The Time is Here Now

I can hear the question now, the very same question that I have asked myself over many decades. What can I possibly do to change the dysfunction in this world? This is far bigger than me. What difference could I possibly make? I am only one person. I believe the answer to these questions lies in the expansion of human consciousness. I believe that we are at the dawn of an awakening, an evolution in human consciousness. It simply has to be. The time is here right now.

Let me clarify. In this evolution of human consciousness, our history and the lessons from our past will be, and are, a part of our conscious evolution. Those experiences occurred as a part of our journey. Our greatest lessons come at times of our greatest pain. I think we have all experienced that horrible moment when we get caught doing something we should not be doing, dreaded the consequences only to find later that we learned one of our biggest lessons from the experience. Or perhaps it was some tragedy in our lives that changed us at a deep level. Some of the horrific experiences that we see daily are happening to get our attention. We can no longer hide. The more seemingly painful the experience, the greater the lesson and the greater the opportunity for growth.

The pain that our planet and our people are currently experiencing presents a perfect platform for change.

But who is going to lead the change and how do we learn our lessons? I for one was becoming extremely impatient about the arrival of our saviour, whoever or whatever that saviour may be.

While writing this book Australia experienced the tragic death of a young test cricketer Phillip Hughes. Hughes was just short of his twenty-sixth birthday when he was struck by a cricket ball on the back of the neck, just below the lip of his protective helmet, and died on the playing surface at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground during a first class cricket match in November 2014.

Phil Hughes was a talented country lad who had a dream to represent his country. He left his small hometown of Macksville in northern New South Wales, a short journey south by car from where I am writing this book, and ventured to the big city of Sydney to pursue his dream. He represented his country at both limited overs and test level, all in his early twenties, before falling from favour and struggling with his game and his confidence.

I never met Phillip Hughes. I worked in Macksville for a period as the HR Executive for a company that employed his older brother Jason. I imagine that Phillip had the very same passionate approach to life that I observed in the then nineteen-year-old Jason when we were discussing his intention to follow his younger brother to Sydney to pursue his own sporting interests.

The tragic passing of Phillip Hughes on November 27, 2014 had a profound affect on me personally and on the wider Australian community. His funeral was televised live on all channels, something I could not recall happening since the 9/11 tragedy. I pondered how it was possible that his death could have such an impact on so many people regardless of whether they followed cricket, or any sport for that matter. Was it the loss of such a young man in his prime of life? Sadly that happens all too often. Was it the untold story and potential this young man still had to give on the big stage? But then many talented young stars have passed before without such fanfare.

The closest events with such personal impact on me were the death of Nelson Mandela, the tragic passing of Princess Dianna Spencer, the Princess of Wales in 1997 and the senseless murder of founding Beatle John Lennon in 1980. What is it with these particular individuals that evoked such empathy and connection and how does the tragic death of Phillip Hughes even remotely compare with these other iconic legends? Each has special talents in his or her own right, but what is it exactly that was resonating with me? The traits that sprang to mind were vulnerability, transparency and authenticity – the ability to acknowledge personal fear and failings but do it anyway, regardless of what others may think.

My own life has been substantially impacted by the life of former Beatle, John Lennon. My very first record, a 45-rpm single, was the double sided 'Day Tripper' and 'We Can Work it out' from 1966. I saved my pocket money for weeks to get that record. Through the evolution of the Beatles, and Lennon's personal battle with drugs and the meaning of his life, I followed his ongoing confrontation with the establishment in the pursuit for world peace, his subsequent withdrawal from the music industry limelight and his amazing rebirth as an artist and human being, abruptly ended by his senseless shooting in 1980. We all witnessed publicly his failings and his sensitivities. He was always authentic. He put himself up for ridicule. The media taunted him and he let go of any attachment to his popularity and image as a Beatle to express his personal pain and beliefs on world peace. Imagine! We all thought he was mad. Looking back now he seemed to be one of the only sane humans on the planet. Ultimately Lennon was just a man. I recall a videoed conversation of him with an avid fan and autograph hunter. Lennon was puzzled by why the fan wanted his signature. What was so important about a signature? He said something along the lines of 'the significance is in the music and the words of the song not in me'. He made some profound statements and wrote insightful lyrics that continue to hold relevance for us all.

The life of Princess Dianna had a similar theme, authentic and sensitive. Not perfect by any means but real and caring beyond her self. Born and married into royalty we saw her imperfections in public and she took the ultimate risk and opened her heart to us all. We saw the human side of the royals. They are just imperfect people like the rest of us! I believe witnessing the flawed side of Princess Dianna created an avenue for connection with the rest of us. We all know our own vulnerabilities and can relate to that in one another. Dianna Spencer showed us that she was just a woman after all.

Mandela carried the same remarkable character qualities. A life typified by hope and passion mixed with those special imperfections that gave him a sense of reality. Nelson Mandela was no saint. Nelson Mandela was passionate and authentic. It is easy to forget that he was a young activist before he went to prison. Mandela was very human. I believe Phillip Joel Hughes was of that ilk. Passionate and driven yet not possessing the perfect cricket technique. He worked on his game and on himself with vision of greater ambitions, and yet a humility and vulnerability that was there for all to see.

But wait, Lennon was an iconic rock star. He sold more records that anyone previously and the Beatles, well they are the Beatles for goodness sake! Dianna Spencer, she was a British royal. British royalty dominates mainstream press across the globe and Mandela well that was a story for the ages. How could his heart wrenching fight for equality from a prison cell and the resultant progression of South Africa into racial freedom not consume the planet? Phillip Hughes was just an Australian cricketer and not even in the current test side! Why was I, and so many Australians, captivated at that moment? I couldn't help but feel that there was more to this than just the loss of a talented and likeable young man.

It came to me as I was reflecting on this book early one morning. It is the time. The time is here right now. People are ready and wanting to heal. Humanity is looking for authentic, honest and conscious humans who have the courage to pursue their dreams with honesty and integrity in spite of their fears. We value them. On a deeper level we all want to be like that. I believe that we have a yearning to own our light side and face our own fears. We possess a deep ache to have the courage to face our personal inadequacies and stand up despite the possibility of rejection and ridicule. We are becoming tired of following like sheep.

There is a growing sense of frustration manifesting on planet earth in regard to the way we are destroying our fragile environment, and ourselves, in the pursuit of financial growth, despite the multitude of warnings and evidence that things have to change. We seem powerless to stop this. We witness politicians and business leaders promoting their own agendas in childish and dangerous games while irresponsible mainstream media pushes the boundaries of truth to sell advertising and satisfy their owners' corporate greed. We are continuously confronted by senseless conflicts, atrocities and destruction in the name of religions that all inherently promote peace and kindness.

And all the time we look for a leader to step up and make sense. Barack Obama is one who I believe speaks openly and has a vision greater than his own political ambitions but we have witnessed him hamstrung by a political system that has evolved to ensure that the real power is seemingly not with the people but with a small number of grossly wealthy and powerful corporate moguls. There are others like Obama across the globe no doubt that wither in the system and never even get the opportunity to rise to prominence.

In Australia our current political options are totally devoid of leadership quality and authenticity. No wonder voters are disillusioned with our democratic system! We seem to have created a mixture of corporate sloth and popularity chasers.

My feeling is that people have had enough. The Internet has served to bring us information direct from the source without the censorship of the mainstream media. We have more alternate information than ever before. We are at a tipping point. We know things have to change but we do not know how. What can we possibly do? And then along comes a plucky country kid that captures our imagination. A kid high on integrity and low on pretence, prepared to be the subject of ridicule but never lose sight of his dream. We connect to those sorts of real heroes. We want real people. We want truth. A part of me recognises that the Phillip Joel Hughes phenomenon was not so much about cricket or sport but more about people seeking truth, something real yet vulnerable. Something genuine. After an explosive start to his test career when he was being compared to the greatest test cricketer of all time, Sir Donald Bradman, Hughes had been banished from the side and floundered at state level. But he was a fighter. He had a dream and he persevered. He was on the cusp of a recall to the test side when he was tragically taken. He had never given up on his dream. That is what I have taken from his passing.

This book had originally been about more traditional leadership models and the changes that current and future leaders would have to possess to lead us out of our current spiral. I have certainly been yearning for heroes who are true to their very core, that are not perfect and possess a sense of vulnerability just like the rest of us. Role models that consistently strive to do better and are brutally honest with us, and themselves, and who hold the beacon that we will follow.

I understand now that waiting is simply not an option.

It seems that we have all been waiting around for that next Jesus or Mohammad or Buddha to make it all right for us and save humanity when the truth is, it has always been up to us. It is up to each and every one of us to play our part in our everyday lives at being authentic, conscious and vulnerable. None of us is perfect. That is evidenced in my theory. Just check your mirror if you have any doubt. John Lennon still had a reflection and certainly Phillip Hughes still had a reflection.

