A natural extension of oneness is the development of global consciousness. You acknowledge that just as each individual cell is responsible for maintaining the health of the whole body, you’re similarly responsible for the health of the entire planet. You can’t continue making decisions solely at the personal, family, or communal level. Now you must consider how your thoughts and actions impact the planet as a whole.
The mind-set of unity is an awesome responsibility, and many people feel overwhelmed by it initially. This is perfectly normal. To assume responsibility for the entire planet can feel like putting a huge weight on your shoulders. How can one person be responsible for so much? But to deny such responsibility is to succumb to an illusion. You can’t avoid the responsibility for what happens on Earth because you’re a part of it.
If you think the planet needs saving, you’re responsible for saving it. If you think our leaders have gotten off track, you’re responsible for getting us back on track. If you see problems in the world that aren’t adequately being addressed, you’re responsible for addressing those problems.
Without the experience of oneness, you’ll probably disagree with me (Steve Pavlina). You can’t possibly be responsible for all of that. You’re just one tiny individual on a planet of billions. You’re just a single cell, not the whole body.
But when you embrace the truth that we’re all one connected whole, you willingly accept responsibility for everything in your reality. It’s no longer possible to shrink and hide from this awareness. Unity becomes your answer to the question: Why should I care?
The positive side is that unity also gives you the strength to shoulder that responsibility willingly and without feeling overwhelmed. Unity reveals that you’re never alone. You have plenty of help available.
You don’t need to build a vast global operation to cure every problem on Earth. You just need to remain aware of how your actions affect the whole and start making decisions today to align yourself with the greater good. Think at the level of the body; act at the level of the cell.
The most you can expect of yourself is to do your best. And the best you can genuinely do at this time is to fully embrace oneness, to serve as an example, and to teach others to do the same. The more people who embrace oneness, the more united we become, and the better off the entire planet will be.
If you want to align yourself with oneness, you’ll eventually have to leave thoughts of separation behind. Whatever divides us is incongruent with oneness. The more you immerse yourself in patterns of separation, the more you distance yourself from the experience of oneness. This includes nationalism, racism, sexism, and similar mindsets that emphasize our separateness. It also includes working at a job where you’re rewarded or punished based on your ability to outperform others, a spiritual belief system where some people are saved and some aren’t, and a family-relationship model based on loving certain people more than others. Regardless of how deeply ingrained these patterns may be, if you want to shift to a higher level of social consciousness, you must eventually relinquish them.
* Source: Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina