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The path to bliss UNIVERSE WITHIN Gwen Randall-Young
The path to bliss
UNIVERSE WITHIN Gwen Randall-Young
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When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.
– Joseph Campbell
Ioften hear people say they do not know what they really want to do with their lives. They have a sense that what they are doing is not what they came here to do, but they have no idea what their life’s purpose might be. They try to figure it out intellectually, comparing different, possible options to see if one really draws them. Usually, however, this process does not bring them any closer to their true path.
I encourage them to think about what they really enjoy, what they love and what feels important to them. I ask
SPIRITUALITY
foundly content. They do not much care what others think of them and have no interest in joining the race others are so avidly running.
We cannot learn about our souls by thinking about them. We cannot “figure out” our soul. Rather, soul reveals itself to us, in those quiet, still moments when we are not thinking, but simply being.
And those moments arise when we are doing something or are in a place that causes us to totally lose ourselves. There is such a resonance between that moment we are experiencing and the vibration of our own soul that we transcend awareness of our ego and the world. This is bliss. In doing things that give us this feel
them to think about the times in their lives when they felt the happiest. I use this analogy: imagine that your true path is a shiny, metal road and your heart is a very powerful magnet. When you are on your path, the path “grabs” you and pulls you along. When you drift away from the path, the attraction to wherever you are is weaker.
One might wonder why it should be such a struggle to honour our deepest self and allow our lives to be a manifes tation of our essence. After all, our souls come here for a reason and that reason should unfold effortlessly into a life design that is like our unique signature upon this earth.
Things start to go awry early on, when parents look at their newborn and begin formulating ideas about the kind of being they will create out of this bundle of sweetness. Later, ego takes on a powerful role in wanting to please parents, teachers and even peers. Ego also learns a lot about the rewards that come from conforming and being good at the things society values.
Interestingly, individuals who stick to their own path and eschew the common culture are considered to be eccentric. They live their lives according to some inner standard and direction which others may have a hard time understanding. Typically, even if isolated, they are proing of bliss, we are surrendering the need to plan our lives, to figure things out, and turning it over to the guidance of soul. When we are following our bliss we are letting soul take the lead. It also means we spend more time in align ment with our souls. The more we do this, the more comfortable it feels to be there, and the more we become aware of aspects of our lives that are out of alignment with who we truly are and who we need to be.
Nature has given us a most powerful compass to access and maintain our progress along our soul’s true path. It is that feeling of joy that comes from within our own being and which is not dependent upon anyone else. It comes when we are honouring our own soul.
We need to make the honouring of our souls our prime motivation, rather than a guilty pleasure we indulge in once in a while when we can take a break from work or our regular routine. Who knows which doors might open?
Gwen Randall-Young is a psychother apist in private practice and the author of Growing Into Soul: The Next Step in Human Evolution. For articles and information about her books and “Deep Powerful Change” personal growth/ hypnosis CDs, visit www.gwen.ca
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— GAY HENDRICKS bestselling author of Five Wishes
