Begin by achieving Emotional Competency—the essential social skills to recognize, interpret, and respond constructively to emotions in yourself and others. This skill enables you to observe and comprehend what you are feeling within yourself, what others are feeling, your relationship to others, and much of what is happening in the world. With Emotional Competency as your way of knowing, you can begin to understand all the rage. This wisdom creates the foundation for a way of being and a way of doing.
The way of being is Authentic Humility—being humble and willful. Humble knows that if I am special, then each of the six billion people on earth is certainly special. Humble is feeling awe and wonderment every time you see the sun rise. Humility inoculates us against humiliation. Willful is taking charge and being firm in achieving the vital pursuits of fairness, kindness, caring, and compassion. The truly transformational leaders including Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, and Jesus of Nazareth are willful and humble. Tyrants are willful and arrogant. Posers and wannabes are complacent.
The way of doing is to live by the Golden Rule—treating others with kindness and compassion. Begin by pledging to yourself to “treat others as they wish to be treated, to the best of my ability, every time, at every opportunity”. Savor the transformation you experience within yourself as you make this profound personal commitment. After living the Golden Rule for some time, when you are ready, when you are with the right person and the time is right, simply mention your decision. Without bragging, preaching, coercing, shaming, or obligating, simply tell your friend you have pledged to live by the Golden Rule. If a friend tells you they have pledged to live by the Golden Rule, the two of you can now discuss why you made the decision, the gratification you have felt, and the problems and challenges you have faced. Together you have joined The Golden Alliance and you are now a resource to each other on this journey toward peace.
You can begin the journey toward inner peace, interpersonal peace, intergroup peace, and world peace.
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A word cloud version of this blog post is now available at: http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/images/wordley%20path%20toward%20peace.pdf
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The golden rule is do unto others as you would have them do unto you. A higher rule is, do only good. Why is this higher? Because the first statement has the feeling in it that others should be good to me. The second means that no matter what, I will do only good. And doing good sometimes means to do nothing except to send your good wishes through your thoughts. The first statement implies that I know what it means to treat somebody nicely because it's how I would like to be treated. That might not be true.
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