We all need angels in our lives whether they are literal or spiritual angels. Ironically we spend a lot of time running from them. We run from what makes us happy and peaceful. We should always strife to allow the angel in us to always win over the demon.

I have been thinking about this post for quite some time. I am not sure why I have not written this before other than timing,

The world needs hope. We need hope. Wherever we are. Whatever we face. Whatever tries to make us hate.

Always find the angel… Do not find the demon… Do not find the demon ever, regardless of if it hides within you or hides outside you.

Find the angel whether it is in you or outside.

We should be brave enough to listen to our hearts. To find peace, compassion and kindness.

Some time back I spoke to a dear person to me after I showed him a video of an incredible violation in just one of the many places of this world. He said: “That is so incredibly sad to watch. From where does the evil reside? Why is there no barrier?”

He was right. That should be the questions. Always.

I eventually followed up by saying I have seen worse than he saw. I am now numb to most videos I see online. To make me react I almost need to see multiple images and videos. I want more. I almost seek this thrill to see something “worse”. It is weird. I feel intrigued and at the same time appalled by myself for needing more about this tragedy, misery and graphical images/footage. Yet I want more. Give me more.

Huh? When I look back at it, it really does not make any sense.

Nope. It does not.

We end up in a spiral of wanting more dramatic, graphical images and videos etc. Again. Again. And again.

The addiction to see worse things will just get worse and worse. You need to top the last video and/or image to really feel something. With your quest for emotions, feeling anything gets harder and harder and harder.

For instance, when the incredibly tragic accident at the air show in Reno, Arizona, USA happened, I found myself trying to find the video(s) and/or the image(s) showing the impact of the airplane in the ground and as intrigued and drooling bystander relive the terror of the audience and relive the event. It became a quest to find it. Yet why… I ended up spending an hour or two just to find that video showing it. The posts on YouTube and Flickr telling a story of people re-uploading the videos they saw just to get some hits. They wanted to get fame by hits of tragedy. They were just after hits. Most entries really were link baits just to get people to get them views. Weird and at the same time just so easy to understand. Regardless it is still just so incredibly sad.

I remember my own feeling finding a still image of the impact of the plane. I was disappointed. I wanted to see the impact in real time. I wanted to hear the sound of the crowd. I wanted to hear the sound of the impact. I wanted to see the flying parts of the plane etc etc.

It is a truly insane emotion looking back yet that is what I wanted. Sad. I know. But true.

Put bluntly (and I feel partly embarrassed about it): I wanted to see the tragedy. I do not think I still understand why, and why I feel the urge to see worse, and worse things. Maybe it is simple human curiosity.

But then why are we not curious to see good things?

I have no clue. I really do not. Logically it makes no sense. From the terms of surviving yes it makes some sense.

Maybe we just need to create a global culture of seeing good. A global culture in which the standard is compassion and kindness.

The more I think about this I just know it is time to make amend and take the first step towards making the world a kind, compassionate and friendly place.

There is a famous Lebanese doctor got all his three daughters killed by an Israeli tank. He more or less said no more. He decided not to hate. He wrote an amazing book I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish.

We shall not to hate. It is a mantra I believe is worth living by.

Always.

Let us find the angel within us.

Always. Always.

It is true yet incredibly hard.

But…

It is path towards kindness. It is the path to peace. It is the path towards compassion. It is the path we need to walk.

But most importantly…. It is the only sustainable path.

Let us find peace within ourselves. Between us. Let us find peace in general.

Let us focus on finding the angel within us, not the demon.

It is important for us to never, ever, confuse the concept of patriotism with unhealthy expressions of patriotism. As with religion, it is not the concept that is to blame but the expressions.

I have served in a special branch of the military police doing real missions, amongst them seven honorary guards of a state leader. It is a fine line to claim patriotism is overrated when you have people sacrificing their life to stand up for their country (which is what I believe is the ultimate prelongation of patriotism). It doesn’t matter who decided on the mission as that is a political decision but patriotism is in my eyes much about standing up for your community and allow the group to decide together not the individual.

More importantly, I do believe standing up for your country is something more people should do both to fight for a change and to preserve the common values. I really do not see how that could possibly be overrated.

To me the John F Kennedy quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” encapsulate true patriotism as it is to move us all forward. It also focuses on the country not others. I love it.

There is a reason the oath in most special forces commands and the rest of any military is to protect the country against any internal or external threat.

