By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light
All content copyright Nancy Rynes
See last week's article, here.
Every moment has the possibility of beauty even in difficulty. Every moment is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to love, or to take an action that advances you toward your dreams and goals.
One of the most profound, life-altering things I’ve learned since my near-death experience (NDE) is that each of us can live in a more inspired way: more peace-filled, free, loving, and joyful than we can imagine, both as individuals and as a society.
Through following a spiritual path and maintaining a commitment to fun and easy practices, I gained freedom from the tangles and dramas of my prior life. Now, my days are more peaceful, joy-filled, creative, and centered than ever before.
What is different?
I live now from my soul’s awareness rather than from my ego’s. I liken it to my soul or higher self being in the driver’s seat of my life journey with my fear-based, self-focused human ego as a (mostly) quiet passenger. For the majority of my life it was the other way around and as a result, I would get easily hooked into anxiety, drama, fear, and pettiness.
What does it feel like to live from the soul, to live in a more aware state?
• I have a deep knowing that all will be OK and all is just as it should be.
• My consciousness feels expansive, connected, and rooted to all on this earth and across time and space, yet elegantly centered on the present moment.
• Mind chatter is minimal to non-existent now, so I have more mental freedom to be exquisitely focused on the person with me, or the situation in which I find myself.
• I tend to bring a quiet, focused presence into almost every situation now where previously I was quite reactionary, rarely focused on the present moment, and lived almost on “autopilot.” In effect, I was what Deepak Chopra describes as a “biological robot.”
• My decisions are now made in peace love, and freedom, and are the result of this quiet, contemplative, fully-present awareness.
In fact, most of my decisions in my earlier life were based on fear to some extent, which isn’t unusual in our society. We are born with some innate fears and are taught others. We are taught to fear scarcity, or what others might think. We might fear being alone, or fear failure. We want to be free and powerful, but when allowed to express that fully, we often shrink back into the shadows, too afraid of our power to fully express it. You name it, we humans tend to fear it.
Now, through practice, patience, releasing limitations and attachments, and allowing Spirit to light my way, those fears have essentially evaporated for me. To take their place there is a renewed sense of peace and joy, the beauty of the knowing the truth of who I am, who we are, and being fear-less enough to speak and live my truth.
What was the first steps I took in order to achieve this? Taking full responsibility for my life, and committing to a consistent yet simple spiritual practice, one that suits me and my truth.
If I was able to do this, I know you can too.
For me, taking responsibility started after my NDE. I came to realize that no one else but me was going to cement the changes in my life that started during my journey to the afterlife. In fact, from the moment I woke up after the surgery I knew two things: that my life would never be the same, and that this was just the start of a lifelong spiritual journey and grand adventure.
No one else could take the journey for me—I was the one who was being called to change my life. I was the only person fully responsible for using what I had learned as a catalyst to continue making my life better. Other people might be a teacher or helper, or even accompany me for portions of my spiritual path, but ultimately it would be my responsibility to walk that path and make shifts in my life.
No one else could live my life’s journey for me.
Are you in that powerful place in life where you’re taking full responsibility for yourself and your path? Or do you still hide out in the shadows, wondering when others will stop making you a victim?
I now look on my time here in this physical reality as a sacred journey, a spiritual practice in its own right. Simply being here on earth, living consciously from a place of love, awareness, and centered presence, is my main spiritual practice now.
My life is now the journey to the sacred. My life is now the spiritual practice.
And yours can be as well.
Blessings,
Nancy
Archive: Past Newsletter Issues
TODAY Show: Nancy's Interview on NBC TV's TODAY
Messages of Hope with Suzanne Giesemann: Exploring NDEs with Nancy Rynes
Article: Seven Lessons That Dying Taught Me About Truly Living (Aspire Magazine)
Article: Lives Changed by NDEs (Boulder Daily Camera)
Article: Awakening to Life(Pages 6-10, Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, Summer 2016)
Article: The Meaning of Life (Excellence Reporter)
Simply Peace Part 1
Simply Peace Part 2
Downloadable, Audio-only versions of the webinar are available on my SoundCloud site: https://soundcloud.com/nancy-rynes
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