Written by: Nick Palladino-King, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The pandemic has offered the perfect opportunity to practice living at center line – neutrality. Because its controversial nature tempts us daily to judge our fellow humans’ beliefs and decisions as right or wrong.
The latest arena for judgment is the vaccine. I have noticed that most people are glorifying or demonizing it. This is challenging me to strengthen my ability as a conscious leader to stay center.
At center line, nothing is good or bad. Everything is perfect.
The narrative where I live on the West Coast of the United States seems to be that educated Democrats are pro-vaccine and uneducated Republicans are anti-vaccine.
My educated, Democratic friends continually try to convince me that getting a vaccine is right and not getting a vaccine is wrong. I even heard one friend respond to the softening of local restrictions with, “I am going to keep wearing my mask in public because I don’t want to look like a Republican.”
Around the same time, I overheard a man say to his friends, “All Democrats are assholes.”
I thought that these were such interesting statements! Especially in juxtaposition. I wondered to myself: “Do all Republicans refuse to wear masks? Does this man know every Democrat?”
Practicing living from center, I felt amazed by their comments more than anything else. I didn’t take them personally, as I do not believe that either party is right or wrong and I am neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine.
I am pro-choice.
Do I think that vaccines will protect the lives of countless humans? Absolutely. Do I believe that vaccines will reduce planetary fear? Absolutely. Have I made a choice for my own body on this matter? Absolutely.
But do I believe that getting or not getting a vaccine is right or wrong? Absolutely not.
I know that this is not a popular viewpoint, but being different is a risk we must be willing to take as conscious leaders when we choose to live at center line.
Whatever we believe about the vaccine is neither right nor wrong. It is simply our viewpoint. We do not need to make others wrong to make ourselves right. And we can choose what is right for us without making it right for everyone. What is right for us may not be right for others and vice versa. We can learn to honor our own truths – as well as everyone else’s.
Guide, Do Not Define
As a conscious leader, you also may be receiving questions from your students, clients and employees about whether they should get the vaccine.
Conscious leaders do not tell people what to do. Instead, we encourage our community members to collect their own data, to tune into their intuition, and to make present-moment choices based on what is right for them.
This keeps our karma clean as leaders as well as empowers those around us.
Our Ultimate Insecurity
These commitments as conscious leaders to nonjudgment and empowerment are critical because they invite us to use this current event to overcome our ultimate insecurity: doubt of our own existence.
In the United States these days, you are either a Democratic asshole or a Republican asshole. So, is being an asshole really that special? If we all are assholes when viewed from a perspective different from our own, then doesn’t that make us all the same?
I believe that what makes humans the same worldwide is our lack of belief in our own importance.
Ultimately, most people seem to judge because they want to be right. Why? Because they need to prove to themselves that they exist and that they matter.
Know that you never need to defend your truth. Only a personality that needs to be reassured of its own validity must defend its truths.
You matter – period. Your mere existence validates you. When you believe this, then you will achieve an unparalleled inner confidence. One that can maintain center line in the face of any judgment or challenge.
It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to be willing to not judge when others around you are judging. Because this means that you must be willing to be judged yourself.
When you do not judge the people, places and things around you, it can agitate other humans’ needs to be reassured that they exist and that they matter. So be ready for them to push back on your ability to not judge in order to affirm themselves.
From here, radiate your truths without defending them. This demonstrates to others that you believe in yourself. When they witness this in you, it can help them to judge less and to believe in themselves more too.
When you know that you matter, you will be able to live in the space between right and wrong, left and right, here and there. When you live in this space, you will be able to glimpse the Wholeness.
The Pandemic Paradox
On the other hand, COVID-19 also has implored us to slow down, to come together, to create change, and to move toward a common goal: survival.
How can something teach us to create both separation and connection? How can something simultaneously polarize yet unite us? If we choose to see life only through the lens of here and there, then this should be impossible. But it isn’t.
The pandemic’s paradoxes remind us that we can decide to live in duality from unity consciousness.
We can choose to see both sides, everything in between, and wherever our personality likes to hang out along the spectrum. We also can step back to see the masterpiece in which we live: Wholeness.
There are almost 8 billion people on the planet now, which means there are 8 billion points of view on everything in existence. Eight billion people are not going to share the same beliefs – nor should they.
We all are individuals with unique personalities within the Wholeness of reality. Each perspective is what makes life beautiful, and we will begin to experience this beauty when we give ourselves permission to stop judging and to start loving everyone, everywhere and everything equally.
Without diverse thoughts, opinions and ideas, life would become gray. I do not want to live in this reality. I used to for many years, and I was unhappy. So now I choose to see as much of the Wholeness as I can in every present moment.
In this way, 8 billion people can learn to respect each other by allowing all beings to carry different points of view. I sense that this starts by admitting to ourselves that we may never agree on anything because there are infinite outlooks on everything. I believe that this is the beginning of universal understanding and maybe even unconditional love for all.
To access this love, it is our job as conscious leaders to clean our individual lenses. Viewing the world through our unique perspective contributes to the world’s beauty. But looking at the world through our judgments prevents us from seeing the One True Reality of Universal Perfection.
When you stop judging, you no longer will see anything as good or bad. Instead, you will be able to harmonize seemingly contradictory truths. You will be able to hold the paradox of life in your hands and to understand more points of view – even if they differ from or challenge your own. You will be able to witness the Wholeness at play. You will be able to see the perfection of it all.
This is possible yet not necessarily easy, as we have been taught since birth to judge in order to live in duality. So be gentle in your process of opening to all perspectives while maintaining your own viewpoint among them all.
Ultimately, a conscious leader is a paradox. Because we discourage people from following us. Instead, we embolden them to make decisions for themselves. Decisions that do not fortify our own personal movements, but that fortify the Wholeness.
The Misconception of More
Once you choose to start seeing the Wholeness, life may get more challenging at first. As we ask to see more, we get more.
More does not mean better. It simply means more. More beauty, more conflict, more synchronicity, more chaos.
This may push you past your current comfort zone and capacity. It even may thrust you to your razor’s edge.
Times like these will illustrate the chops that you must cultivate to trust your existence and to embrace the Wholeness simultaneously. And, as a result, times like these will reveal how strong your spiritual practice really is.
So, take a deep breath. Drop your judgments. Hold center line. And trust that you exist: here, there and everywhere in between.
Ready to strengthen your spiritual practice? Schedule a call with me today to discover the perfect conscious leadership program for you.
Nick Palladino-King, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Nick Palladino-King (IG: @nickpalladinoking) is the Co-founder and CEO of Tribe, a San Francisco based wellness company founded on the holistic health philosophy he calls “Complete Health and Wellness.” Tribe is a leading wellness company in the Bay Area focused on inspiring leadership and health in individuals and companies. Nick is a conscious coach and mentor, with deep knowledge and understanding of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. His breath of knowledge in these fields comes from over 15 years of studying and training with master teachers in movement, mindfulness, meditation and yogic philosophy and practices. Nick is known as a “coaches’ coach” and sought after for his honesty, ability to hold nonjudgmental space, and transformational and healing presence. He coaches world-class athletes, CEOs, wellness entrepreneurs and consciousness leaders worldwide.