Many people as well mix up freedom of speech and freedom of expression with patriotism not to mention the very weird mixup of nationalism which in most flavors stands for conservatism and worse protectionism.

Patriotism in my eyes is a celebration to what, where and who I come from not waht, where, who I go and/or progress to. Most people claiming they are patriots do not understand this essential fact though and go submit to ramble about ancient history. This is the same reason why I do not believe in religion but do believe in (a) God(s) power(s) and more importantly not assigning it to a text written ages ago. That is the real problem in my eyes.

It is easy to hide behind patriotism, nationalism, culture, ethnicity, religion, beliefs etc not to be a good person. Never blame the concept, blame the execution of the concept. Find comfort in that these issues are but only a reflection of us as a community.

Understanding that we are all in this together will make progress in this world much easier.

Water drops will break any stone.

Let us remember that.

We will with this battle inch by inch. We just need to fight for that inch.

Always. Constantly. Relentlessly. With compassion. With dedication. With persistence.

We will heal as a team, but we will die as individuals.

The outcome of yesterday’s elections in Sweden shocked me. Never would I have thought 6%(!) of the Swedish population allowed to vote would support an extreme right wing party standing for everything modern Sweden has not stand for nor ever should stand for. Sweden will continue to stand for openness, compassion, fairness and freedom. I never thought I would see the day when Sweden had a party with Nazi tendencies to straight out Nazi opinions would get even close to the parliament.

It is a frightening and important wakeup call…

It is a wakeup call not only to Sweden, but to us all. We have to start to realize that even in a country as Sweden where very few real problems exists such parties still can find significant support. The election results in themselves requires a lot of analysis and the party might not make the parliament still and what the actual effect will be when all the remote votes have been counted. The difference to provide the reigning parties sole majority is only around 7,000 votes.

Yet… The support is there. That is what is frightening.

Even more frightening is that 20-60%(!) of the youths in the Swedish schools support this party. To me that is the most scary me the most. There is an entire generation believing those types opinions are acceptable or even sustainable. World War II should have taught us that more than anything.

This is what puzzles me. Yet it doesn’t surprise me.

We have let this happen.

Now it is time to take the power of our society back from these forces.

Wait a minute…

However, doesn’t this feel like the ultimate déjà vu?

Yep. World War II and the Nazi Germany.

World War II should have forever frightened us from this path. Yet we still haven’t learnt much from. Denial and passivity seem like constantly present deceases for human kind. It is convenient and easier to blame and point fingers at others, but will never be sustainable. Ever. Let us not ever forget the hatred and resulting events in Germany during the 30s and 40s. They should never be repeated.

The war on terror has – from both sides – meant that the war has moved from the “battlefields” into all of our backyards. It is close to us. it is there as a haunted house. Not really seen. Yet frighteningly close. The same can be said about the drug cartels in for instance Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

It is amongst us. The bad elements hide in the comfort of our houses as it becomes so much harder to exterminate them.

The absolute majority has nothing to do with these wars nor want to have anything to do with them. Yet in so many ways we are passive in questioning why and putting pressure on the few that gain from this.

Sweden will most likely never become Hitler’s Germany. Yet the elections show that even inside a very stable and trouble-free environment, these seeds can grow if you do not take care of them early on. It really doesn’t matter if they make the parliament when everything is said and done on Wednesday. It is really like fighting off weeds. Squash the root and it cannot gain grounds. Cutting weeds off will in many cases just make the situation worse. Bombs and violence doesn’t really solve the main issue which is too many cases is simply lack of education, poverty and disrespect of ethnicity, religion, culture etc.

Make sure the grounds are not there and the seed cannot set root.

Do remember!

Hitler actions the September 1st 1939 didn’t come out of the blue. He provoked the entire world during the 30?s. Yet we remained passive and denied it. The complete irony here is that the Versaille peace in so many ways provided the seed for World War II. It was doomed to happen. If the alliance in World War I wouldn’t have unproportionally punished Germany economically, the chaotic Germany would never had become as bad as it did. This was the ultimate foundation for Hitler to create a supporter base. He also did the universally known trick to point finger at who’s to blame – the Jews.

The “winners” of World War I created the ground for the worse seed of modern history to grow. Shouldn’t we have learned from that?

The situation in Germany during the 1930?s was colored by a huge unemployment, economical crisis (recession, astronomical inflation) and political instability. The perfect foundation for a “devil in saviour clothes” coming in and telling people who to blame for it.

Wait a minute! This sounds familiar.

We see this today in many of the troubled areas around the world, and maybe in particular in the war on terror. It is astonishing we do not realize this more often. External and outsiders creating chaos, shutting down the aid and even creating the violence. Too often this is driven by greed.

Shouldn’t we have learnt our lesson?

But then again when the war and chaos is far away it feels like a movie or a computer game. You conveniently shut off the TV and the war is gone. (Or at least you think it is.) You are back in the living room. It’s peaceful. Unfortunately for the people living there, the war is very much present. (In all honestly there are issues closer to us, but hey most people do not even see those either.)

The important part is…

The main lesson from 9/11 and the cascade of events afterwards both violent and political should have been that if we shy away from the real issues, these issues will sneak up on us. They will sneak up on us with terrible consequences. We can not passively look away from suffering and poverty around the world. We have to be active and proactive to make sure that openness, compassion and freedom does exist on all levels, and that it is a collective global front against anyone trying to change this – any foreign and domestic threats. We have to learn to live as a world society, where everyone is equal. Terror and extremism should be fought, but by eliminating the grounds in which they can live and seed hatred, mistrust and disbelief.

It is really like fighting off weeds. Squash the root and you can keep it away…

Bombs, violence or terror will not solve anything here. It just creates more grounds for these seeds to grow, and grow stronger. You will then create a downward spiral. It takes a lot of political courage to attack the real problem and the solution will be multi-facetted. Most likely violence play a very little part in all of this.

I wish we could learn from history once. A close person to me once said: “It seems to be the curse of human kind to make the same mistakes as our predecessors” A bit cynical maybe, but what have we done to prove him wrong?

World War II is a monument of our shortcomings here, and we are yet to learn anything from it. The elections in Sweden are a sad proof thereof. They shouldn’t have nearly the support they have if we would only have learnt our lesson.

Do we really wanna relive the same nightmare as World War II in a different scenario, different actors but still with the same type of roots?

It is time to make a choice and standup against it.

A dear person said to me on the Swedish elections: “Do we really want to let a small fraction of our society dictate how we live?”

No.

Let us make sure they don’t. We should use this as our grounds to seed hope, compassion and freedom. We should use it to build a united front.

Do not let the devil disguise himself in the savior clothes.

I have lately been intrigued by the selective hearing and reading. There are plenty of examples. Selective readings of emails. Poor awareness when during a dialogue. The list goes on.

Once one of my mentors told me that the hardest things in life is to listen. It is so true. It is one of the hardest things you can do. Yet it is the most important thing you need to do. I have met too many people who are not really receptive to listen to others. The worse kind are the once who believe they listen but they really don’t. In Buddhism they call it always living in the present why that life philosophy has resonated well with me.

I guess what is the key missing element is to realize and admit that to listen you need to reflect, learn and digest what you hear, see and feel. To grow with the knowledge and input from others. Primarily I think the lack of ability to listen, sincerely read and in many ways feel is directly associated with insecurities within ourselves. When you sit down and listen deeply, you will also have to reflect on yourself, your own proposed solutions or beliefs, your actions and so forth.

You will have to question yourself. Who you are? Where you are? Why you are there? You have to question your own being…

That scares most of us. Oh yes it does. :-) Yet we shouldn’t be scared. It is only facing ourselves. Yet. Maybe we are afraid of ourselves. Facing yourself will always have an awkward and somewhat uncomfort to it. Especially if you find something you didn’t like. Yet that is the opportunity to change that. Ultimately listening to yourself as you listen to others means admitting to yourself you do not possess the almighty knowledge so many so dearly aspire. It is admitting that you are human. Admitting you are not free of faults. In there lies the essential key for growing as person, human being as well as a growing and maturing soul. I find comfort in knowing I am not perfect.

The person who claims they are free of faults is living in ignorance. It is actually rather ridiculous thinking that. We all makes mistakes. All the time. We all have our flaws, imperfections and desires. That is really the cool part of life. Living the life as it is. In all its glory. Good emotions. Bad emotions. Happiness. Sadness. Desire. Lust. Pretty much any feeling you can imagine. Embrace them. Force yourself to understand them and live them.

