On My Own Terms

Almost everyone would like some control or a lot of control over their lives. We have choices regarding many things which can come forward in our human incarnations. Sometimes things seem to happen that we could not control but chances are we had some role in choosing part or all of the circumstances we may have seemed to stumble into. If we take responsibility for our lives and our choices, we have a better chance of learning or experiencing what we came “here,” into this incarnation, to experience. This will include how we choose to transition out of this incarnation. Boy, did I just piss some people off… This is an emotional issue on many levels.

Leaving this life on my own “fully conscious” terms is a possibility and would be powerful to consider. One example, in our state, if you have a terminal diagnosis and two doctors will sign off on the situation, stating that you have less than 6 months to live, you can get medication so you have a choice to end your own life on your own terms. In my mind this is NOT an act of a coward but of courage. We are all going to pass-on and transition out of our current lives. Dying most consciously in a controlled environment, at a selected time, seems like a good option for some people. Other people have other opinions which are different from mine and they are entitled to their opinions but choices and options are good to consider and can add value to how YOU choose to live, and die.

Most people consider what the “end of life” experience will be like…??? Many people have fear regarding the “unknown” circumstances of transitioning. It is one of the most important experiences we have and full consideration is an important part of the process of living most consciously. What do YOU want to have happen? Do YOU want some measure of control or, at least, consider that you have some control? AND, if you want something to work with as a possible transition, consider reading stories or speaking with people who have had NDE’s (Near Death Experiences, like in “Life After Life” by Raymond Moody or Ken Ring’s work on research with NDE folks. There are many published stories, YouTube videos and recorded audios with people who have had NDE’s.)

More fully, not only consider how you choose to leave this life but are YOU living most fully on your terms? And, if not, why not? It is YOUR Life! These questions and considerations are more important and more difficult than how you want your morning expresso to be made. Yes, I know how important your morning coffee beverage is but these other considerations seem bigger with longer lasting effects. Living and then dying on your own terms is worthy of your time and energy. Look at all your options AND do not always take the most convenient path, the conventional thinking, or what other people want you to do. Your life is YOUR life and YOU are responsible. You must live with your choices and decisions. I have been told that the Dalia Lama is rigorous in practicing being fully conscious at death by using a 7 times daily practice of an exercise to be Present and alert as he transitions from this life. My understanding is that it is a Buddhist’s goal to be conscious and to learn the most possible in end-of-life transitioning. (Also, when interviewed about whether he would like to return again to a human incarnation, his answer was that he hopes he can come back again to continue to be of “service” which is unlike many enlightenment seekers who want to never return to incarnations and spend eternity at some “higher level”…??? Whatever that looks like…)

Most Importantly, LIVE every moment. Find the Joy and the Miracles in every moment you possibly can because you and your life are amazing and full of miraculous experiences. Every moment is precious. If you are working on being most conscious, you can celebrate the learnings which are happening in every second of your current life. This is the “Testing Grounds” for the wisdom you are learning and the Divine Wisdom (and Guidance) you are remembering and bringing into this incarnation. Your Life and Your Living is a Beacon of inspiration for the people you touch in this life. You can be a positive influence just by role-modeling being fully present and your searching for the wisdom and joy which can be found in every life experience. Yes, even in the most difficult of your life’s challenges…

Some people need to be reminded that death is not going a vacation. Though the higher realms are attractive and Divine unconditional love is wonderful to experience, however, the travels of your path through life is the real goal. This is the experience of testing out found wisdom and learning important lessons from life with the limitations of human 3 dimensional existence. The end goal of the final transition is not really what your life is about or your true goal in your current incarnation. (And, you have free will to argue with me about this, if you have read this far.) Your true purpose is to learn, to grow, and serve fellow travelers by sharing love and joy.

YOU are a Blessing. You may have more of a choice than you realize so living in vigilance and less as a victim of circumstance is a great attitude to spend time within. AND, Thank You for Being You!

