Create Change Now Archives - Challenges

Challenges Are Covered Jewels Offering Soul Growth and Expansion

In life we are constantly presented with soul lessons that are presented to us in the form of people and situations. The ways that we respond to these gifts of awakening and growth are entirely up to us. These gifts are opportunities for spiritual expansion that can and will pave the way for an even brighter, more fulfilling journey in this lifetime.

In actuality, our outside world is an exact reflection of our inner world. If we are angry inside, we will attract angry people in our lives who will mirror that buried or unresolved anger that lies within us. If we have a deep sense of abandonment, we will draw people and situations into our experience that will mirror that fear. The direct reflection of that fear will be revealed in our lives when those individuals leave us, emotionally withdraw from us, or eventually show us the behavior that we expect from them. If we are critical and judgmental of ourselves, we will attract others who will judge, ridicule, or attack us in variety of ways. The individual who becomes aware of these limiting aspects of their "inner self" will actively begin to nurture themselves with acceptance, self love, and compassion. It requires a commitment to actively healing ourselves from the inside-out. Until that happens, our external reality will continue to mirror the unhealed aspects of who we are. When we feel secure, loved, safe, and happy inside, our circumstances and our environment will naturally and effortlessly begin to mirror those beautiful feelings by revealing people and situations that offer joy, acceptance, and love -- without conditions.

One of the keys to joy-full, prosperous, abundant living is realizing that the universe will always, in all ways, rearrange itself (through our experiences) to directly reflect our internal reality. In other words, as within, so without. We are not doomed to a particular lifestyle, set of circumstances, or environment. As we learn our soul lessons with awareness, positive action, clear intentions, and healing that stems from forgiveness and true acceptance of others and ourselves, we change the energy that we project out into the world and draw new people and experiences that reflect our newly created reality. Isn't it exciting to realize that we all have this ability and opportunity to begin again with each new day?

Every single moment offers a personal gift. We can choose to have peace within and know that by making this choice we will see and experience peace outside ourselves. This applies to the physical body, as well. If we feel emotionally or sexually vulnerable, we may build a protective layer of fat over our hips or abdomen. We do this unconsciously to protect the areas in the body that hold our emotions and sexuality. For men, they may even build a large chest to protect their heart center. Macho men with well developed, muscular chests are often hiding feelings of vulnerability and are unconsciously protecting their hearts. A woman will unconsciously build large breasts to indicate her need to be nurtured and protected. If someone feels that they must carry the weight or shoulder the responsibility for their family or even the world, they might build big shoulders. If, on the other hand, one has no desire or intention to carry responsibility, they will build sloping shoulders that allow their burdens to symbolically slip off. In essence, our bodies mirror our deep, often unconscious inner feelings of love, worth, acceptance. One thing we can do to become more aware is to ask ourselves "Who am I allowing to be a pain in the neck",  when we experience tension in our neck? When we have pain in the heart, we can ask "Who am I allowing to hurt me?" If we experience indigestion, we can ask "What is going on that I am unwilling or unable to process?" If we have an ache, we can ask "Who or what am I aching for?" If we can't hear well, we can ask "What don't I want to hear?" When we consciously empower ourselves from the inside-out, we won't have pain in that location. It's also possible that we have been a pain to ourselves! So, that's also important to keep in mind.

Life offers us a continuous stream of beautiful opportunities for soul growth and expansion. Our lessons, provided through our daily challenges, provide the gift of learning about ourselves and becoming more aware of our ability to consciously create our lives on purpose with attention, focus, and positive intentions. The bottom line is this:  If we wish to change something in our lives, we must look within ourselves first. The solutions do not lie outside of us. We must look within and shift, change, or alter our beliefs and attitudes in order for our outer world to change.

Wishing you a beautiful week. May you embrace all of the challenges that come your way with a fresh, more expansive perspective that allows for growth and positive change. Remember, what you resist persists!

With love and gratitude,

Cari