It took me some time to realize it and there has been many ones helping me realize that – some people on the path likely, some not very likely, some unaware of it, some aware of it. A very dear person to me once said that you’ve only made a mistake if you repeat it. One time is no time. So true. When you admit that to yourself you will also see that in the interaction with others and with yourself, you will grow a better understanding of you. Who you are. Why you are who you are. Why you react as you do. Why you feel the feelings you do. The good ol’ cliche that you have to admit to yourself that you have a “problem”, even though I prefer not to see anything as problems. Yep, I know. The ignorant part of me. Joking. :-)

Why does is admitting your shortcomings and bad actions so important?

The key to solving any problem and situation is defining it, understanding the problem. Only then will you solve the problem, and not the problem you believe it is. You will have to attack the problem as it is, not the problem as you would like it to be.

Hence you have to listen. It is our game tape to speak sports terms. You will have to reflect. Taking the shortcut and solving the problem you would like it to be will sooner than you think only put yourself back where you started. Same problem. The problem persisted. The problem didn’t go away. And yes. You will have to deal with it again. Now you have the choice.

Do you want to listen to yourself? Do you want to listen to others what they have to say? Do you want to define the real problem? Do you want to define the sustainable and to yourself true path moving forward?

I will not lie. Sometimes blind sighting yourself is necessary and comforting, but not as often as we think. I think the world in general needs to listen more. It is raising the vision and opening up our eyes. Sometimes what we see and hear is not what we want to, but it is what it is. At least then you act upon what the real problem and what the real world is…

I do not really know where to start thinking about the concept of hatred and what it does to us humans. It like this dark, evil energy that can take over our entire being, soul and mind. It can possess us. It can control us. It can make us into monsters. Devils in human flesh. In so many ways it is created out of fear, lack of education and simplicity to look at others to blame.

I remember one time where I was listening to a friend who fled from Kongo how he explained that he always worried about the color of the t-shirts he was wearing. If he chose the wrong color, he could be shot on the spot. Why? What is the root of such incredible hatred and lack of humanity? Lack of compassion. Lack of acknowledging the human life in front of you when you pull the trigger. When you blow them up.

It is almost impossible to comprehend. You end up thinking why. Why…

When I listen to the survivors of the Holocaust and the stories about what went on during almost 7 years after the Kristalnacht 1938 I just find an enormous sadness fill me and like a stab into my heart. I have heard stories from veteran soldiers who burst out crying. Still shivering of the images they saw. They still cannot comprehend the evil acts. The treatment of other human beings as pure objects to nothing worth all. Nothing.

It fills me with a sadness not to be able to believe humans could do that to each other.

Why? What goes through peoples minds then?

You can maybe in a very dry way understand all the logical and argumentative reasons for what created a foundation to one of the most insane outburst of violence and hatred in the history of mankind – the Holocaust. I do see how we can at least minimize the reasons for it.

Yet.

It happens. Still. Stalin did the same in Soviet Union under the umbrella of the state of the people. What an irony. It happen in Cambodia in the 70s. In the Balkans in the 1990s. It happen in Rwanda 1994. It still happens in South America and Latin America. Guatemala. Honduras. Argentina. Peru. Venezuela. The list goes on. Genocides. Massacres. Total rapes and incomprehensible violations of human rights and dignity.

And…

Worst of all…

We let it happen still. Maybe that is the saddest part of it all.

Maybe it is the lack of reflection. Lack of insight. Lack of awareness. You see similar behaviors in demonstration mobs. Out of control masses of people when logic, reason, humanity and compassion is cast aside.

Yet at what time does the mob feeling turn into a sustainable society of hatred against your agony, your point of interest of hatred. At what point do we turn into creatures of brutality, evil and just soulless people and in many ways become worse than the most brutal animals? At what point do we turn into creatures wanting the others to suffer? To feel the pain. To see the other person abandon their soul and become an empty shell of an organism. No feelings. No thoughts. Just an empty living ghost.

What is it within us that turns us into these monsters?

Maybe it all is based in a misplaced laziness to direct an anger we cannot handle towards others and in a complex dance and escalation turn into something very ugly. Very evil.

Yet…

I do not get when the insanity of few turn into the insanity of the masses. Maybe if we understand that we can turn the good of few into the goodness of the masses.

Maybe. I hope so. What I do know is that goodness have to fight.

I have of many reasons thought of confirmation lately. Confirmation of myself. Confirmation of others. Confirmation of individuality. Confirmation of humanity. Confirmation of love. Confirmation of intelligence. Confirmation of beliefs. Confirmation of values. Confirmation of success. Confirmation of existence.

