Always on track

There is no such thing as getting off the spiritual path. There is only forgetting that one is the path.

~Hilarion 

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We so often are disappointed with ourselves. We feel we could be better people. We feel we could do better. We feel we’ve gotten off track. We have a spiritual ideal for ourselves—an imagined path toward light and beauty, without hitches or turns, that leads us onward and upward toward a life in which we are good, loving, and enlightened beings. We frequently measure ourselves against this posited, possible perfection and find ourselves wanting.

We hold this viewpoint because we forget we are divine, inherently perfect beings. We are part of an interconnected divine whole: the sharing. We house a splinter of divine consciousness within us as our sharing within. As a receptacle for perfect love and wisdom, we don’t need a guru and we don’t need to struggle toward being better. We simply need to remember who we truly are—instances of divine love represented in physical existence—and allow ourselves to live in accordance with that understanding. We cannot get either on or off the path. We are the path.

Remembrance of our true nature is the key to living in freedom and joy. As intrinsically divine parts of interconnected creation, we are not victims and we own complete responsibility for how we experience our lives. Life holds infinite possibilities and we can choose in any moment how we feel about what we are experiencing. We have options, and one of them is to remember that we are divine co-creators of our lives.

This concept sounds lovely, but how do we put it into practice in everyday life? What can we do if we feel off track and out of sync with our divine nature? Let’s take a few moments to connect with our sharing within to find out how this might work for us.

We will begin by listening to the rhythm of our heart. As we pay attention to it and only it, our heartbeat will become slow and steady. We will allow our breath to follow pace, slowing and becoming regular and even. We’ll picture our sharing within and a golden globe of light in the center of our chest. As we inhale, the golden light will become brilliant and solid; as we exhale, the light will become liquid and flow throughout our entire body and wash out across our surroundings. We will continue the rhythmic breathing and light visualization until we sense conscious connection with our sharing within. We will feel peaceful, steady, and assured.

With the help of our sharing within, we will ask ourselves three questions and pay careful attention to the answers that arise from our inner wisdom. We will think of a difficult situation in our lives, and ask our questions in reference to that scenario. Perhaps a love or family relationship is troubled. Perhaps we have financial concerns. Perhaps we’ve experienced illness or injury.  Whatever our situation, we can trust that the answers we receive are perfect and right for us, since they come from divine love.

First, we will ask ourselves what we might do to have fun with whatever is going on in our lives, right now. What can we do to make life more fun in this moment? Perhaps we are told to employ dark humor to see the situation in a laughable vein. Perhaps we are told to be more playful in our approach to life, to be more childlike in our enjoyment of  small things every day. Perhaps we are told to recount the situation to ourselves as if we were a comedian telling the story to an audience. Often the most difficult situations hold amusement, if they aren’t happening to us personally.

Second, we will ask ourselves what prevents us from taking the suggested step. What stands in the way of us taking action to lighten up our situation? Perhaps we’ve placed ourselves firmly in victim mode, and are too upset and hurt to see humor. Perhaps we view life as a struggle and feel we can’t spare the time to play and enjoy ourselves. Perhaps we enjoy the sympathy we receive when we recount our tale of difficulty to others.

Third, we will ask ourselves what we can do to drop the barrier we’ve created, which prevents us from making life more fun. What can we do to get out of the way of our own happiness? Perhaps we can accept responsibility for how we feel in the moment. We can choose to find some aspect of life that is enjoyable and focus on it. Perhaps we can recognize that we share our life experience with all of creation. In this way, having fun is a gift of love and thanks to the entire divine universe and not a waste of time. Perhaps we can realize that we trap ourselves in unwanted feelings and experiences when we are addicted to the sympathy of others. We can free ourselves from the pattern, when we release the drama we create around it.

Finally, we will thank our sharing within and proceed to take our own advice in this moment. We will enjoy some aspect of life right now. We are the path, and the path is beautiful and fun.

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Divinely unique and beautiful reader, how can you recognize your own perfect wisdom? Please share…