Life is a Miracle! Seek the Joy in every moment you have…

When You Have the Opportunity

Do not miss the chance of a lifetime! When you have the opportunity to sit with a friend or relative who is transitioning out of their current incarnation, do it. Please do not miss out on what is possible for your “learning.” It seems like such a difficult time. Most of us learn important lessons from the “hard” challenges. Often the most important learnings we can find about living are found by participating in the moments before, during and immediately after witnessing a soul transitioning from human life. Wow, this really makes you think. Of course, you can find other ways to appreciate living. Life is short and fragile. Wake up and find Joy each and every moment. Yes, I am asking you to do something difficult and to overcome your personal fear/anxiety regarding the process of dying…

What is the last act of service your friend or family member can offer to you? They allow you to share their final transition. They receive your love and attention but they are creating an experience for YOU which will change your life. The doors to Divine Consciousness are thrown open. You are basking naked in spirit! Your heart is filled with an uneasy compassion. You must learn to continue without your friend or family member. You must consider your own mortality. Heaven is watching you. You get to attempt to provide unconditional love and support, and, this is your huge challenge, the unconditional part. Your friend or family is preparing to be transitioned into a “better place” and you are asked to continue your drama in human form with a void created by their transition. (Often we request that our loved one or friend would “stay” but this is often a selfish request. We might fear change but our loved one may need to “move on” on their path. And, we may need to learn to “let go”…)

Most people are uncomfortable or afraid to participate because this seems foreign to their experience. In our culture (in the USA,) death and dying are hidden away in sterile professional settings. In generations past, we used to have our loved ones laid out and dying in the “parlor” (at home) but an industry has grown up in our society to white wash this experience. This has built up our “unknown” to an experience and a reaction that is fairly common… dying at the end of life is quite common. It is natural. There is much to learn from the experience of sitting with your friend or family member as they find their way into the higher realms. And, remember death and dying are NOT the enemy. This is a transition from human incarnation back into the higher realms of the Divine spirit.

So, face your fears. Reach out for the perspective of the struggle to live and the inescapable situation of end-of-life transitions. To better prepare yourself, look for the stories and videos of Near Death Survivors (NDE’ers). Or, have one of your own… This puts your life into perspective. You are an actor in the drama you call your life but as my friend and mentor, Don Ley, says, “You are so much GREATER than you allow yourself to know…” You and your spirit are perfect and powerful! You are a human form of the Divine Spirit. You are a Miracle!

Many people label death as bad or a loss. Many people have fear and anxiety because their ego/mind fights to survive and is left behind when you join the higher realms. (But, the ego/mind will be fine…) The anxiety of the unknown, which is unknown to the ego/mind, is common but YOU can help. Even in your personal grief, allow your friend/family member to be present by slowly breathing. Ask that they breathe in unconditional golden white light through their crown chakra. When they begin to calm down, remind them that they are Loved. Remind them that they will be OK and to gently head into the “Light.” Tell them that you will be OK and that your love will not be forgotten. Even in your grief your comforting Love will assist them in “Letting Go” and moving up back into the Higher Realms… (Thank you, YOU are a Blessing!) And, I have learned 3 times that they may wait until YOU leave the room to transition because your loving energy may keep them in the room. (This is not a way of avoiding you. It is a way of your loved one showing you their love for you.)

In my own life experience, I have been through the passing of my parents and my wife of 27 years (to cancer.) I would not wish these losses upon anyone but they were very important learnings for me. From these experiences, I have gained valuable information to share and this has been a service which has been requested of me. Life is a Miracle! Living can be brutal. Supporting a person in this transition can be an important test. And finding the Joy and Wisdom from seemingly “dark” human interactions demonstrates the highest levels of consciousness. (BTW: the “darkness” is really most an issue for those of us who are left behind, dealing with a “void,” and we who are left behind do not get to rejoin the higher realms… Until it is our time to transition…)

A Resource: An Interview with my friend and Mentor, Don Ley, regarding his NDE (Near Death Experience.) YouTube link at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2CDAONfUfI&t=8s

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Struggles of Life: Coming Into This World