It is an interesting part of humans and the society. Maybe confirmation is nothing else than a biological measurement for us to see where we stand in the flock. Our constant interaction as creatures confirms where we are and where we stand in the flock. It makes perfect sense.

Yet…

Does it? Shouldn’t we have come farther? Who am I to say this is not coming farther? I don’t know. I am not perfect so…

What I do know is that the confirmation can be hazardous, and poisonous. If you find yourself in a vicious circle of thinking of needing that confirmation constantly you know you have an issue. I am not sure what triggers it but maybe it is triggered by our own insecurities. Our own short comings. Or are they short comings? I don’t know. What I do know

Maybe it is not the confirmations in themselves which are vicious. Maybe it is the quest to get them. Maybe the key is being aware of the the conformations we so seek, being aware of the confirmations we need and also not being ashamed of them. They will be there. Maybe one of the keys in life is learning to live with them. To be aware of them. To be aware of how our quests for them affect other people. Knowing which confirmations you seek which easily turn into mind poisoning paths.

In many ways the “right” and most sustainable quest ties back to Decartes: “I think therefore I am.”.

So true.

It feeds back to the awareness of you. Awareness of your actions. Awareness of who you are. Awareness of what you seek. Just the awareness of the present. Not the past. Not the future. But the present.

A very close person to me once said – what the world needs now is hope… and he can gives us hope – in relation to the election of Barack Obama as the president of the United States of America. Obama is an incredibly amazing person and has created a profound and deep hope for the future. In Europe he has created a belief that the diplomacy – Europe has learnt the hard way is the only sustainable way – is finally conquering or the very least challenging the conservative wings even in the US. He has seeded a mentality that if we believe in change and that change can happen. Seeded a mentality that it will change. I listened to his speech in Cairo earlier addressed to the Muslim World. It is a unique and remarkable speech as it invites into a diplomatic solution and bridging differences between religions, cultures, ethnicities, nationalities and political genres. Yet he remained firm against violence, anarchy and non-democratic, destructive winds. Impressive.

When he received the Noble Peace Prize the world didn’t know what to think. Maybe the critics are right that he wouldn’t have gotten the prize if Bush wouldn’t have been in power, but imagine how quickly he has turned more or less the whole world into a state of anticipation. A state of thinking, hoping that it is possible. “Is it possible? No, it cannot. Yet he said it. He keeps saying it.” He seeds the hope over and over and over again. That in itself is what we need. The reason for the prize is shortly “… for 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman…”. That is really what he is. A spokesman for the change. The change that needs to happen. That must happen. Ironically I do not think him getting the prize necessarily is helping his strategy along to move into a more diplomatic way of dealing with conflicts around the world.

Talking about change is one thing and it is truly inspiring. Yet change ultimately only mean something if and when we see actions and results. So far he has not achieved those parts and they will take some time to see, yet they will be much more sustainable than going after the quick and easy fix. He wants to change the root of the problem, not the symptoms. Giving him a Nobel Peace Prize could potentially create a unnecessary pressure for fast tangible results and play into the hands of his opponents that he has not taken any actions nor created any tangible results.

I am torn. Hmm. I really don’t know. I still do think he deserves it.

I heard some answers and responses from so called “Christians” calling his presidency a farce and hinted that he is not Christian or follow Christian values. I was stunned. I still am. His presidency so far is definitely not a farce, and he is probably one of the most profound Christians. (In some ways I think it is better to put him as a sincere humanitarian not to get into a religious debate.) He believes in the good in people, and that they want and can change. He has some big not to say huge issues to tackle, which he has inherited, and too many thinks, as usual, as he – as some almighty savior – should and will solve them by himself. The impressive parts here is that he believes. He believes. He believes beyond anything, which is truly, truly amazing and what the world needs.

I am not sure if I should laugh, cry or be angry anymore when I hear comments about his presidency being a farce or him only being all talk and no action.

We all have to participate in changing this world because no one – no not “even” Obama – will on their own change the world. Obama can inspire us to make this change and desire the change. Yet. We, we will have to accomplish this change and also be willing to embrace this change because it will mean challenges ourselves in many way. We have to come beyond the opposing camp battle we now have blaming each other. In particular if you call yourself Christian, such a mentality makes absolutely no sense.

In many ways this world lacks compassion and empathy. Compassion to your fellow human beings – regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion or culture. Unfortunately we do not have the “luxury” of picking and choosing here. It goes for anything and anyone – regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion or culture. Just to make sure we do not get into a religious battle here. Compassion is big and important components in both Islam and Jewism as well.

