The problem, the challenge, lies in figuring out what we are doing. Life is just a series of solutions.
In the beginning
In the beginning, there was The All.
That was boring.
The All wanted to better understand itself. It turns out the deepest understanding comes from experience. But how to create experience, when all there is is The All?
Creation
The All made a space that was, at least in theory, not The All. It broke parts of Itself off, had them forget that they were part of The All, and threw them into the space that was theoretically not part of Itself. Those parts felt that something was lacking, and went in search of what they had lost. They could feel they had forgotten Something, but they didn’t know what. There was a strong pull to re-member Themselves, to put Themselves back together and become Whole.
Fear
That place in them that felt Something was lacking was a place of illusion, of falsehood. It said “you are not part of The All.” Sometimes it said “you have been abandoned by The All,” and sometimes it even said “The All does not exist.” They called this lie fear. Fear created much resistance in their quest to re-memeber Themselves.
Fear had a very important purpose, though. Without this resistance, there would be no Free Will. There would be no experience to be had. All of this would be for naught.
Fear, and the resistance it created, was something that could be chosen against, which could bring them closer to re-membering Themselves.
Because, ultimately, The All wanted Itself to come home.
There are always choices. There will always be choices, because, otherwise, you would have no way to exercise your free will. This does not mean that you will always be in conscious awareness of all of your choices, but there are always choices.
If you are having trouble seeing the choices in your life today, if you are stuck in the problem, take a few deep breaths, close your eyes, and look at the challenge from outside of yourself. Maybe you are above it, maybe you are seeing it from someone else’s point of view. Try to see it from as many different perspectives as possible. The more open you are to this exercise working, the more options you will be shown. Now, go into your heart center, in your chest, and ask what the best choice is for you in this matter. Listen to your heart, not your negative ego or your “head.” Whatever the first thing that comes to you is usually the right choice, no matter how much your negative ego tried to talk you out of it. Smile, knowing that you have seen the right choice, and knowing that you do, in fact, have choices. Take a few more deep breaths, in order to dispel the negativity or fear that your ego may try to throw your way, and move forward. All will turn out for the best.
A dear friend used to say all the time, “There are no problems, only situations that require my attention.”
This post is part of a series called Monday Message, based on that day’s reflection from 365 Days to Enlightenment (authorized versions are currently out of print, working on a new edition). Check back next Monday for another one! You can also sign up for the Daily Message on my mailing list if you’d like to receive a new reflection every day. I also often post them to Instagram, if that’s a medium you enjoy.