The Anatomy of ChoicesThe Anatomy of Choice
Whenever we make choices based on our ego, emotional desires, or because we want quick and short term solutions which are more attractive or easier to deal with rather than to do what we know would be best for us in the long run, these choices will only move us forward into eventual chaos and lengthen our road to Freedom. However, whenever we opt to take the path of a Higher Value by overcoming our willfulness and the fears which keep us from making the decision which we know is the right one for us, that is a giant step forward, especially when we know that that decision might bring us a much harder road to travel. We move forward into maturity and wisdom whenever we choose the Higher Value, regardless of the consequences which society will heap on us. There are many fears which can strike us, leaving us immobile and unable to move forward into making any decision. There is the fear of going against society’s
It is only after we have awoken from our sleep and have become the Master, that we will begin to understand that there are many false selves living within us and only after that, will we be able to begin to distinguish between our Real Self and each individual character who surfaces and tries to take charge. By being alert to this various cast of characters, we can come to recognize each individual when it surfaces. Some will be known to us but some lie so deep within our depths, that we did not know they existed until they erupt to the surface due to some trauma inflicted upon our Being. It is one or the other of all these various characters who, depending on the event occurring, or on the Being’s dominant emotion of the moment, that ‘triggers” a particular “I” to surface, to take center stage and control of the Being. Until the Real Self has become permanently ensconced as Master, the Real Self can still be obliterated whenever one of the stronger false selves takes center stage. The willy-nilly choices made by the various false selves often go against the very choices that the Real Self would have taken. Is it any wonder why it is so hard to steer a straight path towards a meaningful and positive goal, when the multitude of characters living with us are always sending us off into so many different and conflicting directions and keeping us in a state of confusion and indecision.
Living within the law of duality binds us to a state of constant flux;our lives are constantly shifting, not only without but also within and constant changes call for the making of many choices. Some of our most frequent and painful choices we are asked to make are those between the longings and passions of the heart and the diverse “black and white”, “cut and dried” opinions of the intellect. Often when a choice we made doesn’t bring the results we expected, then we think we have made a mistake. In the long run we cannot make wrong choices for there is no such thing as a “mistake”, there is only ignorance. In the short term, some choices we make due to our ignorance can cause us more pain and hardships than would have been necessary had we made a different choice; a different choice might have made that particular step of the journey easier and faster. In the long run however, we can never escape a lesson which needs to be learned and sooner or later a lesson bypassed will come around again, giving us another opportunity at it.
Nothing in the Universe is wasted—not our choices, not our thoughts nor our actions and aspirations.Eventually all will come back to us but not necessarily when we wish them to. The results of our choices might simply not be ready to materialize yet, it might not be the right time for us and only when the events in our life are ripe for that choice, will it activate. It might not be until many years later or even not until another lifetime and often the outcomes we wished and planned for, will come in a different form than what we had envisioned. Whatever roads open to us due to our choices, or due to the descent of Grace, there are particular lessons waiting to be experienced and lessons to be learned If a particular road needs to be traversed we might not find or take it through our own awareness but rather be guided into that direction, but no matter how we find that road, whether by an act of Grace or through a maze of our own making, we will arrive at our intended destination sooner or later; the sooner or later depends on us. Wherever we are meant to arrive, we will eventually get there, no matter what choices we have made. For instance, if it is ordained that we go to Philadelphia, then we will be guided in making those choices which will help to get us there. If we know by the repeated promptings from our Higher Self that we need to go to a particular destination, we will have free will in choosing how to get there—whether by a direct route or by many by-lanes and convoluted turns—planning the roadmap is then within our hands.
Positive changes made in our personality will definitely make us a better person as far as society is concerned but personality is only a temporary entity and all that the personality contains will cease to exist after its death. In contrast, the DNA of the Being who we really are, is our essence, the core of our Immortal Self and all that has been added on to essence during each lifetime will continue to exist. Growth of essence is the only possession that we can take with us when we leave this world. In the end, all the choices we made will eventually bring us to the same conclusion—that of a transformative turning point on our evolutionary path. That shift will lead us forever out of our present small and dark consciousness, which is sustained by lower values and which still remains rooted deep within the legacy of the animal kingdom and our animal body.
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