What is the underlying purpose of crises and how can they be useful in our daily lives? The typical response to such a question might be that crises are not of our making and are therefore to be avoided at all costs. We are taught to seek peace, ease, comfort – the path of easy living. However, all too often, we find ourselves in crisis of one sort or another. So instead of railing against the crises which present themselves, why not learn to turn them, into spiritual opportunities.
Crisis implies that the calm, peaceful aspects of life have deserted us, having been replaced by upheaval, storm and chaos. However all too often it is we who have deserted ourselves. In times of stress and indecision, we tend to inflame situations through hasty thoughts and words or ill considered actions. If we could learn the art of silence, self-control over our hearts and minds, we might regain our composure and equilibrium. Equilibrium is much sort after in this frantic modern world, where we often lurch from one crisis to another, searching in vain, for peace of mind. Peace of heart and mind is the Holy Grail of the modern world.
Crises if we allow them, can be a wake-up call to the inner spiritual worlds. What if, instead of assuming the worst of others or particular situations, we replaced our fear with hope and optimism?
By training our minds to replace fears with hope and optimism, our lives begin to change for the better. Fear is the root of many ill-considered actions or indiscretions, great and small. It is one of the deepest roots of sorrow in our lives. By replacing fears with hope, our world begins to change. Life, as well as love, is seen through the eye of the beholder.
Instead of darkness and chaos the light of hope, begins to shine upon new possibilities, new dreams, our new day dawning.
This approach to life, removes the fearful paralysis which grips our hearts and minds robbing us of our power. Instead of panicking or reacting, learn to still your mind, ask for inspiration and act with faith and hope. Such choices lead to greater soul control. In this way events which previously would have filled us with dread, are now viewed with increasing dispassion.
Dispassion, as taught by the Buddha, is the art of soul reflection. Crisis takes on a different role when we refuse to panic, deny or delude ourselves in the face of personal desires or challenges.
The outer world remains the same, it is our response to it which changes.
Crises, great and small, are the means by which balance and harmony are restored. Crisis becomes the cure not the curse – the path to peace. By embracing life crises when they occur, we grow in spiritual stature. By actively using crisis as an opportunity to develop or practice spiritual disciplines, we respond positively to change, thus transforming and transcending old habits and our old identity in the process.
Major life crises are opportunities for rapid soul growth. The more we persist in selfish, narrow or fearful life perspectives, the more our soul responds with crisis. Crisis seeks to restore the balance between soul and personality. By looking at crisis in this way, the nature of our own imbalances are revealed.
Maybe you can see a pattern in your life? Do major life crises often seem to present themselves within your relationships? Do they manifest through your health, career, family or monetary circumstances? Wherever crisis emerges, rest assured that your soul is attempting to restore balance in that area. By refusing to run from crises, by refusing to deny, repress or placate them, we gradually learn to accept them for what they are – opportunities for soul growth, for the return of greater heart-light and peace of mind.
This is not something that can be achieved in a day, a week, a month or even a year. Rather, it is a recipe for balanced living in the light of soul and Spirit. To pursue the life of soul is to learn to deal with, and welcome, inner and outer crisis – they go hand in hand.
Life has a way of teaching us the lessons we most need to learn. Either we actively pursue those lessons or they actively pursue us – this is the Law of Karma in action. The choice is up to us. The difference between a person who lives their life in the shadow of fear and a person who lives their life in a ray of hope, is attitude. All life attitudes have their source in our past history, which has been created as a result of our soul’s consciousness. So the solution, seems simple – change your attitude, change your life.
By responding to life’s many crises from the heart, we reinforce the power of goodness, the power of love in our lives. This is a choice open to us all. Such choices open the door to greater love, joy and hope, for ourselves, our loved ones and the planet – the door to our heart.
Whether such love, joy and hope comes rapidly or more slowly into your life depends upon you. You are the master or mistress of your own destiny, the hand upon your own wheel of fate. By responding to life’s crises with trust, the door to your heart begins to open. Once you identify the path of crisis in your life you have found the way to greater soul growth. Then it is up to you to seize the moment.
Whether crisis comes to you through the energy of Saturn (responsibilities/burdens), Chiron (health/fragmentation), Uranus (rebellion/freedom), Neptune (acceptance/confusion) or Pluto (transformation/loss) depends upon your soul’s design. The pattern of your unfolding soul life is unique to you. Your path of chaos/crisis/healing/union is written in your birthcharts and the Heavens. These birthcharts are your heritage, your map, your key to greater soul Light.
The tools we all need to locate in order to find and travel our soul’s path are never far from us. It is up to us to reach out to life, to respond to others with courage and faith, to refuse to hate or live in fear, to face our own shadows thus redeeming our past. So learn to welcome, celebrate and love the crisis in your love – it is a gift from your soul.
Chandra Easton
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