Windows of Opportunity: Be on the Lookout

Today we had a short window of time where the incessant winds stopped blowing. So, I quickly put on my heavy coat and went for a walk. I was rewarded with the sighting of beautiful pygmy-jasmine rock-flowers. They are so tiny that I would have missed them had I not been looking closely.

Several days ago, I attended a training on Internal Family Systems (IFS.) There were some things taught that seemed to go right over my head, and initially I wondered if I’d made a mistake by taking the training. Then I remembered a conversation that seemed significant so I began to focus on that instead.

Both of these were windows of opportunity. And both weren’t overtly obvious.

When I returned home from the training, I checked world events and was saddened to see that peaceful protestors are being harassed and worse.

This seems like another window of opportunity. Why? Because when we use Internal Family Systems in our work as Changemakers and Activists, we can rise above divisiveness and defuse the fear that tend to take place.

It seems to me that activism can take place on many levels. I define the word “Changemakers” as people who are bothered by something in the world and are taking action to try and change that. This includes people who are working to change the paradigms around aging, like my friend, Louise Gallagher. Another friend, Doreen Downing, is shifting the old paradigm of speaking inauthentically.

There are so many paradigms that are in need of transformation. IFS founder Dick Schwartz initially worked with people’s internal family systems to support people who had eating disorders. He has since felt called to take his work into society, because everything is part of a system. The systems that Schwartz sees as overarching themes in need of transformation in society include: racism, patriarchy, individualism, and materialism.

When people take a stand on more politically charged areas such as the four mentioned in the previous paragraph, strong and diverse opinions usually emerge. And that can result in the person who is doing the protesting moving into a stance of reactivity. This is natural. When we feel attacked by another person, we want to protect ourselves.

But with training, an activist or changemaker can learn to transcend that habitual instinct and come from a space where the highest good of all is the only agenda. In IFS we call that space Self. In Schwartz’s work with activists around the globe, activists have found that when they access Self, other people, including police offers, respond differently.

This is why I see what’s happening around the world as Windows of Opportunity. Some Windows of Opportunity are subtle and tiny, while others are glaringly obvious. What’s happening in the world definitely seem like the latter. We have a chance to shift the way we respond. To stop fighting against what’s not working, and instead learn how to invent new things that do.

I hope you will look closely for and pay attention to your Windows of Opportunity. The world needs each one of us to do our part.

If you’re ready to learn more about IFS for activism, please join me for my free masterclass May 23:
Effective Activism is an Inside Job: 3 Secrets Every Activist Needs to Know

To learn more about using IFS to transform your own life, book a complementary Power Up Potential call with me here.