Rosa Parks is a civil rights icon who was a crucial part of a movement that brought great advances in social justice and equitable rights for people of color. While we still have a ways to go, we can definitely appreciate what she did and the impact that it had. We can also find value in her words in a more broad context.
“…knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
Rosa Parks
These words are incredibly relevant to those trying to experience life mindfully. When I first read them, I immediately started to consider the idea of “knowing what must be done.” How can we ever truly know what must be done? This is something I think about often. What I think is behind those words is a combination of (1) understanding what the most appropriate course of action is and (2) believing that the conditions require it. In other words, “knowing what must be done” is knowledge and belief combined.
How do we get to the mental and emotional space where we both know and believe anything? If I had the perfect formula for directly achieving that on demand, I would likely be a very powerful individual. I don’t seek that power for several reasons, one of which being that I don’t believe there is any way to directly achieve it on demand in all situations. However, I do believe that we can create the conditions where the clarity of knowledge and belief exist.
For me, practicing mindfulness helps to create those conditions. Being aware, without judgement, builds my pathway to the waiting room of clarity. Is it the only way? No, but I think all pathways there are likely running on parallel roads. In the waiting room of clarity is where we have the opportunity to recognize “what must be done.” When we know and believe something so clearly, it “does away with fear.”
