“Consciousness , or the ability to know, is the most important thing in our life. It must be Life itself in us, acting as an individual, as a person. But there is still more to it than this. For we did not create our own consciousness. It came with us when we entered the world. Consciousness, or that thing which we really are, is the gift of Life.” — “Freedom to Live …” from Science of Mind by Joanne McFadden
As we grow in awareness through the various experiences that present themselves in our lives, we sometimes become totally removed from the how, why, when, who and what of that occurrence. There are those individuals who are so far removed from the mechanization of their lives, they float through events, good or bad with very little awareness of the role they played in those choices or decisions. Uncanny as that may be, you may know individuals who are exactly like this and entertain no earthly clue of who they are, why they are here or personal authenticity on any level. Joseph Campbell expresses it this way . . . “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
We live at times in a world of chaos, derisiveness, anger, retaliation, hatred, divisiveness and cruelty, which has existed since the dawn of man. We become the sum total of our choices, often by the experiences that shaped our lives very early on, and unrelentingly haunt our subconscious. So be it. The most important factor in this life’s journey is our response to the negative events we experience, which is a direct contradiction to a knee jerk reaction of getting even or worse. We have the opportunity in every moment of every day which we may find out to late is a gift . . . to embrace who we are consciously without reservation. There may be no second chances, just this one, there may be no more time, just this moment, there may be no more procrastination to get it done down the road . . . because that time is now. We may realize to late, that we have run out of time, excuses, postponements, delays, and left with just ourselves. What does that look like and how does that feel? Kathy Juline writes in “Free To Be,” from Science of Mind a few questions that may give rise to consciousness many have never experienced which include . . . “Where am I asking others to take responsibility for my life? What part of myself do I need to get to know better in order to feel more complete? Where is the spontaneous child I once was? What worldviews, strategies and behaviors of my parents am I perpetuating?” There is no blame or shame, just acknowledgement of acceptance through authenticity, and the gift of time in taking the first step . . . let’s begin to embrace the gift of Life. JLR