The Gunn Clan or family motto is “Aut Pax Aut Bellum” “Either Peace or War” – which seems rather apt for the times we are in.
As headlines continue to bring news of escalation between Iran and the United States people are asking me “What can WE do?”
Each new turn in the crisis seems urgent, demanding outrage, fear and instant reaction.
But what if the most radical response is not outrage at all?
Perhaps we have been conditioned to believe that resistance to a situation we disagree with must be loud and met with rage to show that we care.
The cycle of crisis impacts our nervous system, feeding on our attention and raising our adrenaline.
Fearmongering encourages us to scroll, react, argue and share our outrage with others.
But does doing this also make us part of the machinery?
Perhaps the key is to shift from outrage to awareness.
To find our own clarity by refusing to be emotionally manipulated by headlines but instead to understand how narratives are crafted, how fear spreads and how polarisation profits others and not WE the people.
The first step is to pause and notice what is happening inside us.
And then to become what I call a ReSolutionary rather than a revolutionary
The difference is that resolution comes from the art of seeing the story or narrative without being swallowed by it.
It means consciously choosing where we put our vital life energy on a daily basis.
Because we cannot choose headlines or influence geopolitics but we can choose what happens in our own nervous system and the consequences for those we live and work with.
Our best defence may be to stop playing the game as it is designed and instead start mastering ourselves.
To practice steadiness, discernment and focus instead of panic, outrage and constant attention.
This is inner freedom that says “I will not let my emotions be hijacked without my consent.”
And so perhaps what we can choose is to live smaller and slower in the midst of global turmoil that seems to be speeding up and to cultivate presence instead of amplifying fear.
Turn the television off
Stop checking the news
Walk in nature
Hug your friends and family
Stroke a dog
Listen—truly listen—to someone who is hurting
Cook a nourishing meal
Feed your mind well
Appreciate beauty. Music. Friendship. Children laughing. The ordinary miracle of breath moving in and out of your body.
As a mediator, I know that the systems of conflict rely on fragmentation – us versus them, right versus wrong, good versus evil.
But when we master ourselves, when we cultivate awareness rather than reaction, we step outside the script for war.
We become harder to manipulate and harder to mobilise into hatred.
The revolution we need may not begin in the streets or on our screens.
It may begin in the quiet decision to become sovereign over our own minds.
To be a still human in a frantic age.
We may not be able to stop geopolitical storms, but we can refuse to become storms ourselves.
And that, is how you become a ReSolutionary and choose peace not war.