Stories and Labels (Part 5)
If you missed Parts 1-4 of this series, you can read them at www.YourSpiritualJourney.net .
Is it possible to live life without clinging to any particular story or outcome?
Most of us have been conditioned to put a lot of energy into creating a better story and achieving better labels. We want better relationships, more money, a better job, a more prestigious job title, more possessions, better health, more happiness.
Even if we like the way our current script is going, we want to improve it. So we go to work, mentally, to create a better story – and then attempt to manifest this story in reality.
This may sound very natural to you. In fact, you might go so far as to say, “Is there any other way to approach life?”
Here’s an important question to ask yourself: Are your stories bringing you peace… or do they create tension? You may feel that to create the future story you want will require struggle and tension.
You may have experienced significant improvements during your life by trying to re-write parts of your story. I’ve had that experience as well. But there were parts of my story that did not improve as I wanted, and I had a nagging feeling that trying to change the story line would never bring me the peace I wanted.
When I got the invitation to drop my story, or at least ease up on it, I began to see how the story was doing more harm than good. Now I see that holding onto any story, or trying to revise my story, is completely unnecessary.
Stories activate the mind. Stories block the awareness of spirit. We get caught in past and future thinking and the only reality – THIS MOMENT – is missed.
I know many of you are thinking that trying to drop our stories is not practical. After all, we need our stories to function in this world. In a sense, this is correct. We do need to remember certain elements of our story to operate in this physical universe. We need to know our name, and to remember essential facts such as where live, where we work and how to perform our jobs.
So in those respects we need our stories.
What I discovered, however, is that you don’t need an active mind to remind you of this information. You have access to what you need, naturally….when you need it.
Whether you care to admit it or not, maintaining or revising your story is exhausting. It saps a lot of your energy. You have some victories, and this gives you a high. But there is a price for that victory. You sacrifice your peace and well-being.
In addition, how do you feel when your projections and goals don’t come out as you wanted? What went wrong? Why do some projections result in victory while others end in disappointment? Your mind will never figure this out. It will encourage you to try harder next time, have more belief, visualize more intently, buy another book, go to another seminar, find a more enlightened spiritual teacher.
What if you surrendered completely to the flow of your life? What if you had complete faith in God to provide for you….and to show you the way?
Who or what do you trust more – God’s will – or the list you’ve made of all the things you want to acquire or to become?
Somehow, I don’t think God needs our list. God doesn’t require us to develop a story. We can leave the story of our lives to God. The story will unfold with or without our mental strategies. The only thing we will lose by giving up our story is the agitation we are suffering now.
I’m not suggesting for a moment that you deny your story. It’s part of the magic of human existence. If someone asks your name, you will respond very naturally. If they ask your occupation, you can respond very naturally. You will show interest in the stories of others from time to time.
However, you’ll see that you don’t need to tell everyone your story. You are not your story. Your story keeps changing, but something about you is not changing and is witnessing these stories. Our connection to spirit is found when the focus is on what is not changing, as opposed to what IS changing.
You don’t need to manage your story or revise your story. Your story will flow quite nicely without your mind getting actively involved in trying to figure things out.
As I was writing this article, I looked out the window and saw hundreds and hundreds of birds flying in formation – it looked and sounded like the Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Birds.” They landed on the lawn and a minute later, they were moving to another part of the lawn in unison. Then they went skyward, did some incredible flying stunts, and swooped down again on to the lawn.
These birds had no story that they were working on. They were 100% in the flow of nature, being carried by God’s grace. Are we humans exempt from this grace?
A common misconception is that giving up the story and your projections will make you passive, like a zombie. You’re not going to sit on the couch and do nothing for the rest of your life. God has a lot more in store for you once you surrender to the flow of life. It’s true that there may be a period of transition or adjustment as you shift from reliance on mind strategies to listening to the guidance of spirit. You may slow down a bit, temporarily.
Trust God/Spirit to know what you need and what pace your life should take. When God shows you how to help yourself, you’ll take the necessary action.
What I can’t promise you is what turns your story will take if you give up trying to control your life. And that scares the heck out of most people.
If you give up the obsession about directing your story, it’s possible that the details of your story won’t change very much. Not everyone experiences radical changes. It’s also possible that you WILL experience significant changes in your life. No way to know ahead of time.
One thing you can count on is that fear will arise when you even suggest to your mind that you don’t need its planning services and manifestation services any longer. The mind doesn’t like to be pushed out of its traditional role.
Another thing you can count on is that many people will tell you that you are crazy and headed for disaster. They will encourage you to keep working on your story.
I don’t know if you are ready to give up your stories or whether that is the best course for you now. So I will offer this advice: Follow what your heart tells you to do.
– Jeff Keller
© 2009
P.S. The last issue of Your Spiritual Journey Newsletter will be sent out on November 6, 2009 – exactly two years after the first issue was published. I have enjoyed sharing these messages, but it is time to move on. I’ll explain more in the next issue.