That Surprise Moment

Sometimes things catch us at the least favorable moment, especially our own stuff.  These are the buried parts of ourself, including emotional baggage and our hidden aspects (shadow self).  For more about the hidden aspects of ourself, see the post Windows of Self: Faces We Show, Hide and Cannot See.

Well, one of these happened to me a few days ago.  I was not ready for it.  Neither was the other person.

And, no matter how adept we are at our own self-awareness and introspection, hidden aspects of ourself and buried emotional baggage can catch us flatfooted and totally ill-equipped.

That’s because these attributes of our nature exist outside the active awareness of ourself.  I often call this our Achilles heel of learning.  It is a point of vulnerability that, interestingly, also creates opportunities for our own enlightenment, if we can later choose to take advantage of it.

Hidden Aspects Can Also Be Wonderful!

Occasionally these hidden aspects of our psyche can be both surprising and quite wonderful.  We may have stumbled upon a situation where we discovered that we have a hidden talent that allows us to help others in a unique way.

These kinds of events are heartwarming and fulfilling!  We found out that we possessed some innate gift that went unnoticed all these years, which others truly need and benefits the quality of their lives.

Truly, what more could someone seeking their spiritual path ask for than the sudden revelation of a hidden gift?

That is not what happened with me.

Convergence of Activities

Without going into a lot of detail, there were multiple activities that needed to happen at the same time inside the house.  However, because sound carries very easily, one of the activities needed to be moved to another room.

I went over to ask for that very thing to happen.

Things Started Fine

Well, my communication process started off just fine, but I felt that my attempts at getting the other person’s attention were being ignored.

A Matter of Perspective

Whether they were or were not being ignored is a matter of perspective.  The other person felt they weren’t ignoring me, just trying to finish up a task.  For me, it felt like that was indeed what was happening.

For some reason after waiting for what seemed like a long time, I became impatient and interrupted so as to catch a break in their extended work activity.

After some elevated dialogue, I found myself in an energetic state of mind reminiscent of a life I had in England centuries earlier.

A Past Life in England Working for the King

In that life, I was a specialized soldier for the King, where I would clean up his messes, and occasionally create a few for him when things didn’t go as planned.  I was a tough character in that life, to say the least.  My answer to the negative emotions during that time was to stuff them down.  It made them go away.

Hidden Emotional Baggage Surfaced

Well, they came back.

It was that type of energy I found myself in during our interaction, totally unaware during our elevated dialogue that I was swimming in the emotional baggage of that life.

I ended up being quite harsh and hurtful, which is just the opposite of the focus and nature of my spiritual life.

Acknowledge Mistakes and Ask for Forgiveness

Importantly, a little while after it was over, I apologized and asked for forgiveness, if that were possible.

Whatever the other person’s issues were, it was important to acknowledge and own up to my own shortcomings and actions, and express the sorrow I felt having been so hurtful and harsh.

Seismic Shift of My Life

Although it would have been better on my part to have this emotional baggage released without being processed through ego, it did create a seismic shift within me.

Almost immediately afterward, I felt an old underlying emotional attitude was gone.  It had totally vacated my being not to be seen again.

Releasing Fosters Future Growth

It was extremely unfortunate that things happened the way they did, but I believe that my emotional baggage had to be released to allow for my continued spiritual growth.  I think this is true for the other person, too.

We Choose Our Response to What Happens to Us

I believe we choose how to interpret the events of our life, both desired and undesired.

We can hold onto the hurts created by events or choose to see them as opportunities to release old patterns, attitudes, beliefs and perspectives that do not reflect our true nature and that do not serve our highest good.

Soul’s High Path

When we hold onto painful memories and emotions, we only prolong the time it takes to learn our life lessons, just as my approach to life as a soldier did to me when I worked for the King.

If we grow from the insights gained from each event in life, it brings us another step closer to being our true self, living from our spiritual heart and walking our Soul’s High Path.

We are all beautiful creations of the Divine!  We just have to remember to see ourselves the way that God does.