Evocation or Creativity

From the time you wake up, you may notice yourself making hundreds of decisions each day.  Most decisions are quite strategic one way or the other.  Some are mundane and administrative like choosing an alternative route to work on a rainy day to avoid the traffic.  And there are some that are more impactful or transformational such as whether you should change jobs or end a relationship.  Even if you are not conscious of it, a lot of decisions are based on information we have stored in our memory bank.  In other words, we have made these decisions as the situation evokes something in us because of a past experience we have had.  Needless to say, such feelings are also strongly supported by beliefs that we have clung onto.  In other words, we often make decisions based on a repeated thought pattern.  Sometimes this may serve us, sometimes not so.  If you find yourselves caught in the misery loop, then very likely you are unable to let go of a belief that has become obsolete.  By noticing this and reminding yourself that we do have a choice on how we think and what to belief in, your decisions no longer have to be based on an outdated file from your databank.  It is a refreshing idea when you realise that decisions can be made out of an inspiration which is spontaneous as a result of own creativity.  This empowering act can be made possible when you can clear the past and create the mental space and freedom for yourself.

Being Human

To be a spiritual warrior is not to become an emotionless and indifferent person.  Once you are a human being, you cannot escape having thoughts, feelings and emotions.  But through a deeper understanding of the relationship between I and our reality, we can make a conscious choice to be dispassionate and impartial.  Our purpose is not to be in a state of elation or to be cold and unsympathetic at the other extreme.  More importantly, we can be honest and authentic with our feelings and be attentive and caring to them at the same time.  We let ourselves be happy but not ecstatic.  We are allowed to be angry but not hateful.  We accept ourselves to be sad but not wounded.  We are permitted to be joyful but not immoral.  An analogy is like having an uninvited guest the shows up at your door.  You can greet or even invite him or her in, but you do not need to make him or her your overnight guest.

Quest For Reasons

From the day we know how to talk, we have this innate desire to know the reasons for everything.  We would begin all questions to our caretakers and parents with the word "why" and no single answer would satisfy our insatiable appetite for knowledge.  As we move into adulthood, that craving to know is not appeased by maturity.  There is a drive within us that arouses our curiosity and motivates us to find out the reasons for our experiences.  It is as if we would be swallowed by the implacable magnitude of the cosmos if we do not know how and why events happen.  This is particularly true when things are going south and we are dissatisfied with a situation.  In the absence of a legitimate explanation we may find ourselves helpless and angry, as if we are looking for some fairness to justify the happenings.  And when we know the reasons, it usually gives us a sense of security, albeit a false one.  It seems to suggest to us that if we were to remove whatever that has contributed to our losses or failure, we may have a chance of success if we were granted a second chance.

Acquiring knowledge or skills to improve ourselves is definitely commendable, but maybe we need to let go of the myth that everything happens for a reason.  This is not to discount its validity, but finding the reasons can only be part of the tale at best.  It is way more constructive to find meaning out of life's disappointments than rationalising failure and losses, or you will be falling into the trap of creating another story out of a story.