Are You Living By Wisdom or Woe? (Read time: 3 min.)

How do you learn your spiritual lessons?
Do you learn by the wisdom of past experiences or do you insist upon learning the hard way, having repeated experiences present themselves to you so you end up suffering in order to grow?
How can you learn your lessons by flowing with life?

These are the questions that I plan to answer today.  I've been reading  Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential (See all Personal Transformation Books) by Caroline Myss and in the book, she says the following:

"You can choose to learn by wisdom or by woe."

So often, we receive lessons only to resist them, insisting that the lesson being presented is not the lesson we need to learn.  We wish for a better past, hope for a better future and then feel trapped by a present that keeps us suffering in each moment because we choose not to believe what we see. 

When will you believe that you don't have to suffer to grow?

The journey of life is filled with ups and downs.  You've been here before.  You will probably come here again.  There's nothing in this lifetime that you weren't equipped to face and conquer.  There's no lesson that's too big for you, no truth that's too real for you.  You can live the life you were born to live... and live it well. 

Here are three things to remember as you learn your spiritual lessons this week:

1) You are free to choose.  There is no suffering that you have to go through.  At any moment, no matter what you're going through, you have the option of choosing peace.  Don't co-sign on other people's non-sense and drama because that's what you've always done.  If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  If you want to be a new you, you must show up as that person.  Before going into any drama prone situation this week, consciously decide how you will show up (no matter how anyone else chooses to).

2) One of the greatest lessons we are all here to learn in every single lifetime is forgiveness: forgiveness of ourselves and others.  When life isn't working the way you want it, take a few minutes to ask yourself, "Who am I not forgiving?"  Once you know, begin to affirm non-stop "I am willing to forgive myself and others."  Notice that I'm not saying do a blanket forgive job.  Forgiveness doesn't work that way.  It takes the time it takes to forgive.  What I am saying is this: Work on forgiveness on a daily basis and, eventually, forgiveness will come. 

3) Feel and release anger, let go of resentment.  Anger is natural; resentment is not.  Resentment will rob you of the creative energy of your life.  We mistakenly let our egos run the show and feel we are owed our right to resent.  We look at people who have done us wrong and say, "I will never forgive that person" as if our reliving the past sends that person to hell.  Quite the contrary, our resentment keeps us in hell.  Don't do that to yourself.  You have a right to be angry so get angry and get that anger out of your body ASAP but do not allow resentment to lodge in your soul which, in turn, will manifest in your body.  This lifetime is too short to let someone else's actions impact your destiny.  You could always come back and learn this lesson next lifetime but since you know what the lesson is, why waste a lifetime learning it?  Get the lesson now...

After all, you weren't built to be broken.