Being born and thriving in the world is full of struggles and challenges. It is this challenge that is our purpose for incarnating. Struggles come with the territory of manifesting in Human Form. We have enough consciousness to make physical and emotional survival an interesting process. Born helpless, we rely on parents or adults to feed us and to teach us how to survive. As babies, we offer these caretakers the opportunity to give unconditionally to a tiny human with the hope that this child will survive long enough to enter their own period of adulthood. (Though, sadly the unconditional love piece is often missing… And, surviving to adulthood is NOT guaranteed.) This set of struggles to be born, to be raised, and to participate in our life’s lessons is what life, as a human incarnation, is about. We are often conscious enough to know the challenges and lessons as we are caught up in them. Young parents adapt their lives to accommodate their babies (hopefully.) The parents are tired and emotionally tested. Sometimes they wonder why they chose to have children enter their lives and to distract them from other life issues. Most parents will eventually love and appreciate the struggles of their babies and perhaps all of the other souls who participate in this challenge called life (on Earth.) It is never without drama. It is never done error free. It is a learning and balancing act. The bond of the relationships in families is often forged as one of the strongest emotional bonds we humans can experience and we can pay the emotional price when a family member transitions from life (dies.) Coming into the world always ends with a transition out of the current worldly existence. This is a certainty we can not elude or change…
Love and appreciate all days and moments, and the souls you bump into.

The miracle of birth and of the growth of the physical and emotional being is always surprising. The joyful good times are fun and the pain of life traumas are scars which all concerned bear and must learn from. We all have our scars and life’s travails are so very important. We are all born unique and as our lives develop we have our individualized lessons. The goal is to be as conscious as possible and to share the wisdom we develop from life’s experiences. We are here to learn and to share. We are here to Love and to support the fellow pilgrims we meet. If you “circle the wagons” and keep from sharing your story, you may miss some golden opportunities to grow by teaching what you have learned from your struggles.

Life as a human is not supposed to be easy as in a fairy tale. Yet, when we come closer to enlightenment, we might find joy in even the most difficult challenges we confront. A wise friend of mine reminds me often of the great honor it is to live and to work through the struggles we negotiate along the way. Every moment is a blessing, if we allow ourselves to view the event from a spiritual perspective… AND, that is a Big If…

Find Joy! Live in Joy! You are a perfect manifestation of the Divine Spirit! YOU, like all life on this Earth, are a MIRACLE!

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Long Lives – Short lives: Food for Thought

We come into our earthly existence with the agreements to work on certain challenges for our own spiritual development or for the benefit and development of the souls we interact with. There are certain lives/Incarnations which seem to require a longer investment in Earthly time and there are other incarnations where we appear for shorter amounts of Earth time. I have read that sometimes highly evolved souls show up and volunteer to incarnate for only short Earth lives for the benefit and challenges to other souls, as when a Baby dies early in life or a teenager dies in an accident or suicide, or a younger person parishes in a war. In these cases, the families grieve the loss of their precious young member and their lesson/challenge may be in working on their grief and finding the purpose of this difficult emotional event. What can be learned from this tragedy? (And, how can we find good ways to be of service after having to live through a difficult challenge from the “loss?”)

From personal experience, my wife seemed to die too young and seemed to not deserve her fate. However, as I reflect on her premature transition from her life, I know how much I have learned, how close our relationship became from this difficult experience, and I have been able to serve other people by sharing my stories as if this tragic lesson was learned for many souls to be touched. A parent losing a child seems much more challenging than the loss of my partner and so this may be a more significant learning opportunity. Life is precious! Life is short! Life is impermanent! Whether difficult to deal with or not, it is a blessing to have short lived souls enter and leave our lives for the gifts which these experiences bestow.

The most difficult group I have ever spoken with as a stress management trainer, was a support group for parents who had children died. Infant’s premature deaths, suicides, accidents, and illness robbed these parents of a more “natural” family relationship. The pain of these parents and their guilt due to their responsibility for their offspring was palpable. Yet, the learning from these tragedies was on the front runner for all involved. Sadness and grief are major life challenges. Appreciation of lives lived is an outcome which often can take long periods to resolve. We have all lost friends and family and have had major changes in our relationships. The vacuum which these losses create offer huge potential learnings for our conscious development and possible empathy for other people who travel similar paths.

My point is that we can learn a lot whether the person we are in relationship lives a long life or is only here for a relatively brief time. There is great value in learning from lessons of the short lives or long lives. Though very difficult to achieve, we can have equanimity in difficult situations and perhaps avoid getting sucked into the drama which can accompany a person transitioning from their current life. (At least, after the shock and grief from our loss has mellowed a bit with time and, hopefully, a normal adjustment into life without our friend or loved one…)

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog