I've heard that in Japanese the word for "problem" is the same as the word for "opportunity". That is appropriate. Problems, challenges and conflict provide us with opportunities to evolve.

The challenges that arise in our lives are what motivate us to evolve. In the Darwinian sense evolution occurs as a response to challenges and stresses in relation to the physical environment; survival of the fittest. On the other hand in the personal, communal, societal and cultural sense evolution occurs in response to challenges to our ideals.

In this new age of conscious evolution, we have a choice of whether our response to a problem helps us and the human world evolve, or whether our response drives us and the human world deeper into division, isolation and violence. More and more people will gain the clarity to see this choice. It is up to those who have found this clarity to make the choice to guide those who have not, gently and respectfully, toward it.

For those who have the clarity, there can be difficulty in following through on the choice. It's much easier to follow the beaten path than to take the road less travelled (or never travelled). Our minds are filled with uncertainties and ambiguities on the less travelled road. But we should have courage and believe in our ideals, as the alternatives are usually grim.

Our ideals tell us that in an effort to put an end to human suffering we should embrace diversity and stop resorting to violence to solve conflicts. The disparity between our idealism and the reality fuels our conscious evolution. When challenges arise in our lives, we make a choice to respond in a manner that befits our highest ideals. We object to choices that do not evolve us toward those ideals.

Perpetually, the world we all want is only a brave choice away from being realized.