<h3>By Martha O’Regan</h3>
For the last 20+ years, I have rarely kept up with world news and I honestly don’t feel as if I am missing a thing, except maybe a little added stress. I get enough info through headlines that pop up on the internet and in general conversations, but I prefer to read a book that I know is fiction rather than wondering if the news I’m receiving is real or not.

As a broadcast journalism major in the early 80’s, the key points taught were to go out and find news whether there was any or not and that there was no longer a need to confirm sources. So basically we had free reign to report anything we wanted whether or not it was true as long as it attracted an audience. Clearly not much has changed in 35 years except we receive it more and faster due to our immense speed of connectivity to the entire world. Shock value and outrage seem to be the key markers for news these days depicting a world living in fear, anger and upset. Having just returned from two back to back trips across the country where I spent time in airports, hotels, restaurants, taxis, etc., I have to say I saw a different world.

Prior to leaving, a friend asked if I was afraid to be traveling alone with the world being in such chaos. This had never dawned on me as I have never been afraid of traveling alone. As my friend continued to share her version of what was going on in the world, I could sense a seed of worry wanting to plant itself in my mind. Knowing that seed had the potential to change my entire travel experience, I decided to embark along my adventures more determined than ever to be what I wanted to see in the world.

Over the next 10 days I encountered countless thoughtful conversations with complete strangers, joyful holiday greetings, smiling connections along city sidewalks, complete with direct eye contact, calming environments and some beautiful opportunities to observe graciousness of giving and receiving. Knowing that vibrationally we create our own reality, I used this opportunity as an experiment to create my own magnificent reality by being in my own magnificence as often as I could. And it worked! Despite two opportunities where my luggage decided to take a later flight, ultimately delaying our rendezvous, I managed to find calm amongst the chaos, joy instead of upset and deep faith in the human spirit. I’m sure there was struggle going on all around me but I was totally unaware of it as I was focused on my own experience because it was my experience to own.

The human experience is vast with a variety of people, events, places, stories; some that are more pleasant and interesting than others. As much as we’d love to have every encounter be fun and easy, it’s those ‘other’ experiences where we have our greatest opportunity to truly grow as we shift our own perspective of the situation. Those ‘less than pleasant’ individuals or situations are our greatest teachers when we allow ourselves to choose to observe and respond from the heart with a little compassion or graciousness rather than auto-react from the head with judgement, anger or upset. We are always at choice with how we respond.

So, what are you looking for every day? What are your expectations in your fellow employees or family members? How are you choosing to be, even when life shows up as a struggle or in chaos? Compare your responses to what you are actually seeing and experiencing each day. If there is a huge contrast, consider beginning your own experiment of creating a different reality than what you are currently experiencing, exploring what it feels like to be your magnificent self. Be what you want to see in the world and see what in the world shows up! Wishing you Joy-filled Holy Days full of Celebration of the Magnificence!