“We’re all assigned a piece of garden, a corner of the universe that is ours to transform. Our corner of the universe is our own life.” — Marianne Williamson
Realizing how the above quote is integrated into our lives, arrives for some individuals through happenstance and not clarified intention. Compared to the vastness of the universe and galaxies therein, it becomes overwhelming to contemplate that we have the responsibility to cultivate our own lives. Upon further introspection, who else would to could do it? And additionally, why would you give permission to someone else to harvest the fruit of your conscious thought? There exists a quote in the Science of Mind that states this in another way, “Your thoughts are things that create the conditions of your life. Choose your thoughts wisely, for you are the architect of your happiness. You are always building walls or gardens, opening or closing off to life.”
Our experiences from the very beginning of consciousness, embrace to whom or where we are, directly relating to how we think and choose to take responsibility for everything we do. There are no substitutes or excuses in the final analysis, regarding that accountability. Whether we wish to acknowledge it or not, we arrive at the place in life that was forged long ago, perhaps without our ever being aware of those plans. There is another thought from Chang, Jonathan Livingston Seagull . . . “To fly as fast as a thought, to anywhere that is, you must first begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”
Change can be daunting for all of us. Consciousness takes time and awareness on most levels is a lifelong process. It’s not something one can skip through, or carefully manage. As a very young child, I was challenged to observe myself from a different perspective. I was asked to take myself out of any given situation and observe as objectively as possible, whether I was part of the problem or the solution. Over time, this became an invaluable tool of self-examination, evolving conscious awareness and inestimable growth. My parents continued this process, until I was able to objectively challenge myself in any given situation without pity, sympathy victimization or excuses. Of course, I later learned this was ego displacement, and during the course of this life’s journey it is necessary to see ourselves through another prism . . . which may be extremely uncomfortable, hurtful and beyond challenging. Carl Jung expresses this thought, “There is no birth of consciousness without pain.” And that assigned piece of garden that was our corner of the universe to transform, becomes a conscious illumination of what was always possible for each of us . . . without reservation. JLR