things on the large scale, and fail to use our
energies to right wrongs in areas we have the opportunity, which only serves to perpetuate
cyclic imbalance.
Generally speaking, Americans, despite the many freedoms we perceivably have, live in
disempowerment, detached, and incessantly unaware of inner potential and latent talents.
Further, many of us remain free from knowing how to go about even beginning a journey of self-
discovery, transformation, and positive change once we become “aware”. So, not knowing how
to make tangible, positive change, we continue living competitively, comparatively, and
enviously day after day, always worried about the “other guy” taking away from the “I”.
We often blame institutions like politics, big business, culture, and society for restricting us in
countless ways, as they share the same obvious qualities of power and control. To recreate the
institutions that influence life and living, it is necessary to collectively make it your business to
turn reflection inward, recognizing and utilizing personal power and potential in the “New Age”
with fresh optimism, renewed inner strength, open minds and hearts.
We have often heard our exterior is a reflection of the interior, or action follows thought.
Practicing fortitude, responsibility, and resilience on an individual level in every day living by
following our inner knowing with unwavering action of what is right and good will create the
positive alignment we need to create permanent expansive positive change.
As the old saying goes…change begins with you!
© All Rights Reserved. Reprints with permission.
This article is published in Michigan's Body Mind Spirit
Guide Magazine's web site, October 2008.
www.bodymindspiritguide.com
© Ann Catherine Pawelczyk, C.Ht.
How we live individually naturally spills over into the large-scale scheme of life and vice-versa –
we are cyclic beings living in a cyclic universe.
Areas affected by our individual beliefs, attitudes, and actions daily are collective and
omnipresent in politics, economy, finance, big business, and culture and society. The facets
that create these “institutions” are the very same varying blend of characteristics we embody
singly and that we share with the world.
All aspects of the “group” and whatever we choose to see are nothing more than a large-scale
reflection of the components that create the human condition - us.
“I” Syndrome
Subconsciously, through societal and cultural interactions over time, we have been
programmed for quasi-survival mechanism (otherwise known as the “I-Syndrome”).
On a subconscious level we (individually and collectively) act in ways that support pseudo self-
preservation and sense of security, even when realistically, these attitudes are free from
serving our highest purpose, or being legitimate. It doesn’t feel good to live in survival mode,
and generally doesn’t bring happiness or peace of mind…so why do we do this to ourselves?
Money, career and social status, relationships, and possessions all fall within the realm of
subconscious protection. This means its automatic! As a society, through learned behavior we
become fierce protectors of what we believe to be “ours”. Does this really get us any bit further
ahead? Nope!
Living with these lower-level energies of “it’s mine and you can’t have it” influence our
experiences with business, government and politics, economy and finance, all the way down to
family and personal relationships, sense of self, self-image and esteem. And not in a good way!
When we hold onto something fiercely we are afraid of losing a couple of things happen. First,
we block the flow of positive energy. We aren’t giving it out and we’re not getting any back –
survival mode becomes a moot point. Second, when we focus on potential “not having”, that’s
just what we get - lack and loss.
The Trickle Effect
For example, in today’s business arena (and the trickle effect we find upon ourselves), we find
many types of ethical viewpoints and behaviors negatively expressed.
For instance, negative expression of human characteristics is clearly and boldly reflected in the
state of current housing markets, on Wall Street, foreign relations, in our checkbooks and in our
homes. Our ideals as participants in society directly effect how the world turns.
So how do we separate the blame we place on society, government and politics or big business
from sense of personal or individual responsibility? I don’t think we can. Our political structure
and big business environment is a reflection of a societal and cultural belief system we created
and continue to perpetuate. Bridging the gap between “theory” and execution is tough – on an
individual level and in a financial or political sense, but whom and what do we blame for
starters? Where does real fault lie in creating the problem? Fault lies with us on an individual
level.
When addressing problems such as this, before we can expect to see changes in our society,
political administration, corporate and big business structure, and even in our own lives, we
need to change our beliefs and attitudes about lack and loss.
Existing Instead of Living
How happy is our existence? For starters, let’s take a look at our attitudes about work and
money on paper.
Intuit recently used Decipher, Inc. of Fresno California to conduct a survey of American workers
and their viewpoints on job satisfaction. What they found was that an average 67% of American
workers thought constantly about quitting their jobs, 72% expressed desire to start their own
business, and 56% of American workers polled were fearful of not making enough money.
What do these percentages convey about our business world and corporate superior-
subordinate relationships?
Statistics like these enable us to understand the reason why so many of us suffer work and
finance-related anxiety, insomnia and sleep issues, health, financial, family and relationship
problems. It’s easy to make the connection between business, government and politics,
economy, finance, society and culture to how powerfully these components of American life
affect us on an individual level with daily living.
Aristotle believed that when a person realized full potential in alignment with innate nature, they
would live rightly, and be content in doing so. Aristotle’s ideology is often referred to as “virtue
ethics” and focuses more on character than action or behavior. Unhappiness, discordance, and
frustration result from unrealized potential in this perspective and rational development is
necessary for self-awareness.
Wealth and social status is simply means to an end - in which happiness was the ultimate goal,
found only when innate nature is discovered and talents developed. Conduct governed by the
elements of moderate virtue enabled one to not just live, but live well.
Poverty and Perception
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of uninsured Americans rose by 1.4 million
to 15.6 percent, or 45 million, in 2003, up from 15.2 percent in 2002, the third straight annual
increase. Meanwhile, the nation’s poverty rate also climbed to 12.5 percent in 2003, from 12.1
percent in 2002 (more current statistics are not yet available).
The Census Bureau largely attributed the decline in insurance coverage rates to the drop in
coverage from employment-based health plans, partially offset by increases in government
health coverage. (Employment-based health insurance coverage fell 0.9 percentage points
between 2002 and 2003, while Medicare coverage increased 0.2 percentage points.)
Personally, I believe insurance coverage dropped primarily because:
a) Pharmaceutical companies want to maximize their profit (lots of large lawsuits to pay for as
well);
b) Companies we work for want to maximize their profits too, and/or;
c) Many companies cannot keep up with rising costs of premiums for workers (sometimes due to
irresponsible executive spending and/or decrease in product demand);
d) Many companies choose not to offer worker benefits and because people need jobs they go
along with it;
e) Workers offered benefits cannot afford to pay high-cost premiums taken from paychecks,
which decreases demand and the revenue insurance providers collect, resulting in higher
premiums.
Extreme child poverty grew 11.5 percent in one year from 2002 to 2003, and extreme poverty
for a family of 3 met paltry income thresholds of less than $8,000 per year. Minority calculations
were lower in statistic than reality due to short-reach of Census polls, though a whopping 4
million Latino children lived in poverty in 2003, and 1 in 3 black children were deemed “poor” by
Census standards. Minority children living in poverty during the poll were accompanied by a
143,000 increase of poor white children. Half a million newly poor children lived in a household
with a single mother in 2003 (Dateline: August 31, 2004.) This was just a few years ago and our
economy and living standards and conditions have continued to decline drastically. Why?
“Big 5” Factors of Poverty:
1. Ignorance from lack of information and/or knowledge.
2. Disease, which lowers productivity in general and decreases the generated money.
3. Apathy lacks when people don’t “care” or feel helpless about positive change.
4. Dishonesty about where our money goes – for the collective or in a private pocket?
5. Dependency when we feel so poor and helpless as to be unable to help ourselves.
The most plaguing issue affecting all of us individually and across the nation is misguided
thinking and beliefs manifesting in actions and conditions.
Ask yourself this: Am I holding the energy of poverty consciousness? Do you often affirm to
yourself that you’ll never be “caught up”, or do you tell others how “broke” you are? Do you fail
to believe you can help yourself and others? If so, you are holding the energy of poverty
consciousness in your life!
Getting More Out of Life: Inside and Out
Expectation or anticipation of monetary gain and “things” should not be more important than
thinking and acting with integrity and what is right, and this most definitely includes how we treat
ourselves and other people in the course of daily living.
Positive living with mindfulness of ourselves and of others we encounter creates a
metamorphoses-type shift inward that reflects outwardly an individual level of collective
experience and perception. Do you deliberately choose love and light, or the latter in your
dealings?
Energy exchanges of a positive nature naturally increase love, abundance and prosperity (for
your self and others), by both beginning and sustaining positive inward and outer cycles of
positive human interaction and transformation. This transformation is birthed into existence from
a deep inner level of individual consciousness and becomes collective as the energy continues
to be exchanged and grow naturally.
Socrates was one of the first Greek philosophers to recognize, speak out and support the
ideology of turning attention from the outside to the interior condition of man. According to
Socrates, one will do what is right, if s/he knows what is right. Conversely, evil and suffering are
the result of ignorance. Knowledge related to human life is of primary importance, and
knowledge is related to virtue and virtue to happiness. In this view, self knowledge is obtained
through self-awareness, equating an automatic right and happy existence.
Taking Personal Responsibility for Positive Change
Many of us do not examine the interior (or exterior) of the human condition, and instead
continuously seek outward and instant gratification to fill voids – spiritually, emotionally,
mentally, and physically. We also ignore a lot of things on the large scale, and fail to use our
energies to right wrongs in areas we have the opportunity, which only serves to perpetuate
cyclic imbalance.
Generally speaking, Americans, despite the many freedoms we perceivably have, live in
disempowerment, detached, and incessantly unaware of inner potential and latent talents.
Further, many of us remain free from knowing how to go about even beginning a journey of self-
discovery, transformation, and positive change once we become “aware”. So, not knowing how
to make tangible, positive change, we continue living competitively, comparatively, and
enviously day after day, always worried about the “other guy” taking away from the “I”.
We often blame institutions like politics, big business, culture, and society for restricting us in
countless ways, as they share the same obvious qualities of power and control. To recreate the
institutions that influence life and living, it is necessary to collectively make it your business to
turn reflection inward, recognizing and utilizing personal power and potential in the “New Age”
with fresh optimism, renewed inner strength, open minds and hearts.
We have often heard our exterior is a reflection of the interior, or action follows thought.
Practicing fortitude, responsibility, and resilience on an individual level in every day living by
following our inner knowing with unwavering action of what is right and good will create the
positive alignment we need to create permanent expansive positive change.
As the old saying goes…change begins with you!
© All Rights Reserved. Reprints with permission.
This article is published in Michigan's Body Mind Spirit
Guide Magazine's web site, October 2008.
www.bodymindspiritguide.com
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