Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we are on a soul journey. That we are spiritual beings having a human experience in a physical body on a plane filled with dense energies. And that as a spirit we are connected to our higher self. That part of our consciousness that doesn’t fit into a physical body because it doesn’t need to. That’s the part of us tied to our soul, to our essence, the truest form of who we are. And that part of us is non physical.

Souls Are Eternal

Yes it may sound woo woo. Sometimes the metaphysical part of our existence can seem far fetched or we can have trouble grasping the reality of it. And that is because for the most part, we have not been fully taught this about ourselves. There is ancient knowledge that used to be part of human life that has been hidden away and disconnected us from our true essence. But that does not negate our soul existence.

Christians learn about this eternal, non physical part of ourselves through the resurrection of Christ. Judaism speaks to a place called Sheol.  Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara which refer to the cycles of life and death. Muslims believe in the continued existence of the soul after physical death upon a judgement day. So if we expand on this concept through contemplation, it can help us connect with that part of ourselves. While the physical bodies eventually expire, the soul and our consciousness do not.

So what I believe then is that our souls come here to have a physical experience in a dualistic reality. A reality where we go through a myriad of situations that cause us to face the spectrum of human experience from love and joy to trauma and despair. And through these varying experiences we come to truly know ourselves, if we allow that to happen.

Ego Shows Up Too

Allowing that to happen is to approach the experience from a soul perspective. That is not to say that we don’t experience from the human perspective as well. I am not suggesting we bypass the feelings that our ego self produces for us. For example, if we have compared ourselves in any way to another human and find ourselves feeling “less than” we can acknowledge that feeling but then recognize it as an ego response.

We don’t need to shame or beat ourselves up for ego responses. Our egos were created as a buffer for our human experience to help us create context in the physical world and to protect us. But as we grow spiritually, we can come to recognize the function and responses of the ego. And then intend on transcending them as they can produce reactive behavioral responses.

Again, this is not to induce shame or self blame, but to recognize that beyond the ego is the soul. And beyond the response of feeling like someone is “better” than us (which is really all relative and never an accurate overall generalization), we can acknowledge feelings and then ask what that particular situation can teach us about ourselves.

Life As Our Teacher

We can work towards becoming the student of our own thinking. We can get to know ourselves in response to life and then choose to grow, or not, and to explore the meaning of events in so far as we are looking to expand our pathway of growth in this lifetime.

All experiences, and everyone we come in contact with, can teach us something. Some of the most difficult people I have had to interact with have in turn become my greatest teachers. Because they have given me the opportunity to mindfully choose how to respond to situations where I could work to stay centered and true to who I believe I really am.

So when we remember that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and acknowledge that there is more to us than just an ego and a body, (all worthy of love ), we can begin to look at life from a higher perspective. We can imagine life as a movie that we are writing and producing and as we film and pan out we get a better birds eye view of how the main character (us) can respond in the ways that will most serve our higher good.

Getting To Know Thyself

When we are more mindful of our soul’s journey, and more in touch with our inner workings, we begin to notice that the life around us starts to shift. We can notice the changes within reflected in the people and the experiences that show up for us. And we can recognize that when the same things keep showing up over and over again there is a message in there somewhere for us, and thus a lesson if we choose the learning.

So I invite you to spend some quiet time in reflection around what you are seeing show up in your life. And we can certainly use what has gone on over the past year and a half to understand ourselves on a deeper level. There has been much to bump up against as a result of all that has shifted, and we can use it to gain clarity around ourselves and our personal journeys. And I assure you, the more connected we are to our own souls and highest selves, the more we influence that change in the collective!