It saddens me that there are still too many people out there not understanding that. It is not we against them. It is us as a global society against ourselves. We shape the future which we want to live in. We will have to fight ourselves to challenge us to make this world a better place.

In my mind, we have to get beyond this childish, immature and convenient mentality of blaming everyone else but ourselves. Hiding like ostriches with our heads in the sand. This mentality leads absolutely nowhere. At least Obama tries. For that he has my fullest sincerest respect and admiration. Who does really think we will get anywhere closer to a solution by not trying to believe in a change and attempting to change the world for the better?

Maybe it is time for us all to battle ourselves. That battle is not always a nice one. Yet people like Obama challenges us to do so. He creates seeds of hope for a better world. For that we should as a world be grateful for. We should also do our part to help that desire and quest. Not because he is Obama. Not because he is the President of the United States of America.

… but because…

… because it is the right thing to do.

I have always been amazed at people who constantly think they are entitled to get love, support and attention. It is a rather silly, arrogant attitude if you ask me. In many ways the world owes you nothing, but you owe the world. I will quote some famous words from a great president John F Kennedy: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

I do not think this is a quote that should be centered around the US, but it encapsulates it well. We should ask us what we can do for others and not what they can do for us. Even though there are in maybe ways strong similarities with the Golden Rule mentioned in the Bible, I truly believe this is more a Human Rule and not a religious rule. I think it is a way to always cherish your fellow beings, attend their needs and support them in their endeavors – whatever they might be. You are to give love and support to receive love and support.

Yet.

As usual so many of us tend to forget this. We expect support, love, care and attention from our fellow beings. Especially the ones close to us. Why do we believe this is something automatic? It is not about earning it, but about not expecting it. It might be a defense mechanism about not taking the first step. Who knows.

It is rather extraordinary that too many of us do not get this though…

“The most difficult thing is to listen.” Why is this so hard? Shouldn’t that be the easiest thing really? It seems like a theme these days that I meet people who just do not listen. They are preoccupied with their own mind, desires and goals. They are blindfolded. Now for the real twitch to the story: Am I as blindfolded as they are thinking this?

I do not know.

It is really the best answer I have come up with. I guess we are all blinded by our own desires and goals. Whether we let this blindness defines us, we have lost ourselves. Especially since in its purest essence, the fight against the world’s blindness (and silence for that matter) is what we need right now.

But why, oh why is this so hard?

I just do not know. Or maybe I just do not understand it. Or as I said before maybe I as the rest am a hypocrite? Hmm. Could it be that bad?

I actually do not think so, knowingly opening for an attack on that statement.

Yet.

What I do know I have to (as the rest of this world) is to always improve on listening, seeing and feeling our surroundings. It is part of the essence of making this world a better place to live. It is part of the essence of thinking more of your fellow beings than you. It is the essence of the future. It is quite refreshing to. I do have a growing sense of feeling comfort in listening, seeing and feeling.

That’s good. At least I think so.

Yesterday it was 70 years ago since World War II started. A war that we still haven’t learnt much from. Denial and passivity seem like constantly present deceases for human kind. I have always been amazed of the lack of self reflection, and admitting our own mistakes, shortcomings and part of problems. It is convenient and easier to blame and point fingers at others, but not very constructive if you want to find a path forward.

I really do wonder why it is so hard to admit it. Maybe it is pride. Maybe it is fear. Looking around the world right now there are several wars going on, many of which the fundamental root has very little to do with the internal politics or the people there. We have these marionette wars which acts more as a playground for the big in some sense invisible players.

The war on terror has – from both sides – meant that the war has moved from the “battlefields” into our own back yards. It is close to us. It is amongst us. The irony here is the absolute majority has nothing to do with the war nor want to have anything to do with it. The same can be said about the drug cartels in for instance Mexico. Yet in so many ways we are passive in questioning why and putting pressure on the few that gain from this.

Hitler actions the September 1st 1939 didn’t come out of the blue. He provoked the entire world during the 30′s. Yet we remained passive and denied it. The complete irony here is that the Versaille peace in so many ways provided the seed for World War II. It was doomed to happen. If the alliance in World War I wouldn’t have unproportionally punished Germany economically, the chaotic Germany would never had becomes bad as it did. This was the ultimate foundation for Hitler to create a supporter base. He also did the universally known trick to point finger at who’s to blame – the Jews.

