Have we reached breaking point? | Vivo Life

Question: What is it that the Mayan, Aztec, Roman, Egyptian, and every other great civilisation of the past has in common?

Answer: They no longer exist.

For many of us, the very thought of a civilisation collapse is so alien and so uncomfortable that we have never even allowed ourselves to entertain it. But when we look back throughout history, we realise that collapse is the precedent for every single civilisation that has gone before us.

Without exception, every empire and society that predated ours has risen and then fallen. What gives us the arrogance to think that we should be any different?

And now at this point I know what you’re thinking…

“Damn, Josh’s blogs used to be so positive, and now he’s planning for the end of the world? Maybe there is no hope for us after all.’

I’ll be the first to admit that a complete collapse in civilisation doesn’t sound like the cheeriest of prospects. But read on and you’ll see why I’m not running for the hills just yet, and in fact why I believe we have more reasons to be hopeful now than ever before.

To set the stage, let’s take a look at how we got to this point.

2020 has been the year that we have seen everything wrong with society rear its ugly head. The flaws and failures in our social, economic, political and justice systems that were once hiding in plain sight have now been exposed for all to see.

It all started with the impending doom of a highly infectious illness coming in from a strange and faraway land. This illness made us scared of strangers and eventually our own friends and family. So we hid ourselves away behind screens and gloves and surgical masks and anything else that would protect us from our humanity.

The illness highlighted many other problems too. Remember those people who flocked to the supermarket in their droves to stockpile anything of calorific value… and left others with nothing?

We acted shocked at the levels of selfishness and individualism that ran so deeply through society. But why wasn’t this selfishness and individualism to be expected, when we have been conditioned our whole lives to be selfish individuals?

Next we saw the fragilities in our medical system. We watched as critical care units buckled under the pressure of a pandemic, unable to supply enough protective equipment to safeguard their own staff (let alone their patients). At the same time, other hospitals were desolate and stripped of the resources they needed to carry out routine treatments.

Then we witnessed the staggering inequalities in our economic system. As millions around the world lost their livelihoods, Elon Musk played with his rockets and Jeff Bezos walked an increasingly accelerated path to become the world’s first trillionaire.

And most recently, the spotlight was shone on racial discrimination. The world reeled in disgust at the murder of an unarmed black man, as the pain of thousands of years of oppression rose up to the surface and erupted in worldwide protests that demanded justice and an end to systemic prejudice.

Going back to my earlier observations on civilisation collapse, we know that it is a question of when and not if our society comes crashing down. And if this is not our breaking point… then what is?

At what point do we throw in the towel and admit defeat, allowing everything we have ever known to fall so that it can finally be rebuilt with new tools of integrity, equality and sustainability?

There is no doubt that 2020 has been an excruciatingly painful year. But it has also not discovered anything new. 2020 has simply ripped the band-aid off wounds that have been there for a very long time.

Now that the wounds are open they hurt more than ever. The question is, do we wrap them back up in plaster or do we heal them once and for all?

My belief is that we now have the opportunity of a lifetime to finally treat the root cause of our wounds. If we do so we can see healing on a scale that has never been witnessed before. But it isn’t going to come unless we all take individual responsibility.

We can call for change all we want, but unless we are willing to BE the change then guess what happens?

Nothing changes.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that unless we can fix a problem in ourselves, then it can never be fixed in the outside world. For example, if the use of single use plastic concerns me but I continuously forget my bags when I go grocery shopping, how can I ever expect the problem to be resolved?

If I’m against animal cruelty but refuse to give up bacon, how will the last slaughterhouse ever be shut down?

If I hate racism but don’t speak out when I hear or see something racist, how can I ever expect the discrimination to end?

All of the power is now in our hands. There is no point calling for revolution unless we are prepared to be the revolution ourselves.

So, what is it that makes me so confident?

Well, despite all of the obvious challenges we are experiencing on the surface, beneath it all is a feeling of transformation I have never experienced in my lifetime.

We’re remembering who we are and where we came from. We’re getting our hands dirty, growing our own food, re-connecting with nature, and seeing for the first time the beauty that was there all along.

We’re rising in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters to fight for an end to injustice and systemic oppression. We’re screaming at the top of our lungs for unity and togetherness, and we won’t stop until we make it a reality.

We’re committing to self-work and transforming our consciousness. We’re moving away from the fear-based paradigm and into one of love, raising the vibration of the entire planet as a result.

(if you don’t believe me, I challenge you to lock in for the next global peace meditation and tell me you don’t feel the shift.)

We’re re-defining our values and getting crystal clear on what matters most to us.

We’re questioning the narrative of mainstream media, doing our own research and forming our own conclusions.

Most importantly of all, we’re reclaiming our power. We’re realising that all of the freedom and sovereignty that we’ve been searching for has been within us all along. We’re no longer relying on governments and authorities to change things for us.

I truly believe that what we are witnessing right now is the demolition of a long-broken society and the dawning of a new golden age.

This demolition is far from over. There will be even more pain, even more discomfort, and even more chaos as we rip out the roots that are embedded not just in our system; but in every single one of us.

No great structure ever went down without an almighty crash. This is a change of cataclysmic proportions that will challenge us to the very core of our being.

But if we can stick together and face these challenges as a unified human race, then I have zero doubt we will make it through to the other side.

If all of this happens then the future will be brighter than anything we could ever imagine. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back on 2020 as the year we were waiting for all along.

Talk soon,

Josh.