(This blog post is an excerpt from the newly released “Compassion Alive and Meaningful”)
The Human Heart
The human Heart is conditional. It can be open or closed, Loving or withholding of Love. It can Judge some situations harshly and embrace others. It can Love some people and not others. The human Heart can Love then be subject to dishonesty or betrayal, and in a flash not Love and become conditional.
For better or worse, it is our destiny as human beings to experience all of the aspects of the human Heart. Our experiences are meant to keep us present in our life. They subject us to feelings of Bliss and also those that make us retreat in pain. This is the gift of duality! It is the knowledge of what we label ‘good’ and ‘bad’ that shows us where to travel next. We can choose to stay with our suffering and misaligned intentions – or we can choose to chase the Blissful feelings we have tasted. A third choice would be to choose to evolve through all of our experiences – those that are painful and those that are blissful.
The Spiritual Heart
When the spiritual Heart determines that Love is needed, the request is not examined for its validity. Love is freely given regardless of the circumstances. Not only is it spontaneously given, it is absolutely unconditionally given.
When the spiritual Heart gives, it does not require Gratitude or even Acceptance. To require either would make the gesture conditional and the spiritual Heart has no knowledge of agenda. It only knows to share Loving Compassion when it is awakened to the need for it. It shares its gifts unconditionally – and it does so easily and spontaneously because it is always open.
The Spiritual Seeker’s Search for Resolution
The spiritual seeker longs to be open and Loving to a fault, but still lives on Earth where the potential for Judgment and conditional Love are also options. Most seekers live in both worlds traveling blissful, as well as, uncomfortable terrain. Duality gives us both options – not to show us the error of our Earthly choices but because we need both experiences for our personal evolution on a soul level – and because we can not feel Compassionate unless we witness pain and suffering with our eyes and Heart open.
It is how we manage a challenge that determines our success not the actual choice we make – because in truth, any intention to offer Compassion to self or others is a good one.
The spiritual Heart chooses Love easily. It gives us clarity and easy passage. But in our Earthly lives, we do not always choose Love when challenged. Sometimes we choose to Judge and travel in darkness – always for the sake of evolution.
As spiritual seekers, if we do not consciously choose our direction, we will be led to a place where we will see the gift in our choices. We will not feel victimized because our Trust will be deep and wide.
Wherever we journey, however we get there, we know we are traveling exactly where we need to go to fulfill our personal goals.
This is something the spiritual seeker must understand to feel fulfilled:
We can not choose incorrectly. We are always being guided to exactly where we need to go and to exactly what we need to see to evolve. This happens because it is what we declared when we decided to evolve spiritually. It is important that we allow ourselves to be present in whatever unfolds in our lives, and to ask truthfully and without Judgment, the quintessential question – “Why am I here?”
If we lack Self-Compassion, we will probably find this difficult to do.
It is Self-Compassion that motivates us to see beyond the choices that derail us without derision – and to choose a new direction.
If we can feel Self-Compassion no matter what configures in our own personal lives, we can make it the motivation for The Answer.
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This article is an excerpt from my just released book called “Compassion Alive and Meaningful” available at TheWellnessBookshop
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Please reproduce and share this article, but be respectful and include the details below:
Written by Corinne S. Ramage, Leader in True Wellness® Studies
Creator of The Spiritual Healthcare Network of online programs
Author of “Compassion Alive and Meaningful”
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Social Network Posting
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Finding Your Way When There is No Road
People tell me stories about the choices they have made in their lives, and I am often shocked at the depths they have gone to choose unwisely.
It could not be more obvious to me (or to them!) how dire the repercussions have been in regards to their choices. Shockingly, though, even with that knowledge, they continue to make the same, self-destructive choices over and over again.
Why do we do this?
Why when our physical body reacts badly to certain foods, do we continue to eat them?
Why when we know certain stressors increase our blood pressure, do we do little or nothing to change the situation?
Why when we know smoking cigarettes causes a multitude of health issues, do we continue to smoke?
Why when we know we are eating too much, do we continue to eat? …and the examples could go on and on.
When we know what we must do to feel better and we do not do it, we are off the road. When addiction or obsession governs our behavior, we are traveling to our detriment. We are on a collision course with disaster, we know it – and we just keep on traveling in the same hapless direction!
