Getting Out of the Game

Have you ever seen the video game Doom?  You play a marine on a space station on Mars, shooting your way through obstacles of radioactive slime, monsters, crushing ceilings and locked doors, trying to get to the exit so you can go on to the next level.  As soon as you reach your goal, you start the process all over again with a whole new set of obstacles and monsters – bigger, scarier, and faster.

Do you ever feel like your life is like this – that as soon as you think you got somewhere, the game starts all over again, only this time it’s harder?

I was doing an intuitive reading for a person experiencing some life challenges, and the metaphor of the Doom video game came up.  There is a common belief among spiritual seekers that if you navigate through some hazards and conquer some demons, then you can get to place where everything is fine and you won’t have to grow anymore.  It doesn’t really work that way on Earth, however.  Life keeps happening and sometimes it’s hard.

So what can you do?

First is to accept that you’re in the game and look for the things that make it better.

In the Doom game, as you went along through the labyrinth, you would run across stashes of fresh ammo and things you could blow up to get more energy for your character.  What came through in the reading is that as we move through life, we can find places of healing or reprieve, or special tools to help us deal with what is in front of us.  A lot of our vitality is locked up in what is commonly called the “shadow” side of the self.  These are the emotions, thoughts, and gifts we aren’t always aware of, that we deny or avoid because we think they hold pain.  However, if you go into these places and release the good things that are stuck there, you have more energy to move through life.

The second thing is to relax and not be in such a hurry to get to the exits.

I’ve never actually played Doom – just observed it.  I like games where you talk to other people, and I like to do creative projects that have a positive result.  But I have chosen to be in stressful and challenging life situations where no matter what I did or how hard I tried it just got worse.  At the time, I must have thought I was having fun, or I wouldn’t have kept doing what I was doing.

Some people really like the excitement of the challenge and the thrill of conquering the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.  It can become a form of addiction.  You may tell yourself you are gaining ground, but at the end of the day, you’re still all by yourself on a lonely space station with a bunch of slime and monsters.  If you can at least slow down and realize that there’s nowhere to get to that is better than where you are now, then you can relax and see what’s good where you are now.

You might be one of those people who likes to tell your friends that you are “over it” and ready to be enlightened.  Don’t kid yourself.  You’re still looking for the exits in the game and you must still like it or you wouldn’t be here.  See the fun in the challenge and congratulate yourself for the progress you’re making.

Ultimately, the real game changer is forgiveness.  When the illusion of moving forward is no longer fulfilling to you and you stop blaming other people and things for your unhappiness, it gives you the power to change yourself, and that changes your life.   It makes the monsters disappear because you realize that no matter what is going on inside your body or out in the world, the experience of pain or joy is all in your head.  Then you break free of the Doom game – or whatever game you’re in – for good.

Throughout this past month, the guidance coming through for my clients has had the theme of how to weather an unexpected or uncomfortable spiritual test or trial.

Many people believe that once they make the decision to follow a spiritual path, life will get easy.  When unexpected or difficult things happen, they often feel disappointed or betrayed, as if they didn’t get the reward for good behavior that they thought they deserved.

As you begin to awaken to your own truth, the world – as the mirror to your unconscious beliefs – will offer you opportunities to clear out anything that is not in alignment with the true self that you want to reclaim.  Instead of seeing resistance or challenging events as obstacles, you can choose to see them as evidence that you are re-evaluating your beliefs (progress!) and being given the chance to reaffirm your new choices (gift!).  The test isn’t a punishment – it’s an opportunity.

What do you believe in – really?  Do you believe in an all-loving, all-powerful, and all-present Divine Spirit (choose your terminology) – or not?  Do you believe that in punishment, poverty, conflict, and pain?  Or do you choose forgiveness, abundance, harmony, and health?  Do you let others tell you who you are or what you should do, or do you look to Spirit for guidance as to what is correct for you?

When you feel like you are being tested, the thing that gets you through is FAITH.  You don’t need to have complete faith; even just a little willingness to have faith is enough.  In order for faith to work, it essential that you not let your reasoning mind take stuff that happens to you personally because that keeps you stuck in your ego.  Challenges are a part of life and they happen to everyone – you can count on that.  However, you can also count on faith to get you through whatever comes.  Just keep your thoughts and feelings pointing in the direction you want to go!

I had house finches build a nest in my hanging basket one summer and I observed over several weeks as they hatched, grew, and then finally fledged (flew on their own).  This video is amazing.

Inspiring Video with Nest of Robins

Here you will find a collection of insights and inspirations! Enjoy!

A Spiritual Teacher shares her insights on meditation, God, and being your authentic self.

Looking for ways to use your intuition to follow or find your bliss?

I answer some common questions about intuitive guidance in this  interview with Nancy Brook on the Women’s Information Network.

[audio:http://thewinonline.com/episode/find-your-voice-tuning-your-inner-guidance]

Like or share this interview!

This month’s message considers the meaning of the word “better.”   I’ve been thinking about this since July, when I did a talk on Polarity Therapy for a spiritual discussion group.   I explained that the goal of healing work in Polarity is to help people feel better – more grounded, balanced, and in alignment with their higher self.  A member of the group asked if describing one kind of experience as “better” than another one didn’t indicate an ego-based judgment.  I could see his point.  How can anybody judge what’s better for someone else?  After all, we’re all equal in Spirit.  Who is to say what’s really “better”?

I thought about it, and there are two kinds of “better.”  For example, you can say that a certain individual feels “better than others” and mean that the person is arrogant or believes he or she is superior.  This is how we see the word “better” in advertising, where it suggests an increased value or worth of something relative to something else:  “Our product is better than their product.”  This use of “better” is really a two-step process, because one item must be shown to have more quality while other items are proven to be not as good.   This “better” requires judgment according to an outside standard.

However, there is another kind of “better” that takes place entirely on the inside.  This “better” merely points to a personal preference or sense of improvement.  For example, if you like red apples better than green ones, there is not a judgment, only choice.  If you are hungry and tired, but feel better after eating and taking a nap, there is no judgment, only relief.  There is only judgment if you believe that in order to be fond of a certain kind of apple or to enjoy being rested and well-fed you must criticize all other kinds of experiences as wrong.

You can’t judge one life experience as “better” than another – either when comparing someone else’s life to yours or in reviewing your own life in hindsight.   However, you can observe your life moment to moment to know if you’re on track and headed in a direction that you like.   In healing work, the rubber meets the road with how good you feel and how well your life works now.  Ultimately, your experience is completely subjective and the only person who can say if you “feel better” or not is you.

With wishes for an ever better feeling experience,

Elizabeth