Articles, books, training programmes and many others abound on the subject of how to make life work. I have enjoyed this point of view that I can make life work and have engaged in many strategies to make it so, with varying degrees of success. In some areas of life, and at certain times of life, I have been spectacularly successful. Other times less so. I would guess that if you have gone down this road of making life work you have experienced much the same.
I have been facing a few challenges recently that have caused me to question why certain areas of life did not appear to be working. What had I done wrong, or not done? Had I lost my focus or given in to negative thoughts? It's not the first time I have asked myself these questions and each time I come up with the same understanding. It's as if I need a reminder now and then to come back to reality.
And the reality is........that life works all on it's own! No interference from me is necessary whatsoever. In fact, life works regardless of anything I might think, feel or do. You have heard that phrase "life goes on". People usually use it when they are coming out of a crisis. Never a truer word was said. Life does go on in spite of absolutely everything. Because life is that! Everything! Not just the nice bits and the juicy bits.
Hang on a minute, I hear you say! Isn't your website about aspiration and creating your own reality and positive thinking? Well, yes! But it's a level thing you see. As humans we perceive life on many different levels. We can dwell at one level for a long time, or sometimes we can switch levels many times a day. And the levels interweave and confuse things. That is because if things make sense on one level, they don't on another. Trying to understand things from one level when you are perceiving them at another is a recipe for bewilderment.
When we percieve from the worldly level, we see ourselves as a hapless victim of life's events. Whereas, from the level of personal responsibility, we see ourselves as creating our own reality and master of our own destiny. At this level we consciously engage our thoughts and feelings to influence our experiences in life. We draw evidence to support our beliefs about life and we can experience life at both levels depending on how we perceive individual events in life. For example we may have beliefs that cause us to experience life at the victim level where our health is concerned, yet be on the level of personal responsibility where finances are concerned. And we can mix up the levels in any area of life. And I am sure there are many more levels of experience. These are personal thoughts, not something I am stating as accepted fact.
However, there is something beyond these, which is the level of unity and oneness. Here we recognise that we don't have a life! Life is not an individual thing but all life is one and it embraces everything. Life does it's own thing. What we appear to experience is awareness of life in it's events and forms. Life moves in and out of form, a constant flow of changing energy patterns. Think of a kaleidoscope. Many small coloured shapes forming a myriad of patterns. The substance remains the same. Same coloured shapes, forming infinite patterns. Life makes it's patterns through energy, the same energy, eternally available, forming infinite patterns. Nothing is ever taken away but an everchanging dance unfolds.
At the level of oneness, there is no meaning or purpose other than life itself unfolding, all by itself. It is impossible to comment on it from any other level as the words won't make sense. In talking or writing about any concept I am already at the level of the separated individual trying to give meaning to life. When life is expressing itself through my form, it seems to include the themes of personal development, positive thinking and personal responsibility. But I am mindful of holding onto these lightly, for they are realtive thruths, not ultimate ones. I love being a "deliberate creator" but treat it less seriously than I used to, knowing that it does work at one level. To me this is like playing a game and when you play it well you "win". And you can have fun playing!
So where has this thinking left me with my perceived challenges? For a start they now don't feel like challenges. I am less attached to them and to any possible outcomes. My perception has shifted. I surrender to the wisdom of the whole. At a deep level I know that life will do it's thing and that will include the idea of me handling things in a certain way, with positive thoughts, much introspection, maybe some action, maybe not. Some would say that this is a recipe for complacency. But the thing is, regardless of this realisation, stuff still gets done and you still do things. There is just no feeling of desperation.
Whatever happens in terms of events, "life goes on". There is no struggle in that. In that I find peace.
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