Whether we are aware of it or not, we all have opportunities to create turning points in our lives. Too often, we wait for life to tap us on the shoulder and say, “ Hi there, here’s your opportunity to make life different for yourself.” It doesn’t work that way. Each moment, of every day, we make decisions for ourselves that have either consequences or benefits. Life, God, or Spirit has no investment on what you choose for yourself. That energy, whatever you may perceive it to be, simply assumes that you need the lesson you have chosen and it allows it. It is up to each of us to make the choices that change the quality of our lives.
You and I are in charge of creating our own turning points. No matter how long we search for those certain people who will make us feel lovable or worthy of existing, they are no where to be found. We wouldn’t believe them anyway, if the truth were known. No matter how many times we pray for life to give us a break, it doesn’t. No matter how intensely we might want to hit the jackpot, win the lottery or find a Wells Fargo moneybag on the side of the road, it almost never happens. Why? Because the truth is, we are the ones in charge of creating our own realty with every choice we make. If all of our energy goes into wanting and waiting for these things, then wanting and waiting is what continues to manifest.
When we begin making decisions that are self-loving, life gets easier, better. I once had a client who spent her entire life and all of her energy looking for the one person who would stay in her life and make her feel worthy and lovable. If only one person did that, she thought, then it would be proof that her mother’s messages about her lack of worth would be proven wrong. Not once did it ever occur to her that the person she was seeking was her own self. At any given moment she could change her mind about her mothers messages and begin to treat herself as a worthy person, deserving of love, who would not for a moment tolerate people in her life who would abandoned her. The power is inside of us – not out there. Some of the ways that you create turning points for yourself are:
- Choose to give your focus and energy to only that which you desire, not that which you fear
- Be aware of how much energy you expend on circumstances you cannot change
- Speak with Integrity. Select your words carefully and empower only that which is truthful, positive and loving
- Don’t take anything personally. Understand that each person in your life acts from his or her own life experience and personal reference point. None of it is about you
- Avoid chaos, deception and people who drain your energy with self-created drama
- Find the safety inside yourself necessary to embrace change and the fluidity of life.
- Seek to understand the ways in which we are united, rather than, the ways in which we are different
- Develop a respect and reverence for all forms of life, even those who are still evolving at their own pace and in their own way, including you.
- Take risks in order to find your own strength of Spirit.
- Respect the right of each person, yourself as well, to learn his or her own lesson at his or her own pace.
- Embrace the possibility that you can trust whatever you perceive God to be.
- Forfeit being right and choose being love.
- Release the need to control, and make a space for Divine energy to work through you and on your behalf.
- Take a breath and let your heart be at peace, often
- Turn around and face that one heinous thing you feel is an inherent part of you that makes you bad. When you find it does not exist, stop punishing yourself.
- Dare to believe that the mistakes you have made came from a lack of tools, rather than a lack of humanity
- Decide to stop wasting time and life on guilt, shame or the messages from your parents and do something to contribute to humanity
- And most of all, if you are blessed with conscious awareness, dare to be different. Act on what you know
At any given moment, in any given circumstance, there is an opportunity to step into the greatest of who we are – there is a turning point. Turning points are available to us with every breath and in every interaction. We only need to find the courage to step into them. As the Sufi’s say, You have already arrived with the very first step. Take it.
© Dr. Dina Bachelor Evan 2013
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