Energetically, I find myself with increasing clarity about how the person in front of me would answer this question.

Most news outlets thrive on disseminating hostility and its ensuing violence.

Our predominant business culture pushes a scarcity mindset and the lens of winning at all costs.

Our professional culture asks us to gear up when we go to work to not show weakness or our humanity because that has no place in the workplace.

Most religious organizations promote their guy as THE guy, and if you don’t believe in their guy, you have picked the wrong guy. Hostility is inherently baked into this worldview.

The plague of comparison and keeping up with the Joneses’ has the perception of more than, lesser than baked into it, with perceived winners and losers of life.

Then there is the whole other level of people who believe that the world, or at least the people in it, are out to screw them in some way, shape or form. Thieves, thugs, and con artists constantly lurking. Or that wolf in sheep’s clothing on the other side of the water cooler plotting to take your job.

As a result, you are always on the lookout for the looming knife inches from your spine.

Energetically, this has always felt so alien to me. 

What a drain on the system to be constantly on guard for the tiger lurking behind the tree. This can not be a healthy way to live. (For the record, science has proven it isn’t.)

Then I came across this brilliant quote from Albert Einstein, and it all made sense:

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” 

I know this will come as a surprise, but I chose the friendly road.

I live with the premise that most people are inherently honest and good and look out for their neighbours. You don’t have to look too far to find someone willing to help you.

There are infinitely more people volunteering and donating than terrorists and bad guys.

Your friends, colleagues, employer, and governments are not biding their time waiting for the opportunity to screw you in some way.

Collaboration is an equal if not stronger force than competition for driving performance, growth and fulfillment.

Bottom line: the universe wants you to be happy. 

Yes, of course, there is and will always be suffering and heartache in the world. Some of it is driven by force majeure, but most of it emanates from our fears and attachments.

So what lens are you choosing to see the world with?