I have for years, pondered on the idea of how much of our life’s journey is pre-written (destiny) vs how much is our own free will in action. In order to entertain these thoughts, one must be open to the idea that there is in fact the possibility that what you are experiencing was predetermined before your birth. This in itself opens more questions around ‘who we are’ and ‘why are we here’.
So, who are we? I believe this to be one of the most essential questions, for the answer has the potential to transform you, and therefore your life, forever. In fact, I would take it a step further, I am quite convinced that humanity’s main problem is that it forgot the answer to the question. We forgot who we are, that is why we are so lost.
It is, I would say, an accepted reality, that we are made of three elements, what I call, the holy trinity; the body, the mind and the soul. If you accept this premise, then you can accept that death is not the end. It might be the end of our physical vehicle, but the soul is a different story. If you accept that the soul does not die, then you can agree that it’s immortal, infinite, ever-lasting. If it is so, then, who are we really? The body that is ‘transitional’? Or the soul, that always is, always was and always will be? Suddenly the answer to ‘who are we’ becomes quite obvious. We are eternal souls.
Once you accept, or rather remind yourself, that you are an eternal soul having a physical experience on this planet, lots of things become clearer. To start with, it would make sense to assume that this physical experience should have a purpose, after all, for most people, life is not a walk in the park! But therein lies the purpose of life itself; to experience it. All of it. The hardships, the joy and everything in between; the good, the bad and the ugly. Life is a chance for our soul to experience things in order to discover itself, show itself and evolve.
It would make sense to think that there is some sort of predetermination as to what those life experiences might be. After all, different experiences will teach us different things. Destiny is therefore a selection of experiences that will make our souls evolve in specific ways or areas. The tougher the experience, the bigger the lesson learnt, the greater the evolutionary leap. An understanding of this becomes very useful in handling and overcoming life’s biggest hurdles. Whatever comes your way, if you are able to see it within the perspective that it’s coming at you for a purpose, and that in fact your soul (you) chose it as a lesson to be learned, the sooner you will embrace it for what it is and the sooner the hurdle will end. Remember that what you resist persists, so accept experiences for what they are; your chance to shine, your chance to prove your strength, your chance to evolve. This is the silver lining behind everything.
But how does free will fit into all of this? Thus far we have established that we are infinite souls with a wish to experience life and all its tribulations, as a means to learn, evolve and be who we truly are. Because different experiences will teach us different things, we can assume that these experiences are predetermined before birth (destiny). But can we then assume that absolutely everything that happens to us in this lifetime is predetermined? Not quite. The final destination may be the same, but how you get there is subject to your free will and how much you are in tune with your soul desires.
Free will is one of the main principles of this universe, it gives us the power to affect an outcome, to create a reality or to change the course of an event. Zulma Reyo summarises it nicely in her book Inner Alchemy; the Path of Mastery “The purpose of life is not only to grow, expand and return to the source amplified as light, but also to bless, transmit and create or better still, co-create with God.”
Our ability to co-create is one of humanity’s most unknown truths, we don’t believe we can create our own reality, but we can and in fact we do, except we do it unconsciously and therefore without intent. We relinquish our power to that of the collective consciousness and so our reality becomes what others make it to be and we feel powerless to affect change.
“Everything that now exists was once a thought.” William Blake.
In other words, everything that we now experience as part of our reality was once a thought, so make sure it is your thoughts that are creating your reality and not everyone else’s. Our thoughts are both our greatest ally and our fiercest enemy. Learning to direct and control our thoughts so that they serve us, instead of destroy us, is the most important lesson to master in the journey towards joy, fulfilment and purpose. Observing your thoughts is critical, if you find yourself to be anxious, tense, worried or stressed then your mind is full of fear, which is caused by thinking too much about the future. If you find yourself feeling guilt, resentment, sadness or bitterness then your mind is probably too fixated on the past. Observing where your mind is, allows you to redirect its focus to the present time in which you can choose to either enjoy the moment, change it, or think about something constructive. Imagination is our greatest gift, there are no limits to it, so dare to imagine something better for you, dare to feel it, dare to make it yours and most importantly be grateful for it, for as you dream it, feel it, sense it, speak it and write it, you have initiated its co-creation. Your will, and the necessary action steps will take you to the realisation of what was once just a thought. There is a caveat though, creating or co-creating your reality requires being in touch with your inner self, some soul searching is required. As much as we can affect change in our lives and create abundance for ourselves it is only when this is aligned with your soul’s purpose that it can truly be effective and lasting. Remember your soul ‘knows’ why you are here, but it needs of your body and your mind to make it happen. Listen to your soul, discover who you are and who you are meant to be in this journey and start co-creating. When your wishes are aligned with your soul, destiny and free will work together to make of your life what it was meant to be, and it is then, that you are both in control and able to let go of it. It is then, that life becomes magical.