Every day we make choices some consciously some unconsciously but there is no getting away with it, there is always choice. Many dispute this idea of there always being a choice but even in the lowest of moments, the last thing that we have as a human being is the choice of how we react to a situation or experience. It is part of our Divine make up, a gift we all possess, a gift which runs deeper still. There is the idea that once we become awakened beings, acknowledging our connection to Source and the Cosmos and that we are all within the wholeness of that Cosmos then and only then can we truly exercise our conscious cosmic choice.
Sounds a little out there? So let’s look at it from the physical realm that we live in first. We all limit our choices because we believe there are only a few. We operate on the physical linear point of view (everyday life governed by our idea of time passing from here to there in a line of events) that there is this way to earn money or that way to be in the world. We look to the external world for reasons why we can’t do this or that. We choose pathways in our lives based on the energy of what is called separateness. Essentially that we are an individual separate from everyone else, a unique identity and that Source, God, Creator is something completely separate from us but something we aspire to connect to and perhaps even try to emulate. We ARE unique souls, that is true but not just on the physical body level where we perceive the “me” part of ourselves but on a soul energy level and this soul energy IS connected to all other cosmic energy. Yet we operate on this separateness idea in our everyday lives, a belief that we somehow are disconnected from the energy of the world and each other and that we can only choose from what the external world offers us. This is an external perspective where we think things happen to us and we have to do our best to negotiate them and that we can only do a little to change things.
However, there is a different view which offers us an alternative explanation of what is going on in our lives and how we can find solutions. A simplistic viewpoint would be that we have the power to simply choose something else. If we are suffering an experience that is unpreferred, old, tired and worn out, not working for us then choose to have another experience. Sounds far-fetched, I know! Just choose another way forward, click my fingers like magic and there I am with a new life?! Well how does that work I hear you cry?
Well, here is the theory, we have chosen what has happened so far, and everything within our lives IS connected. We are souls on a journey; our internal experience is how we feel about what is happening, external experience is the “what” that is happening in our everyday lives, the career path, the home, the relationships. If you like, these things are the outer covering for our souls to experience various feelings and emotions, achievement, disappointment, sadness, jubilation. If we are unhappy we seek to change the external, maybe change our job, go on holiday, numb the pain with a shopping spree perhaps that we can ill afford then often when that is done we are back at square one feeling dissatisfied. We search for solutions to how we feel in the external life from the outside in. We can feel locked down and limited in our expectations and the choices we can make to free ourselves from whatever is causing us pain or suffering.
However, how would it be if instead of directing our choices toward short-term feel-good solutions, we could look at directing those choices consciously towards what would clear the dissatisfaction? Well we can. Yet making conscious choices from inside out just doesn’t usually enter our system of choosing.
When life is dishing out hardships we say, “I didn’t choose that!” Well perhaps we didn’t choose consciously an alternative either! Often there is a sort of default system going on too. For instance say you were made redundant, on the face of it you may not have chosen this. However your soul knows what you have come to do and it may be time for a change and maybe you had not quite got the same energy for your job as you thought or maybe you had learned all you could or maybe you wanted to change but had carried on because you didn’t know how to make the next move, so maybe the Universe gave you a push.
Everything is energy based, everything! So the energy you project in your life, the Universe will match. So somewhere in there must have been a projection of “I wish I could do something else or I have learned this now” Your energy unconsciously, like a default choice, maybe saying this is not your true life path, the job at the time offered some important learning but now it’s time to move on because that is done and here comes change, the change you need for your highest good. Maybe you just didn’t consciously, positively, directly choose what you did want or need to happen in your life. You may have had a belief you can only choose so far, the belief that the power is external.
Instead you could look clearly at how you feel and choose consciously to feel differently “I have had enough of feeling sad, experienced that now, got that under my belt, now I choose to be happy and invite all the things that will make me happy to come into my life” Then focus on the happy moments in the past to start with and say I want to feel that feeling again, now. Do things that leave you feeling happy, a cuddle with your pet dog, a coffee and cake with a friend, an early morning run…. Invite happy things into your life. This may feel like a magic click of the fingers….well it is! A choice happens in split seconds so choose well, choose wisely and choose better for you, consciously and constantly.
So where to start is simply to start where you are! Carl Rogers famous for his person centred counselling approach said “As no one else can know how we perceive, we are the best experts on ourselves” (Carl Rogers, 1959). The external gives us a false identity of ourselves, looking from our internal experience is at the centre of what shows up in our lives. We can begin by making conscious choices to be happy with “what is” as this can change energy and ultimately what appears in our lives faster than the sluggish manoeuvres we act out to make our lives perfect. Essentially we are using our idea of connectedness rather than separateness and get happy from the inside out through conscious choice.
We have a consciousness within, and we are part of the collective consciousness too, we are responsible for our own choices and actions as the unique soul we are. Those choices impact a wider community. So once we are awakened beings, knowing our cosmic connections we can see how choice is a huge responsibility, the Universe is set up for us to OWN our choices and make conscious choice with discernment so that we can upgrade our collective consciousness as well as improve our day to day lives. It is a singular and a collective responsibility.
By making conscious choices we switch from the power of the external to the power within, the internal. “I am going to achieve…” “I choose to bring …into my life” “I am thankful for…” “There is enough for everyone and I choose to share…” Conscious choice is about really directing your life, your relationships, your career, your service from your own soul and about making your choices count from the inside out. You can give it a try or not. The choice is yours…. always.
Article by Patricia McDowall