The situation in Germany during the 1930′s was colored by a huge unemployment, economical crisis (recession, astronomical inflation) and political instability. The perfect foundation for a “saviour” coming in and telling people who to blame for it. Wait a minute! This sounds familiar. We see this today in many of the troubled areas around the world, and maybe in particular in the war on terror. It is astonishing we do not realize this more often. External and outsiders creating chaos, shutting down the aid and even creating the violence. Too often this is driven by greed. Shouldn’t we have learnt our lesson? But then again when the war and chaos is far away it feels like a movie or a computer game. You conveniently shut off the TV and the war is gone. You are back in the living room. It’s peaceful. Unfortunately for the people living there, the war is very much present. (In all honestly there are issues closer to us, but hey most people do not even see those either.)

And…

It still affects us. Constantly. The main lesson from 9/11 should have been that if we shy away from the real issues. We can not passively look away from suffering and poverty around the world. It is really like fighting off weeds. Squash the root and it disappears. Cutting it off will in many cases just make the situation worse. Bombs and violence doesn’t really solve the main issue which is too many cases is simply lack of education, poverty and disrespect of ethnicity, religion, culture etc.

Bombs, violence or terror will not solve anything here. It usually just makes the root of the issues stronger and you create a downward spiral. It takes a lot of political courage to attack the real problem and the solution will be multi-facetted. Most likely violence play a very little part in all of this. 

I wish we could learn from history once. A close person to me once said: “It seems to be the curse of human kind to make the same mistakes as our predecessors” A bit cynical maybe, but what have we done to prove him wrong?

A big step would be for us all to always self-reflect on our own contributions to the situations around the world and around you. World War II is a monument of our shortcomings here, and we are yet to learn anything from it.

Do we really wanna relive the same nightmare as World War II in a different scenario, different actors but still with the same type of roots?

This statement - “I am not a citizen of the world. I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous!” – is hard to grasp. What is most frightening (and maybe comforting in some weird way) is that it seem to be a populistic way to flirt with the elitisic far right wing.

What I have never understood from these types of statements is what they are trying to accomplish by them. I know what, but still not. They really mostly seem silly, sensational populistic with such little intellectual substance that it sometimes gives me the chills. Most of the time it just seems as some strange attempt of fishing for votes in a desperate way. The stereotypical padding on the good ol’ boys backs with cigars in their mouths. Silly really.

Anyhow.

You’re right, Mr Newt Gingrich. You’re not a citizen of this world. We are, you’re not… Oh, I almost forgot. You’re wrong, global citizens are not intellectual nonsense, but your statement is. :-)

Commitments. Hmm. The root of so many worries for people. The one who claim they are not are lying. They challenge us. They keep us grounded. They provide sanity checks. Yet. When do you let go of a commitment? I think this is many ways is the struggle between the heart and the brain. Or is it? Shouldn’t the heart and brain be the same? Or is the brain and heart, the Ying and Yang of the body keeping each of the parts sane in a complex dance of the quest for fulfillment, endorphins and happiness? Who knows. I guess that is the charm of life. You do not know. 

Commitments and the relation to them show the character in people. They really do. Yet I do believe we tend to cling to them. I had a discussion some time back with some friends on commitments over a few glasses of wines. The crowd was pretty diverse as for ethnicity, race, religion and social economy. It was indeed a very interesting discussion. My main point during the discussion was: “You will only keep commitments your heart truly believes in.” it has taken me a lot of time to admit this to myself. If i believe in something, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for the sake of the commitment. 

Yet. 

When you stop believing in something and you constantly have to justify it and your relation to the commitment, it is time to let go. The commitment is long gone, and it is hurting you more than it is helping you. Yet so many people choose to commit to the commitment. Clinging on to it. I, for long time in my life, tried to stay with commitments I had in my own “almighty” (note the irony) mind painted up as the true solutions of life. Hmm hubris for sure. :-) “These are the pillars by which I will live. I will never break these rules.” Hmm. Boy, did that bite me in the ass. All the time. I have learnt that when I say I will never do something, I immediately have to face that statement. 

I do not know why we (including me) do cling to commitments. Maybe it is some false and weird safety. The usual. Stay with the known. Facing change is hard. Facing change and breath of fresh air in yourself is troubling to so many. It has been troubling to me. Probably still am to some extent. I would be lying if I wouldn’t say that. Yet I think I am growing up here. :-) A very dear friend some time ago asked me to do something. My answer was simply: “No, I will not because I do not believe in it.”