What keeps us from making the right choice?
Why do we seem to have a penchant for self-destruction? Most of us are intelligent and logical people. We do well on some days then completely derail our lives on others. Why? It is not as simple as developing will-power or self-discipline because many of us can stay true to our promises to ourselves, but we can not seem to stay firmly on the course that best serves our well-being.
Why??
I have a theory…At a very deep level we fear perfection.
Anytime we do anything that hints of perfection two things happen: 1) We risk the ridicule or rejection of others, and 2) our fear is triggered.
Guaranteed you have dared to do the right thing and been ridiculed. (It seems to be human nature fro us to victimize each other for doing ‘good.’)
And what about our fear?
At a core level, you may think that if you are perfect, your work on Earth is done – and you will die.
You may even fear that attaining perfection is too close to godliness – and that you will be punished in the afterlife.
Besides your own inner demons that keep you fearful, most people seem to thrive at the expense of others – and aspire to the lowest common denominator.
But this is not true for all people.
In order for you to be the Best You Can Be, you will need to step outside of the norm – or the mainstream. You will have to move beyond common thought, beyond the expected response – and reach for goals outside of the ordinary.
There are others aspiring to greatness. Do it yourself – and you will meet them. They are not in the mainstream, but they are waiting to welcome you to your highest potential. No road? No problem. Step out into the unknown and the road will appear along with many out-stretched, supportive hands. Risk discovering your own inner greatness!
……………………..……………………………………
Please reproduce and share this article, but be respectful and include the details below:
Written by Corinne S. Ramage, Leader in True Wellness® Studies
Creator of The Spiritual Healthcare Network of online programs
Author of “The Art and Practice of True Wellness”
It could not be more obvious to me (or to them!) how dire the repercussions have been in regards to their choices. Shockingly, though, even with that knowledge, they continue to make the same, self-destructive choices over and over again.
Why do we do this?
Why when our physical body reacts badly to certain foods, do we continue to eat them?
Why when we know certain stressors increase our blood pressure, do we do little or nothing to change the situation?
Why when we know smoking cigarettes causes a multitude of health issues, do we continue to smoke?
Why when we know we are eating too much, do we continue to eat? …and the examples could go on and on.
When we know what we must do to feel better and we do not do it, we are off the road. When addiction or obsession governs our behavior, we are traveling to our detriment. We are on a collision course with disaster, we know it – and we just keep on traveling in the same hapless direction!
What keeps us from making the right choice?
Why do we seem to have a penchant for self-destruction? Most of us are intelligent and logical people. We do well on some days then completely derail our lives on others. Why? It is not as simple as developing will-power or self-discipline because many of us can stay true to our promises to ourselves, but we can not seem to stay firmly on the course that best serves our well-being.
Why??
I have a theory…At a very deep level we fear perfection.
Anytime we do anything that hints of perfection two things happen: 1) We risk the ridicule or rejection of others, and 2) our fear is triggered.
Guaranteed you have dared to do the right thing and been ridiculed. (It seems to be human nature fro us to victimize each other for doing ‘good.’)
And what about our fear?
At a core level, you may think that if you are perfect, your work on Earth is done – and you will die.
You may even fear that attaining perfection is too close to godliness – and that you will be punished in the afterlife.
Besides your own inner demons that keep you fearful, most people seem to thrive at the expense of others – and aspire to the lowest common denominator.
But this is not true for all people.
In order for you to be the Best You Can Be, you will need to step outside of the norm – or the mainstream. You will have to move beyond common thought, beyond the expected response – and reach for goals outside of the ordinary.
There are others aspiring to greatness. Do it yourself – and you will meet them. They are not in the mainstream, but they are waiting to welcome you to your highest potential. No road? No problem. Step out into the unknown and the road will appear along with many out-stretched, supportive hands. Risk discovering your own inner greatness!
……………………..……………………………………
Please reproduce and share this article, but be respectful and include the details below:
Written by Corinne S. Ramage, Leader in True Wellness® Studies
Creator of The Spiritual Healthcare Network of online programs
Author of “The Art and Practice of True Wellness”
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