Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 12:12am
A broken heart still leaves you choices
Column: Writing Down Your Soul
In her "Spiritual Geography" series, Janet Conner walks beside the brokenhearted, teaching them how to locate their position on the map of spiritual healing and unlock the personal divine guidance that will move them from where they are to where they want to be — Peace. Everyone begins in the Country of Betrayal and travels through the Countries of Pain, War, Illusion, Surrender, and Choice, accomplishing a spiritual task and receiving a spiritual gift in each country. The journey culminates in the Country of Peace with the miracle of forgiveness and the receipt of a healed, whole, and holy heart. Today we begin our exploration of the sixth country, the Country of Choice.
— — —
Welcome to the Country of Choice, the sixth of seven countries of spiritual healing in Spiritual Geography. As you traveled through the first five countries, you received five rich spiritual gifts, but they didn't come in shiny boxes with bright gold ribbons for the world to see. They were subtle, internal gifts. Only you knew you had them in your pocket. But in Choice, the world finally will get to see how you are changing and growing. The world will start to experience your new ideas, language and actions. Sometimes this is a great thing, and sometimes people aren't so keen on the new you. Brace yourself for big changes. You will enter Choice without a life and exit with your new, authentic, joyful life. How's THAT for a spiritual gift!
To help you understand how you will acquire that gift, here's a brief overview of your experiences in the Country of Choice.
Spiritual Task and Gift: Your spiritual task in Choice is to create a new kind of life, a joyful, conscious, authentic life. The outcome — your authentic life — sounds divine. Everyone wants a rich, real life. But how do you get there? That's the question. In Betrayal, you admitted that the life you'd built wasn't making anyone happy. In Illusion, you learned that it wasn't satisfying because it was based on toxic thoughts. In Surrender, you let those thoughts (along with lots of other people and possessions) go. And now, in Choice, you have the opportunity — and obligation — to carefully choose new thoughts and new beliefs that, over time, will generate a new and much more satisfying life.
Physical Terrain: Just as you get to choose the elements of your life in Choice, you also get to choose from a wide variety of landscapes. The Country of Choice offers every desirable terrain nature can provide. On the coast, you can walk sandy beaches and listen to rolling surf. Inland, you can wander through sun-drenched forests watching new life burst through the mud floor. As you move from life-building decision to life-building decision, you will traverse rolling hills covered with lush vegetation. Everything you need is provided. You have only to choose to take it.
Weather: Although you may not find Choice an easy country — creating a new life is real work — still, it is positive work, sometimes quite pleasant, and the weather confirms that. In Choice, you typically will experience bright sunny skies that illumine the air and help you see your choices with clarity.
Emotional Landscape: Initially you will experience strange sensations connected with trying new ideas, new language, new people, new actions, and new experiences on for size. Although you'll be excited about your newfound power to co-create a whole and holy life, feelings of frustration and confusion will crop up and bewilder you. As you make more and more life-affirming choices, you'll experience a growing awareness of both the simplicity and complexity in making new choices. You'll begin to understand that Choice is change and every change is a choice. Your confidence in your ability to create a life will slowly grow. Toward the end of your journey, you'll experience a new sensation: pride, pride in the self you are becoming and the life you are creating. Does all this sound like too much work? Wish you could just move into a new house, date a new friend, get a new job and — voila! — there's your new life? Sorry, the only way out is through. If you want an abundant, joyful life, you have to build it, thought by thought, word by word, choice by choice.
Landmarks: You'll have numerous opportunities to make new choices and test your results. Clues, guidance, and feedback to help you make those choices and evaluate their consequences will come in multiple guises. You may not always recognize or understand your "teachers," but they will always be there. But be careful what you ask for. If you declare you want to build a life of courage, expect the universe to provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your new courage. If you ask to create a life of peace, look for opportunities to prove you walk in peace. Want partnership? People will come, but it'll be up to you to evaluate if their values are in sync with your definition of partnership. The landmarks in Choice are limited only by the quantity and quality of the choices you make.
Unique Features: Choice has two all-important features. You can't leave without visiting them. The first is Bury My Dead, a graveyard for burying the ideas, beliefs, and fears that no longer have dominion over you. Nearby is the most sacred spot in Choice: Covenant Cove. Here you will define your covenant with Spirit and declare your commitment to live the authentic life you are here to live.
Road Signs: The questions in Choice are rich indeed: What do I think — not my partner, not my family, not my teachers ... me? What do I want? What is really important? How do I want to live? What do I want more of in my life? What new ideas, language, and people do I want in my life? What is my honor code? What vows can I make that I can never, ever break? If my ship came in, what would it bring? What is love?
Dominant Fear and Prayer Ticket: The essence of your spiritual work in Choice is to consciously use every thought, word, and action to build your life. Just as it was hard spiritual work in Illusion to recognize how your thoughts created a life that wasn't satisfying, in Choice you get to do tough spiritual construction work, building, sometimes from scratch, a life that matches your values and dreams. Although it's energizing to discover your creative power, it's also terrifying to realize that you, and you alone, are responsible for how your life looks and feels and affects others. To ease the rough spots, the Prayer Ticket for the Country of Choice will help you remember that you and Spirit are co-creating a whole and holy life: "I have dominion over my life. I am guided to make wise choices and build an abundant, joyful life."
Exit: You'll know you are ready to leave when your life-defining choices have been studied, declared, tested, and confirmed. You'll find yourself standing at the exit when you feel confident that you can face challenges and make decisions congruent with your well-developed life view. You'll be ready when you can look at the life you are building and say, "This is good."
(Next week: A visit to the graveyard of dead ideas.)
