Fate - and our destiny

Over the years we have all been encouraged to take control of our destiny in our personal lives and our careers - and this is a positive lifestyle that can help us to feel fulfilled. As long as we remember that moderation in all things leads to a much happier life, so that we don't become obsessed with our upward career trajectory, it can be a healthy and positive way to live. And for some, their aspirations are for a better work-life balance so that they effectively work to live rather than live to work, which is an even healthier and more positive lifestyle.

The missing factor

Equally important is that we are spiritual beings having a material existence temporarily. We are not expected to do anything while we are in this dimension because we are spiritual beings. Yes, because of the way this dimension has been projected, we have to do whatever it takes to keep ourselves comfortable, our bodies healthy, make sure we have good shelter and all of those basic aspects of life that make it acceptable. But beyond that, our only other actions are to do with loving ourselves and other souls and doing whatever it takes to demonstrate that love. Following this philosophy can make life a great deal simpler. That elusive happiness that everyone seems to be seeking could just be a fact of life and not something we have to pursue.

In our current philosophy of trying to 'make' things happen in our lives at whatever level, we tend to overlook our spiritual Selves and concentrate on the material self. Before we enter this dimension, we have already decided what we wish to learn and the general path we will take to achieve this learning. We have worked with those who are more spiritually evolved than ourselves to establish our goals, and we have agreed with others how they will help us do that by being in this dimension with us and interacting with us, as we have agreed also to help them in their development. This can be achieved by being helpful to one another or by being difficult with one another; whatever it takes to learn the lessons is provided for us. People who are having difficulty with family relationships often say, "Well, you can't choose your family" when, in fact, that's exactly what we do so that we get the best opportunity to learn the lessons we need.

Nothing is as it seems

From this it will be obvious that everything is 'choreographed'. I imagine it as a big wheel turning with each of us being the cogs that turn that wheel. As a result, some of the things that we desire will not come to us at the time we wish them to and others will arrive exactly when we need them, when we feel it is almost magical. But the fact remains that each of us has a destiny that is dependent on the destinies of all other souls - our brothers and sisters. We are all immortal spirits - part of the one whole Spirit. Whatever one of us does is dependent upon, and affects, all the others. None of us is here in isolation; we are all here as a coherent whole functioning to help one another. Patience

One of the lessons I believe many of us are here to learn, amongst other things, is patience. Everything at the moment seems to be available instantly with the advent of the electronic age. Those who are inventing the gadgets we use on a daily basis are truly gifted. With our increased prosperity in the West compared with a century ago, we no longer believe in saving up our money for the things we desire. This is largely due to another electronic invention, which makes our dreams - and, regrettably, our worst nightmares sometimes - come true. Credit cards satisfy our material desires instantly; so many things can be in our lives as soon as we wish them to be.

I believe we are trying to recreate life as it is in Heaven because we can bring whatever we wish to us without the need for money when we are pure spirit. As a result of our expanded minds in Heaven, of course, we no longer have the desire for 'things' and realize that everything we accumulated in our time in this dimension is valueless and meaningless anyway. In Heaven we understand what is truly valuable and what is not.

Lessons in patience include our relationships. Most people no longer wait to get to know someone before sleeping with them and moving in together resulting in many short-term, unsuccessful, relationships. More souls are brought into this dimension as a result of these relationships because, again, waiting to have children is no longer part of most people's thinking and so everything in our personal and work lives tends to become very complex very quickly. Whilst this is not right or wrong, it seems we can't wait to make complexity happen!

The wheel turns

If we return to the image of the great wheel turning, it becomes obvious that we often go off at a tangent while waiting for the wheel to turn and for the cogs to fall into place so that we can return to our agreed path - because we are too impatient to wait for that to happen. We cause ourselves such anxiety, pain and difficulty because of our impatience. When we reach the right point on the wheel's rotation, everything falls into place beautifully and we become ecstatically happy without even trying it seems. Life becomes wonderful and we are blissfully happy. But then we want more of this magical situation of being in the right place at the right time for everything to work, and our impatience for more gets the better of us again - it is an endless cycle.

There is no criticism or judgment intended in this description of how we manage our destinies - it is as it is. We are still learning no matter what we do and when we do it. There is a lesson in everything - it just seems at times as if we are choosing the hardest way to learn.

Using 'downtime' productively

I am no different from any other soul; I don't think there has been a single significant thing in my life that I have not had to wait for, sometimes for a very long time. But when I look back, I see that while I was waiting each time, I was learning an enormous amount. Nothing was wasted.

But the times when I have learned the most have been when I curbed my impatience. I was calmer without so much mind chatter. I was therefore able to better see the bigger picture and how I could achieve something positive for myself while I waited.

You may be asking how you manage the wait for something to fall in place, bearing in mind that what you desire may never, in fact, manifest - but often what does happen may be better than you could have imagined.

The best ways I have found are firstly to look at what you already have and be grateful for everything; you may then come to the realization that everything is great with or without your current desire. Follow that with looking deep within yourself and the way you live your life and questioning what you really do want. Often we live at a very superficial level and, as a result, nothing really satisfies us. Being honest with yourself about the sort of person, and preferably spirit, you truly are and what you need can be life-changing. After that, you need to live authentically by bringing into your life what deeply resonates with you rather than what is just a temporary fix.

The final course of action is to find something meaningful to focus on while you wait and I have had recent experience of this.

Not long after my husband, Howard, passed back to Heaven, I was looking for books that would help me to get through my grieving and would also distract me from it. I came across a book by Gary Renard called The Disappearance of the Universe, which piqued my curiosity. I bought the Kindle version of it (wanting it instantly, of course) and started to read. It was fascinating; I couldn't put it down. It was a distillation of the principles of A Course in Miracles. Gary documents his conversations with two Ascended Masters who appeared on his couch one day. He now gives talks all over the world about the essence of A Course in Miracles.

As a result of reading this book, I went on to study The Course, as it's commonly referred to; it takes about a year to get through the lessons as there is one for each day of that year. It took me about fifteen months and it helped me immensely in coping with my grief. But the greater gift was that it gave me a framework for my spiritual life into the future until I transition. This is not a religion but a way of changing the mind and is primarily a self-study course, although some people do form groups for discussions and support.

I have no doubts whatsoever that the wheel had reached a certain point where I was in the right place at the right time to do this work. I had reached a suitable level of development to find The Course meaningful to me and for me to have the tenacity to see it through. Quite simply, it has changed my life.

From the moment I started to read Gary Renard's book, I realized that I was being given information that I already knew but had forgotten; it was renewing my memory of the knowledge I had when I was in Heaven. The same thing happened when I started to read The Course and, although it could be quite heavy reading for some, I still had difficulty in putting it down - I knew I was meant to read it at that specific time.

The Course has to be studied at the right time because it is a commitment, but Gary Renard's book can be read by anyone at any time to plant the seed of the truth about why we are here. As many souls' memories as possible need to be nudged into remembering the knowledge so that we can all understand our purpose and work towards it together here in this dimension.

'Fate' as it really is

I believe that we have little or no control over what is brought to us as experience in this dimension. Whilst we may believe that we are steering our personal course, the reality is that it was pre-planned although we often create heightened versions of the original plan, which is why things can become so complicated, because where we do have control is in how we respond to what is brought to us.

The only experiences that are of any true relevance in this dimension (and in Heaven) are those in which we experience love - loving ourselves and others and being loved by others. Nothing else is of any importance or relevance whatsoever. Out of these experiences we learn every lesson we need. It is not easy but it is so simple. Our destinies are not that complex at all.