Surviving the big "shake ups" - The Collapsing of Paradigms
Most people who have spent time on a spiritual path or who are embarking on a spiritual path, have experienced, sometimes from the outset, a 'big shake up'. Paradigms which have been solidly in place, sometimes for lifetimes, begin to collapse so that the self which is the true self - the soul self - is able to emerge, shedding the coverings and definitions related to the previous paradigm of how one 'should' be in the world.
The 'big shake ups' - the collapsing of realities which had previously defined us - the collapsing of paradigms which limited us, is, and can be, a test of our hearts and minds resolve to open and grow.
In the first stages of paradigms collapsing, our hearts and minds are tested as to whether we will continue to endure on this path of awakening. Often, but not always, the 'why this is happening answer' can be obscured from the conscious mind, the experience can feel painful and may look outwardly, 'messy'. Bam!, Kapow!, Bam!, Kapow! - it seems as if all supports for the previous paradigm of who we thought we were begin to collapse, for some, all at once. The mental supports, the emotional supports, the spiritual supports, friends, jobs, families, dreams, hopes and wishes, begin to collapse, sometimes simultaneously, depending on the level of the spiritual calling of the soul. The greater the calling in the heart, often the greater the shaking up of the previous paradigms.
Whether the shake up of our reality is a Kapow or a Bam or any other descriptor one may have for it - it is an experience that will test us to our very core, often with periods of dark nights of the soul, where there are no answers, where there are periods of intense contraction and powerlessness, and times in which we cannot yet perceive the truth of who we are. During these 'big shake ups' and the collapsing of paradigms we may find ourselves calling out in the spiritual wilderness to our Creator and or to the Universe, for help, for answers, for comfort, or for direction.
In the rubble of the previous paradigms which have defined who we thought we were, emerges for those who continue to seek, who continue to ask for help and guidance - new lives of greater truthfulness and depth. New lives emerge where integrity and living from the heart, expressing the desires of the soul in actions and ways of being, are awaiting those who can trust their way through the initial experiences of contraction, collapse, and at times, helplessness. It is by no means an easy road. Trusting that which is falling apart around us is 'meant to be falling apart' takes a great leap of faith in the midst of the suffering, confusion, and pain.
We are all Dear Readers, able to survive the big shake ups in ours lives. We are all able, if we choose to do so, to choose a new path of truthfulness and depth in the expressions of our soul in our daily lives. We are all able to survive the most intense shake ups that the collapsing of our previous paradigms can bring forth. The formula for doing so is based on trust, hope in the midst of times of intense despair and helplessness, and... love. Love of the soul self, love of the Creator as we define our relationship to the Holy, and love for all of our brothers and sisters in which we share the planet with.
Sometimes in the midst of collapsing paradigms it is hard to see the bigger picture of why our lives are being shaken apart. Yet, there are moments, where our soul speak to us through our heart and we remember, sometimes just for a moment, the truth of who we really are, sometimes first initially glimpsed in a time of innocence.
As time evolves and moves forward, there are moments within the biggest shake ups of our lives where we do remember who we are more and more each day - who we are behind the paradigms, behind the masks, and behind the roles and belief systems which have previously defined us. In those very precious moments, the emergence of the truth of who we are begins to take shape more solidly in our hearts and subtly within our consciousness'. From the ashes of the shake ups of the previous paradigms which once defined us, a new way of being in the world can be made, based on the truth of who we are, based on our hearts and our souls calling, and most of all, based on love.
with love, Johanna
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