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E., is the cartographer of the map of Spiritual Geography and author of the Spiritual Geography series. Spiritual Geography has been hailed by professionals in the mental health, legal, and ministerial fields as the first system to not only map the total healing process but also provide practical spiritual tools that anyone can use to move from where they are to where they want to be — Peace. Visit Spiritual Geography for books, interactive maps, locators, and other Spiritual Geography materials. Reach Janet at janetconner@tampabay.rr.com.© copyright 2006 by Janet Conner
— — —
Welcome to the Country of Choice, the sixth of seven countries of spiritual healing in Spiritual Geography. As you traveled through the first five countries, you received five rich spiritual gifts, but they didn't come in shiny boxes with bright gold ribbons for the world to see. They were subtle, internal gifts. Only you knew you had them in your pocket. But in Choice, the world finally will get to see how you are changing and growing. The world will start to experience your new ideas, language and actions. Sometimes this is a great thing, and sometimes people aren't so keen on the new you. Brace yourself for big changes. You will enter Choice without a life and exit with your new, authentic, joyful life. How's THAT for a spiritual gift!
To help you understand how you will acquire that gift, here's a brief overview of your experiences in the Country of Choice.
Spiritual Task and Gift: Your spiritual task in Choice is to create a new kind of life, a joyful, conscious, authentic life. The outcome — your authentic life — sounds divine. Everyone wants a rich, real life. But how do you get there? That's the question. In Betrayal, you admitted that the life you'd built wasn't making anyone happy. In Illusion, you learned that it wasn't satisfying because it was based on toxic thoughts. In Surrender, you let those thoughts (along with lots of other people and possessions) go. And now, in Choice, you have the opportunity — and obligation — to carefully choose new thoughts and new beliefs that, over time, will generate a new and much more satisfying life.
Physical Terrain: Just as you get to choose the elements of your life in Choice, you also get to choose from a wide variety of landscapes. The Country of Choice offers every desirable terrain nature can provide. On the coast, you can walk sandy beaches and listen to rolling surf. Inland, you can wander through sun-drenched forests watching new life burst through the mud floor. As you move from life-building decision to life-building decision, you will traverse rolling hills covered with lush vegetation. Everything you need is provided. You have only to choose to take it.
Weather: Although you may not find Choice an easy country — creating a new life is real work — still, it is positive work, sometimes quite pleasant, and the weather confirms that. In Choice, you typically will experience bright sunny skies that illumine the air and help you see your choices with clarity.
Emotional Landscape: Initially you will experience strange sensations connected with trying new ideas, new language, new people, new actions, and new experiences on for size. Although you'll be excited about your newfound power to co-create a whole and holy life, feelings of frustration and confusion will crop up and bewilder you. As you make more and more life-affirming choices, you'll experience a growing awareness of both the simplicity and complexity in making new choices. You'll begin to understand that Choice is change and every change is a choice. Your confidence in your ability to create a life will slowly grow. Toward the end of your journey, you'll experience a new sensation: pride, pride in the self you are becoming and the life you are creating. Does all this sound like too much work? Wish you could just move into a new house, date a new friend, get a new job and — voila! — there's your new life? Sorry, the only way out is through. If you want an abundant, joyful life, you have to build it, thought by thought, word by word, choice by choice.
Landmarks: You'll have numerous opportunities to make new choices and test your results. Clues, guidance, and feedback to help you make those choices and evaluate their consequences will come in multiple guises. You may not always recognize or understand your "teachers," but they will always be there. But be careful what you ask for. If you declare you want to build a life of courage, expect the universe to provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your new courage. If you ask to create a life of peace, look for opportunities to prove you walk in peace. Want partnership? People will come, but it'll be up to you to evaluate if their values are in sync with your definition of partnership. The landmarks in Choice are limited only by the quantity and quality of the choices you make.
Unique Features: Choice has two all-important features. You can't leave without visiting them. The first is Bury My Dead, a graveyard for burying the ideas, beliefs, and fears that no longer have dominion over you. Nearby is the most sacred spot in Choice: Covenant Cove. Here you will define your covenant with Spirit and declare your commitment to live the authentic life you are here to live.
Road Signs: The questions in Choice are rich indeed: What do I think — not my partner, not my family, not my teachers ... me? What do I want? What is really important? How do I want to live? What do I want more of in my life? What new ideas, language, and people do I want in my life? What is my honor code? What vows can I make that I can never, ever break? If my ship came in, what would it bring? What is love?
Dominant Fear and Prayer Ticket: The essence of your spiritual work in Choice is to consciously use every thought, word, and action to build your life. Just as it was hard spiritual work in Illusion to recognize how your thoughts created a life that wasn't satisfying, in Choice you get to do tough spiritual construction work, building, sometimes from scratch, a life that matches your values and dreams. Although it's energizing to discover your creative power, it's also terrifying to realize that you, and you alone, are responsible for how your life looks and feels and affects others. To ease the rough spots, the Prayer Ticket for the Country of Choice will help you remember that you and Spirit are co-creating a whole and holy life: "I have dominion over my life. I am guided to make wise choices and build an abundant, joyful life."
Exit: You'll know you are ready to leave when your life-defining choices have been studied, declared, tested, and confirmed. You'll find yourself standing at the exit when you feel confident that you can face challenges and make decisions congruent with your well-developed life view. You'll be ready when you can look at the life you are building and say, "This is good."
(Next week: A visit to the graveyard of dead ideas.)
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E., is the cartographer of the map of Spiritual Geography and author of the Spiritual Geography series. Spiritual Geography has been hailed by professionals in the mental health, legal, and ministerial fields as the first system to not only map the total healing process but also provide practical spiritual tools that anyone can use to move from where they are to where they want to be — Peace. Visit Spiritual Geography for books, interactive maps, locators, and other Spiritual Geography materials. Reach Janet at janetconner@tampabay.rr.com.© copyright 2006 by Janet Conner