Looking at Life as A Journey, Not A Destination
In many spiritual practices, reincarnation is an accepted belief. So casually throwing it out there, if we mess up, we can come back and fix it or if we were screwed over or had a shitty life, we get to pick a new one that won’t be as hard on us and karma will take care of the rest. Think about how unfair experiencing a life if you only had one chance at it and you are born a heroin addicted baby thrown in the trash and another child is born… well… Prince Archie. So, it only makes sense that we choose incarnations to experience life through…. well, experiences. What they are and why they have been created, only the soul and a higher power who is co-creating and supporting your journey knows. And maybe the soul doesn’t have a clue either but just decided to play it by the roll of the dice. I doubt that seriously, but I couldn’t resist putting that in, as I have heard that phrase said so many times by my clients. There is a plan to the life you are living, you may not understand the why’s of it but you are living a life filled with the necessary experiences for your soul to learn, to create, to balance karma or whatever the reason you are here.
In talks with my daughter, I am now shocked that my life is nearing the end of the time clock we are given. Did I notice, hell no! I was too busy wondering what was going to happen to me next year and before I knew it, 50 years passed. Marriages, divorces, having children, working on careers, experiencing heartbreak and experiencing joy. Did you notice? If not, the reminders you now have are the wrinkles in your face that stare back at you, the adult children who now have children of their own and the realization that you don’t have another 20 years to wonder what is going to happen, you now KNOW how it plays out.
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While internet surfing, which I am addicted to, I came across an article from the Option Institute. I was shocked to read the informative article written by its editor. This is some of what it said. “Ninety-eight percent of the atoms of our bodies are replaced in the course of a year. Our skeleton, which appears so fundamentally stable and solid, undergoes an almost complete transition every three months. Our skin regenerates within four weeks, our stomach lining within four days and the portion of our stomach lining which interfaces with food reconstructs itself every four or five minutes. Thousands, even millions, of neurons in our brain can fire in a second; each firing creates original and distinct chemistry as well as the possibility for new and different configurations of interconnecting signals. As billions of cells in our bodies keep changing, billions of stars and galaxies keep shifting in an ever-expanding space. Even the mountains and rocks under our feet shift in a never-ending dance through time. Life celebrates itself through motion and change.” Is that awesome or what!?
Young children are born with creativity and imagination until it is knocked out of them as they progress through schooling. They are taught to completely focus on where they are “going” versus “where they are” in the moment. If they hold onto that creativity, they are usually considered disruptive and it is eventually taken over with academic importance; what are your SAT scores going to be, what college can you get in and what career do you choose to feel the most accomplished? Through that process, we learn to stop enjoying the moment, the day and the event and learn to keep our eyes on the prize, the future and what it will give you if you do all the right things.
Life is NOT always fair, sometimes coming with hard lessons, hardships, heartaches, love, joy and celebrated moments that lead us to that final experience of letting this journey go and to celebrate a new journey. Some of these challenges will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses and faith. When things don’t go our way, you basically only have two choices. We can look at our journey as a failure and obsess over what we didn’t get or don’t have, or we can roll up our courage, pray, ask for help. Knowing this too is part of the journey of experiences you signed on for. There is no end game for experiences, even death is a life experience that we will all have. When that time comes, fill it with all the wonderful “memories” and gifts you were given, not what didn’t.
Susan Z’s Verdict
There is not a spiritual book, listening affirmation track or workshop that I have been to that doesn’t take you back to “Spiritual 101”. “Stay in the moment because that is all you have.” The past you can’t change, the present you at least have choices and you cannot exist in a future that has not been created yet.
Susan Z Rich is an emotional addiction counselor, spiritual intuitive and holistic therapist. She counsels others to see life in a more positive way and teaches personal accountability for life choices. She is also the author of several children’s books and Soul Windows…Secrets From The Divine.