Expand your Mind and Experience all the World has to Offer!
Earlier Reflections posts (in particular Reflections 1: Welcome), explained that it isn’t my goal to convince you that my way of thinking, or any particular way of thinking, is the preferred way of thinking. Rather, it is my goal to have you consider different ideas and discern for yourself what resonates with you. You might agree with me all the time…or none of the time, and that’s okay. It’s for you to contemplate some things that you never thought about before, to expand your thinking, and to consider other viewpoints.
I think we can all agree that no two people ever agree on everything; it simply doesn’t happen. For each of us, our beliefs are borne of life’s circumstances, including what we learned from family, our community, our school upbringing, our friends, and later our jobs. If you were a big reader of books when you were young, it allowed you the opportunity to see how others live, and to vicariously travel to diverse countries and worlds. As we experientially traveled in later years we were exposed to other cultures and ways of thinking. We have all seen other ways of living that likely didn’t match our own upbringing. My own experience growing up in New Hampshire where 99% of the population was white, is vastly different from someone who grew up in a major city, like New York City, for instance, where less than 40% of the population is white.
We should always be cognizant that our own experience ‘filters’ color our view of life, and at the same time we should be open to the possibility that things we were previously unaware of may not be necessarily wrong simply because we haven’t been exposed to them. Life, as we know it, remains enigmatic. Imagine what we can learn by simply being open to possibilities.
We all come into life with a plan
Prior to incarnating, we all create a unique life plan for ourselves. In conjunction with our spiritual guides, as well as the many soul beings with whom we plan to incarnate and share our journey, we map out our individual goals and major life events.
A common saying is ‘people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.’ Ever feel instantly connected to someone you meet who then becomes a significant part of your life? Have you met someone who you felt like you already knew? That is our human self having the unconscious awareness of someone we were destined to meet.
Doesn’t it seem strange when someone mysteriously appears on your path who shares so many things in common with you, and often at just the right time in your life? Conversation is never strained; in fact, it’s like you’ve known each other forever. That person is very often referred to as a soulmate. Most people think a soul mate only applies to meeting a love interest. In the truest sense of the word we all have multiple soulmates in our life. You see, a soulmate is someone from our soul family who has agreed to play an important role in our life, whether as a parent, sibling, best friend, boss, etc.
Our life plan is something we establish for ourselves as a blueprint of what we plan to accomplish in a given lifetime. It is about life lessons and ultimately our growth as a spiritual being. With the assistance of our spiritual team, we are gently reminded of what to do along the way, the steps that we should take, the people that we should meet, and the major outcomes and any timelines that we preplan as nonnegotiable.
If we plan to be a world-renowned inventor we will do so. How we accomplish our goal however can be done in an easy carefree, linear pattern, or we can take a roundabout path with its many twists and turns.
Personally, I have long felt that writing a book is in my life plan. While I’ve started writing several books over the years, as of now, it’s looking like I’m taking the circuitous road to accomplishing that goal. With firm dedication to sitting every day and working on a book, I would likely complete it far more quickly. Looking at the image above, it appears I’m following my version of the “real life’ plan, and that’s okay. I remain of the belief that our lives are a blessing regardless of the route we take.
Freewill is our birthright; own your authenticity!
As spiritual beings we are encompassed in, and emanate, only unconditional love. We all desire and yearn for the ability to experience all aspects of human life, both the good and the ‘bad’ almost as an educational experience of sorts. Earth’s density and the duality of human life is where we may experience both sides of every coin (light, dark; love, hate, etc.), separating our human existence from our spiritual beingness.
As we incarnate, we are fortunate to be gifted with the freedom to explore all that human life has to offer. We are able to do this on our own terms, charting our own path, exploring and learning from those experiences that we create. Freewill is our birthright. This is our life, and we each have our own life lessons to live and learn from according to our plan. Each one of us does our best to navigate the extremely heavy densities that make up life on planet Earth.
It’s likely no surprise to any of us that we are currently living in very ‘charged’ and divisive times. Many people, on both sides of any issue, seem unbending in their belief that their way is the only correct way. They feel that if you don’t follow their thinking, then you are one on the wrong side of a particular issue. It doesn’t seem to matter the subject. In the US today, it very likely is a political viewpoint, a religious belief, someone’s lifestyle, or any number of issues. I personally find it difficult to read comments to even an innocuous fluff piece that I may find published online. The intolerance level today is palpable. Whatever happened to the belief that if you don’t have something good to say about something, or someone, you say nothing at all?
But our freewill also allows us the ability to think and feel those differences, and we each decide how we navigate our own life, and plan. Before being triggered by someone else who does not share our views, it may be best to ask yourself a few questions: ‘What does my heart tell me about this person and situation?’ This question is akin to the oft-quoted ‘What would Jesus do?’ if you’re of a Christian faith. I also like to think: ‘Putting myself in their shoes, how would I they feel about my own views?’ And, ‘What if they are simply playing out their individualized role in their own life plan?’
My inquisitive mind always wants to know, what if either side simply does not have all the facts about a given topic? Have we individually researched a topic, or are we relying solely on a single viewpoint in forming our beliefs? Should we consider the possibility that either position could, in fact, be correct and incorrect at the same time?
Recognizing that we all are walking our own life path, I try never to judge another person’s thinking, for we all have been gifted with the same free choice to make up own mind and to learn at our own pace…to grow as a human, and ultimately as a spiritual being. So, I always seek to have compassion for others as they walk their own journey, and for myself as I navigate my own joys and challenges in my life.
Everything happens in life for a reason; it’s very often hard to wrap our mind around that, especially when faced with tragedy in life. Perhaps someone’s unwillingness to see what we see as ‘so obvious a truth’ is simply them living and learning at a rate necessary for their own soul evolution.
A final thought to contemplate: what if everything that is happening in our lives right now, and in the world at large, is actually part of a divine plan to usher in the greater good? I personally look forward to the coming years when we see the wisdom of choosing compassion, forgiveness, healing, caring for our neighbors, opening our hearts and minds to love of self, and the love of others.
Importantly, compassion does NOT mean we accept anything less for all those who are being marginalized now. Stand for ALL as we are spiritually One Universal family, one with all of creation. Stay focused on your own truth, your own light, and on always shining your light. It is in community with likeminded people that the will of the divine will be realized, and a new compassionate and loving, peaceful world will be created.