Why I have decided to get the Astra-Zeneca Shot (despite all the noise)
There was a time I had no intention of receiving the Covid vaccination. I chose not to vaccinate for seasonal flu strains of the past. I am fully vaccinated from my school days and world travels without regret. So what changed my mind? How did I go from confident in my health and well-being, reveling in the freedom of choice; to succumbing to a vaccination created in record time, surrounded by rumour, mistrust, and fear-mongering misinformation?
In part the answer might be as simple as FEAR… but it's not… at least not in the way you might think.
If you’ve embarked on a journey into your thoughts, patterns, beliefs, behaviours, you’ve likely discovered at least one surprise. You know, the thing someone pointed out or dared to suggest, but you didn’t see it… you didn’t believe it could be true.When you embark on an even deeper dive… you discover the odd thing you’d rather leave buried but in the unburying lies your true self… your soul essence… the person you truly are and want to be. Call it what you want but for those who have arrived, you know the joy, freedom, and the peace it brings even in a world of chaos and plunder.
What does all this have to do with vaccinations?
Perhaps it starts with our societal imprinting or domestication as Don Miguel Ruiz refers to it. I say this because of what we have all witnessed over the course of the pandemic. Everything from hatred, violence, love, kindness, conspiracy, greed, flourish… fill in the blanks. We have seen the best and worst of mankind as in other times of crisis.So am I blaming society? Are we all lost to the programming of our upbringing, experiences, culture… The answer is unequivocally NO and I have proof. The proof is in ME. Not exactly scientific, but I never claim to be…I’m taken back to November of last year around when masks became mandatory here at home. You see, I hadn’t converted. I wasn’t an anti-masker by any stretch but I was certainly exercising my freedom of choice. I remember thinking there was no way I was going to allow this to become “normal”. I was taking my stand, quietly rebelling... against WHAT? I honestly don’t remember… making me the quintessential ‘rebel without a cause’.Truth be told, I now know exactly why I was rebelling. You see, I don’t like to be told what to do. Those who know me are rolling their knowing eyes. If I dig a little deeper, I discover the next layer - I don’t like being thrust into change especially where I have little to no control; with a reflex to push back on authority.
Let me be clear, I do not condone conspiracy or polarization and I’m not taking a position on vaccinations. In fact, it’s the opposite.
I’m taking a stand (perhaps for the first time in my 55 years - no shame attached). I’ve been reaching out to people asking what their greatest insight from this year of Covid has been and as they asked the same in return, it finally occurred to me. STAND FOR SOMETHING… I need to stand for something BIGGER THAN MYSELF.
Tolerance | Kindness | Love | Respect | Freedom
If for no other reason than to stand against fear-mongering, increasing polarization, and intolerance toward others, I choose to take a stand now. While these values have fueled my actions for a lifetime, they now fuel my courage to speak up and in doing so, it is my deepest desire to influence others toward more:TOLERANCE of beliefs, ideologies, and circumstances beyond our own and those we are most familiar (comfortable) with. In lieu of making judgement, can we be curious enough to at least venture to understand other perspectives currently beyond our comprehension? Be willing to learn something outside of your own imprinting. Such tolerance does not have to mean changing your mind or your own beliefs and it leaves no room for violence or hatred.KINDNESS toward all beings, starting with ourselves and especially those less fortunate. With kindness, comes forgiveness and as you practice more kindness you will also find more tolerance, more love, more respect, and more freedom.LOVE for self first so that you may have even more love to share with others. In ‘LOVE’, hatred can not flourish. In the absence of hatred, violence and intolerance can not flourish. In ‘LOVE’ we live the life we were meant to live, the one we dreamt of as a small child before society, and our environment shaped how we view the world.RESPECT of differences whether it be opinion, sexual orientation, lifestyle, culture, race, choice... Show “due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others” despite your own. Embody “the process of honoring someone by exhibiting care, concern, or consideration for their needs or feelings” (Wikipedia). Step out of your own fear and find a way to respect even those beliefs ingrained into your own being as “wrong” in whatever way you have been conditioned to believe.FREEDOM is so much more than where and how you are allowed to live. True freedom comes from within and it is born of tolerance, kindness, love, and respect… not only for others but for ourselves. Freedom comes in releasing what hinders us and replacing it with kinder thoughts, tolerance for mistakes or circumstance, love (forgiveness) to even those who may have betrayed us, and respect (gratitude) for the life we have been granted.“We cannot choose to have a life free of hurt. But we can choose to be free, to escape the past, no matter what befalls us, and to embrace the possible.” Dr. Edith Eva Eger, The Choice - a memoir of surviving AuschwitzIn reflecting on these (my) values, I discovered my initial position came from a lack of knowledge elevated by fear and dare I admit ‘the rebel inside’. Admittedly I still hold some fear, doubt, and even a little mistrust. But the alternative... to choose not to vaccinate, to choose not to put my faith in the values I hold so dear, feels like succumbing to the fear-mongering dis-information and intolerance for true freedom.I AM TAKING A STAND... not on Covid-19, vaccinations, or any other polarizing event. I am sharing my own position without holding judgement on others. I am taking a stand for Tolerance, Kindness, Love, Respect, and Freedom.What do you stand for? I'd love to know if you're willing to share HERE.