It’s noisy out there. Divisive and fearful opinions daily sound off like sirens which layer us with worry and a smothering forgetfulness that seems to blanket our innate genius. When we do nothing to filter the noise, then we, as a species, often try and numb it away.

Substance abuse, work addiction and complete avoidance of personal feelings do nothing in transcending stale narratives that only speak of hopelessness and victimization to external powers. But note that the noise that claims how things are worse than they have ever been in human history is untrue. The above sentences describing modern-day challenges are equally applicable to every past era as they are to the present.

And in spite of the noise, I believe we are actually evolving.

As we continue championing other’s authenticity as well as our own, we experience more and more minorities, women, and disenfranchised turning the volume up through civil engagement and thunderous demands for greater equality. We are far more Quantum Age than Industrial Age – closer to reaching a critical mass that’s willing to adopt new ways of being. Record numbers are committing their lives to servant leadership. Grassroots efforts are producing unprecedented victories. And, yes, we need more, always more.

Timeless wisdom urges us to never forget our individuality – to march to the beat of our own drum. Yet outward noise and systemic fear of public and personal disapproval has proven too great a burden for many to carry. Worry over another’s opinion has suffocated many a creative idea. When we breathe life into our own inner genius and unique purpose, the collective consciousness of the globe prospers.

So what must change to breathe life into our desire to freely express our true nature? Decide not to become another noise statistic. As the great theologian Howard Thurman shared, “Follow the grain in your own wood.”

We may all begin in the immediacy of the now to implement a personal mindfulness practice that assists us in tuning out the external noise and tuning in to an already existing inherent guidance.

Let’s start with the topic of worry.

I have had a revelation of sorts around the energy of this activity we have always been told is a waste, a thing to eradicate, something to eliminate at all costs. Worry has been labeled a negative trigger, causing many of us to spiral to states of depletion. And for the majority of us, that’s been true. When left unmanaged, worry will grab hold and drag us into some dark dense territory. We fear its powerful ability to drag us there, yet we willingly give it our submissive hands again and again.

But what if worry is a signal rather than a trigger? What if worry is simply a mindful knock on the door of our consciousness inviting us to remember that the thing we are worrying over is really about losing something we once felt and/or experienced? Simply put, we can only conjure the energy of worry about things we’ve had the opposite of. If I worry about lack it is because at some point, I’ve had sufficiency. If I worry about safety, it is because I know what security feels like. If I worry about abandonment, it is because at some point in my life I have experienced a sense of connection or belonging. It is the science of mental polarity.

Consider then that worry is guidance back to your authenticity – a mindful signal to return you to your innate genius. Consider that your worry over losing approval, making a mistake or risking shame is a signal that you are ready to dismantle those concerns by meeting them with a different approach. Instead of wanting worry to go away, invite it in to your inner laboratory of exploration. Determine what is the polarity of the thing you are worried about. Then for several minutes, summon the feeling of solution or create sense memory around what it was like to have had what you fear you’ll lose. What would it be like for this issue to be completely resolved? What would the relief feel like? How long can you linger in this solution driven state of feeling?

This is the golden moment, the primordial seed that begins to grow an entire new system of focus. Train to use these examining moments to flip from worry to a concentrated focus on feeling solution. Contemplate how worry is a signal calling for exploration, not a trigger to try and manage. Watch inner alchemy begin.

The more we focus on nurturing our individual inner atmosphere through mindful practices as outlined above, the more the planet reaches a tipping point toward interconnectedness, the fear laden noise lessens and a championing world is revealed.