Changes

by Eduardo del Buey

Changes

Buddhists say that peace begins the moment you choose not to allow persons or events to control your emotions.

I have spent the past six years writing my columns on global events and leaders, war and human tragedies, lies and falsehoods that drive the political discourse of today, sharing them with readers and on Facebook, and allowing myself to slowly become mired in all of the negativity that I believe surrounds us.

I am tired of commenting on negative people and events and allowing them to occupy my time and headspace.

Negativity does not define me, nor does it enhance the quality of my life. It only serves to stifle my spiritual peace and growth.

And I refuse to focus on it any longer.

This year is the Chinese year of the snake – a time when we shed our old skins and grow new ones with which to continue our journey through life. We discard the old memories that encumber our emotions and spirituality and are not a life sentence.

In 2026, we enter the Chinese year of the horse, that signifies forward motion – setting new goals and adopting new ways of doing things and dealing with the challenges life throws at us.

The objective is to become more positive in our outlook and deny negative people or events from absorbing us and affecting our emotional and spiritual well-being.

Consequently, I will no longer disturb my inner peace or yours by focusing on the negative in my social commentaries, either through my In the Crosshairs columns or on social media.

I will focus on universal creativity through natural phenomena, artistic endeavors, or spiritual and philosophical readings.

I will comment on global events from time to time when things become especially egregious.

But I will limit these commentaries to the barest minimum.

When I wrote my latest book – One Man’s Quest, A Spiritual Journey – some readers asked me how I could focus on the positive nature of spirituality in a world replete with negativity and chaos.

My reply is that each of us must create a cocoon of well-being, develop ourselves spiritually and emotionally to face the challenges of the modern world without allowing them to interfere with our personal growth and well-being.

Family, kindred souls, art, music, literature, theater, film, and dance can bring us together and enhance our lives.

We must be aware of global developments but not allow them to rule our emotions or reactions.

We must surround ourselves with positive people, people who respect our spiritual and emotional boundaries yet share our goal of self-realization and unity with the universal consciousness that binds us all.

Anais Nin once wrote that we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

“Change your perspective and thus change reality” means your interpretation of events, not just the events themselves, shapes your experience of life. By shifting from negative to positive, embracing empathy, reframing challenges, and challenging assumptions, you can alter your emotional responses, choices, and overall reality.

You can turn problems into opportunities and build a more empowered, fulfilling life. This isn’t denying facts but choosing a more empowering way to view them, finding new paths through mental flexibility and conscious choice.

That is my goal, and I hope that you find your own way to transform negativity into positivity and not only survive this world of chaos but grow with a new consciousness of why we are here and how we can evolve into greater emotional and spiritual beings.

I invite you to undergo your own transitions and share them with us, so that we can learn from the experiences of others, and they can learn from us.

Happy New Year, ours and the soon-to-come Chinese, and let’s make the most of it.