The Ebb and Flow of Life
Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought we'd talk about
relationships. Fascinating and often baffling subject, isn't it?
Recently, several of my close, years-long personal relationships
have faded and gotten lost in the mists of time. There were no
big fights. Nobody got mad at anybody. There was just a quiet
drifting in different directions.
None of these were romantic relationships. But Valentine's Day
is not just about lovers -- it's about us all in relationships
of love with each other.
This sort of experience used to drive me crazy when I was
younger. I would almost always blame one or the other of us.
But it's never anyone's "fault" -- after all, we all create our
own realities. And we co-create the reality of our relationships.
"Coincidentally," just as I was sitting down to write this
newsletter, someone sent me a wonderful quote from "A Course in
Miracles." Here it is:
Use no relationship to hold you to the past, but with each one
each day be born again.
Relationships come and go. Our lives ebb and flow. We are born
anew in every present moment.
Here's Chief Joseph.
Chief Joseph
You've heard us, and others, say this many times: The only
constant in life is change. That's one thing you can always
count on.
Perhaps the most difficult and challenging change for most of
you is in your relationships.
You have this view of relationships, especially romantic and
family ones, that does not always serve you well. You've heard
us say relationships are not forever. After all, nothing is
forever.
By that we mean nothing, especially your relationships, remains
fixed and eternally unchanging. That just isn't possible -- or
desirable.
Life in the physical or nonphysical realm, is all about change.
Even in our dimensions of spirit, relationships are constantly
changing, evolving, growing.
You'll never get it done. Dead or alive, you'll never get it
done. There are no destinations. There is only the journey.
Especially in relationships.
And so, as John said, relationships come and go, ebb and flow.
We understand where most of you are coming from, especially in
your relationships. And especially in your romantic
relationships.
You often talk about your soulmate, your "one and only." As if
there could be only one "one and only."
You, at the soul level, chose to come into this lifetime to
experience diversity -- and change. You thought the game of
diversity and change would be a fun thing to do on Planet Earth.
But then you lost sight of that, and got rooted in -- or, more
accurately, stuck in -- the idea, the illusion of permanence. As
if that would give you some sense of security and safety.
Whatever security and safety you perceive in a permanent,
unchanging relationship is an illusion. In fact, a permanent,
unchanging relationship is an illusion.
Your security and safety, friends, comes from allowing the
change and growth which, after all, you cannot avoid. Nor would
you want to avoid it if you thought about it.
There is only one relationship where you will find the security
and safety you seek -- your relationship with yourself.
We are not saying relationships, including romantic
relationships, cannot or should not last for a lifetime. We are
saying, however, it is not a bad thing if your relationships
change, or do not last your entire life.
This is all about growth. It's all about your soul's purpose,
and its intent to immerse itself in the joys, pleasures, and
passions of life on earth, of life in a physical body.
There will always be an ebb and flow to life, on earth or in
spirit. It's all good. And all is well.
Copyright