Commitments give us structure. We need structure. Yep, we do. I would say that commitments are creations of our brains, and will be used as guides on our road in life. Yet they are only the guides and milestones of our lives, but they do not make us up. They are not the path we should take. They as we will evolve and change over time. They are not everlasting commandments. Believing that is a lie to yourself and others, and I have seen too many people suffer due to the over belief in commitments. Out-dated commitments create a structure that doesn’t exists. It is not there, other than in our minds and probably more damaging than good. 

Yet I do believe we should be guided by our heart as well as our brain, but we shouldn’t try to justify things that only part of us believe in. If we are not in it with our hearts, it is not true to us. It is not true to anyone else either. We should be driven by compassion for others as well as ourselves. Clinging to outdated commitments is far from compassionate to you, nor is it to others.

A friend of mine expressed it so well: “The heart is the brain because they are both on a path towards compassion for others.”

Imagine what the world would be with more compassion.

I read an article about the arrest of the well-known US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. She has been reporting for the BBC, NPR and many other news organizations. Currently there is a petition launched in Facebook for her release. Arrests such as this are truly damaging to the freedom of speech on the long term. Especially since the world becomes increasingly more flat. The borders – geographical, political, ethnical, cultural and religious – are eroding and constantly fading and soon I would claim they are almost non-existing. Ok, well not really. But they should! 

We are living in a global society. A global community. The issues we have to tackle are predominantly global, multifaceted unique, and very challenging. They have to be solved and understood by us all, together as one society. During this time of a complete transition of our world, the news media industry is decreasing their international reporting and media staff by to this date around 50%. In my eyes, we are witnessing a very dangerous development from a societal growth perspective as the need for news coverage is increasingly more important here. Events as the one mentioned above is just going to emphasize this development.

The issue or probably better put challenge with freedom of speech is to be able to listen. To be open enough to really hear the other person’s perspective. It is about challenging yourself to hear the other side. To challenge yourself to realize that you are but only a part of the global community. It is a tough ride but… It is about accepting the advanced global citizenship. It is to think about your effect of the world and how you can make it a better place. We have to do this together since there are way too many regimes, as well as “normal” selfish and ignorant people. 

We shouldn’t be “angels of the silences”. 

Being in full control is something I have done very well and successful in my life. Most of the time it is more about choosing the battles you take, distance yourself and take that extra walk around the block in your head. Yet it seems like some yet very few people just have the ability to touch you beyond your boundaries. It is realizing that the defense is gone. It is both comforting and somewhat frightening realizing it. Yet. “It is all about trust…” She is so right. It is all about trust.

Letting go of the protective guard is something that is really hard and usually stressful. It is about loosing that control and putting the trust in another person. It can be refreshing. It can be unique. It certainly can be rewarding and peaceful. I think I let that final guard down and met the eyes. The weird thing is that I am calm and genuinely peaceful. I probably shouldn’t be. Or maybe I should be.

Regardless. Weird. Strange. And yes. Very peaceful and comforting.

I met up with a friend the other night and ended up in a discussion about compassion, good and evil. I have never believed there is such a thing as the absolute good or the absolute evil or absolute truth for that matter. The quest of finding the absolute good, evil or truth actually prevents us from moving forward. You usually get caught in a blaming game of who did what and why. After all what really matters is the change. The constant transition towards something “better”, what ever better means.

Anyhow, I have been struck about how many people get stuck in comments such as “he/she did that, so I will not do that”. We justify our lack of compassion, understanding and course of actions by the nature of the acts of the other person. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. Isn’t it better to change the situation instead of arguing about why we came to it? It has some relevance, but ultimately not. Often this is really the ultimate reason why do not reach out. We are stuck in the blaming game. It sure is easier and more comfortable to stay there, as you never have to address you part of the issues.

The same friend reminded me on how easy, natural and deep compassion is. It really is an instinct. You know that the automatic response of a mother when a car stops is to stop you from going over the road by reaching out their hand in front of you. Or when you hurt yourself, your hand automatically goes to that wound. We know how to do it if recognize it. It really is that simple, yet we fail miserable frequently.

Don’t believe it? Think of how many people ran towards the World Trade Center 9/11. When we do not put logic on top of our actions and act with our heart we fear nothing and our instinct is to help others.

I do not remember where I heard this quote, but it is so true – It is an act of compassion not to be overcome.

Always look at the bright side of life…