I believe that joy and fulfillment play a vital role in the satisfaction of one's life. However, struggling and dealing with major life decisions and the day-to-day can sometimes be challenging as well as frustrating when dealing with them alone. I believe the primary reason for the difficulties we experience is because we don't have all of our life force/energy/chi/prana with us. When we have all of our energy with us, our natural state is optimum health (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.) Health includes abundance, happiness, love, peace, joy, contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction and balance. When we are out of sync or out of these states of being it's because we don't have all of our life force or we're carrying someone else's energy/problems/drama, or giving pieces of ourselves away that are not appropriate for other people to have.

 

Some ways in which we feel depleted of our energy are: feeling sorry for ourselves or others (as opposed to feeling compassion), feelings of guilt, shame, obligation, and desperation. Other ways are lack of knowledge, lack of self-awareness, lack of valuing the self, distractions (things in life that distract you from your purpose, whether in the physical and spiritual realms) unhealthy competition, oppression, repression, misdirected emotions, and unconsciousness.

 

When we're out of sync, it's an opportunity for new awareness to be gained. Part of the lesson in being out of sync is to know when to sit and mull things over, and when to take action. We may take action and have an idea about the outcome, yet it doesn't turn out the way we think it should. This is not the time to give up. Your initial action might be a part of a more critical solution. Perhaps you are even trying to solve a problem that isn't yours to solve. Maybe you're applying tools and rules that would work for other issues but have no impact on the problem at hand. These are the mysteries of life, and to have the confidence/certainty/faith that this is all part of the process can bring comfort in the thick of it. (Just an FYI, you can't beat the system!)

 

The challenge is to have the courage to move past the interpretation of defeat, and instead hold an appropriate definition of surrender. Surrendering to your highest good differs from "giving up" out of a feeling of disappointment. If you give up because you feel defeated you will end up in a place that creates dis-ease, whether the dis-ease is temporary or long-standing. It's essential to monitor your thoughts and keep them positive and self-empowering, because where the mind goes the body and spirit follow.

 

I use the word "create" a lot because I believe that very few things are etched in stone. We can take free will for granted, but we are continually creating our lives whether we are conscious of this or not. 

 

 

Abundant Blessings,

VANESSA CASTRO