But guess what? It is just fine to have a reflection. It is perfectly ok. What is not so ok is to turn away from what is happening on the planet and wait for someone else to ride in and save the day while we allow our lives to be compromised by our lack of consciousness. Nelson Mandela could not ignore the inequality. John Lennon could not ignore the madness of war and the ludicrous idolisation of pop gods, and Dianna Spencer could not ignore the greater part that she had to play as part of the responsibility that went with her station, despite her own human frailties. Each made sacrifices in the pursuit of their ideals. Why would anyone want to follow that path? Surely it is easier to sit back and be a wallflower? That is a much safer path - or is it?

While we are prepared to take a back seat in the interests of our own safety, our planet and humanity, including us along with it, is slowly dying. Our inaction is actually destroying us all. We are the new leaders. We are here now and we alone have the power to change things. It is not up to our children or someone else. It may well be too late if we delay and leave it to future generations. All of us, together, must take responsibility and we must take it now. Humanity is facing extinction. The time is upon us.

As Lennon alluded to in the classic Beatles rock composition Revolution, it's not about hate and it is certainly not about violence. It is about mind set. It is about attitude - "We all want to change your head". It is about taking personal responsibility and being true to your real values while accepting your shortcomings. It's about getting up when you are knocked down. It's about going back to basics when you fall from your path and slip into complacency. It's about consciously doing what you can in your own life to become a better leader, a better human being, a better person, a better father, a better mother, a better son or daughter or bank teller or doctor or cricketer. It's about having the courage to speak out when you see something that is clearly wrong, or does not feel right to you. It's about growing up as a race and saying 'enough is enough'. There is another way.

That is what Phillip Hughes and John Lennon and Princess Dianna and Nelson Mandela brought to the table. That is what I connected with. You don't have to be famous - you just have to be conscious and follow a purpose. You just have to be real, have a dream and be brave enough to pursue it. We can all do that.

* * *

In the following chapters I will touch on some of the universal truths that have been around for millennia and that aspiring leaders in a highly conscious world will need to know. These truths apply regardless of whether you believe in them or not. Some you may know and some may challenge you. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. Only you can decide what is true for you.

The most important thing we all need to know, and particularly if we are in any position that may have an influence on others, is who we really are ourselves. That is our own self-awareness. What makes us tick and how do these so called universal truths impact our lives? This is a key to leadership into a conscious world. Without self-awareness we get more of the same.

We can, each and every one of us, make a small difference every day and that is all that is needed to make a big difference and create change in our world. The slogan "think globally and act locally" is very relevant. Individually and together we hold the key. I liken this power of small actions making a big difference to the theory of the one hundredth monkey. Lyall Watson and Lawrence Blair published this theory in the mid 1970's in a publication called Rhythms of Vision. The theory originates from stories of observations documented by unidentified Japanese scientists, studying the behaviour of the Macaque Monkeys, on the Japanese Island of Koshima in 1952. While this theory may have some factual inconsistencies the theme is very appropriate to human learning and consciousness.

Apparently the monkeys being observed on Koshima were all eating sweet potatoes that were consistently covered in sand from contact with the island beaches. Despite the gritty taste, the monkeys still consumed the potatoes, sand and all. It follows that one-day a single monkey started to remove the grit from their food by washing the potato in the water before eating it. This behaviour was gradually taken up until a critical number of monkeys, supposedly one hundred, were washing at which time all of the other monkeys converted to the new behaviour in quick succession. Furthermore, it is claimed that the behaviour then spread to a neighbouring island at around that same time leading to assumptions that the new found consciousness of the monkeys had somehow spread there. While some of the facts in this story have been disputed over time, the theory is still sound in that behaviour is mostly learned from what is happening in our environment and there is a point when that behaviour becomes the norm. As more people start to change their behaviour, and live more consciously, then others will learn from their actions and at some point that behaviour becomes the accepted practice. There is a tipping point. There is power in numbers and the numbers are you and I.

I don't know about you but I am well and truly over the sand on my sweet potato and I know that I am not the only one. One by one we can make a difference and change the world. All you really have to do to change the world is change your own perception of the world and your own behaviour. It is that simple, just your own.

We are all leaders. We all have the ability to influence others and create change.