Voice of the Spirit

Goal: For the divine universe to direct those having readings to the readers who serve the highest purpose in their journey.

I am guided to the right readers who provide me with truthful, accurate and helpful information in my journey!

If you are interested in custom affirmations to help you on your journey, or in having your own private reading with Jim1537, click here.

In today’s blog entry, I address five of the most common yet misunderstood terms we see in readings; and in Part 2, I will cover five new additional terms.  In Part 3, I will conclude this three part series by shedding light on ten new reoccurring yet misunderstood phrases and questions witnessed in psychic consultations.

In readings, terms such as: “love,” and “soul mate” are so common, we each tend to assume that what these things mean to us individually is exactly how everyone else, including a psychic views them; and not only that, but we believe that our definitions and understandings are universal, factual, and spiritually accurate. However, these terms are like a loaded gun and literally like walking through a mine field as they are so very highly emotionally charged and volatile.  Remember, they can mean a million different things to a million different people.  Therefore, it is our own personal and subjective reactions, emotional bias, misunderstandings, and/or inaccurate spiritual definitions regarding these terms that indicate how we often interpret and receive insights in a reading.  Often, we distort and take out of context what can be truthful guidance offered from the higher realms.  In addition, we sometimes only hear one specific part of what a reader is saying and discard the rest that doesn’t suit us emotionally at the time, and/or we manipulate and twist the meaning of valid spiritual messages into being what we want to hear… In this writing, I would like to take a look at terms that everyone has experienced when having readings and define what they really spiritually mean, and look at how so many of us don’t take what a reading can offer to us correctly in an attempt to offer the clarity we need to get the most out of any consultation.  Love Of all of the topics that come up in a reading, love (as in romantic love) is perhaps the most common, with many (if not most) clients completely distorting and misconstruing the real meaning of the term, and therefore, losing whatever value the session can offer them.  Most people equate love with subjective, personal, emotional attachment, desire, passion, sexual intensity and how they feel toward someone.  “I’ve got to have you;” I can’t live without you;” and “You’re mine;” are all statements we’ve either said ourselves or heard others say frequently.  Possessiveness, neediness, jealousy, intensity, overreaction, and even abuse are all things most of us think of as being love, just like two teenagers who share their first kiss, or someone who is merely engaging in a part time sexual relationship.  Jennifer was a woman who misconstrued an abusive relationship she was in for being a loving one and decided to go see her psychic supposedly for some insights into the situation. She had been with a man for five long years who had lied, cheated and physically abused her, yet Jennifer believed he truly loved her.  When she was having a reading, her psychic Tanya clearly stated that this man did not love Jennifer at all, and of course, she was upset and misinterpreted the information that was being offered.  She thought that what Tanya meant was that if this man didn’t love her, he would never see her again.  However, the reader was not saying that at all – in fact, Jennifer’s psychic Tanya told Jennifer that he could be in and out of Jennifer’s life for another ten years, but still, just because he could be in the picture, didn’t mean that he loved her.  The mistake Jennifer made was that she assumed that if he’s indeed in her life and there’s a lot of intensity (even if it is all negative), that he must love her.  Remember, most of us equate volatile desire and dark, powerful emotions with love just as Jennifer did.  However, they are clearly not necessarily one and the same.  Here we see that Jennifer’s definition of love was completely different then the reader’s.  Therefore, Jennifer couldn’t get past the concept that this man didn’t love her, so she lost any value the consultation could offer her.  The higher purpose of this reading was to help her see this man for who he is, understand why she would choose someone like this and extricate herself from such a toxic and destructive relationship.  What Jennifer should have done would have been to ask the reader to define what the term love means and to have a common ground in the consultation regarding this very misunderstood word. Because Jennifer didn’t have a clear definition of “love,” she believed that the psychic was dead wrong when this man came back into her life – even though it’s exactly what her reader predicted.  Jennifer refused to believe that this man could indeed come back to her and at the same time, still not love her. As there are perhaps so many varying and contradictory perspectives of what love is, here is a simple definition that provides a foundation to work from:   “You know you love someone when their happiness is essential to your own well being.”  Also, regardless of how they feel about you or treat you, “You have to be loving to yourself as well as loving to the other person.”  (This reason that it is so important for us to also love ourselves the best we can, is that it will help us to not get into or stay with negative self destructive relationships as Jennifer did.)

Keep in mind that love in its pure form is unconditional, unattached, accepting, never judgmental, and ever-present and that has to be something you try to give yourself as well as to someone else.  Pure love is like a parent who loves their newborn infant with the utmost of reverence, respect, and unconditional elation.  Remember, it can’t just be you giving to another without respecting yourself at the same time.

However, in the “real world,” many people’s relationships fall short of such an aspiration, as two people never love each other equally.  So it would be too lofty of an ideal to say that every couple shares equal consideration and concern for each other’s well being.

Because of how emotionally explosive “love” is, people use the word to describe anything from a one night stand to someone lying, cheating, and physically abusing them.  That certainly is not an accurate definition of love, but nonetheless, the way someone having a reading may view it.  Keep in mind that when you’re having a reading, always remember that since your reader is not going through the emotions you are, they can view the word “love” in a more dispassionate, objective way, as Jennifer’s reader Tanya was trying to do for her.   This is assuming that they are real and ethical as a psychic, because if those qualities are there, their insights will be beneficial to you. 

Conversely, there are many readers out there who deliberately scam clients financially through playing on their false hopes by telling them that any relationship is a keeper and no matter how dark it looks now, it will conclude with the commitment of a lifetime.  In addition, there are delusional readers who only allow themselves to believe in happy endings.  As nice as it may sound, it is absolutely disastrous, as let’s face it; every ending in our journey is not going to be a happy one.  It would be like a doctor who is only be willing to think that every patient he or she sees is ultimately going to end up being healthy, regardless of their current medical condition.

With each relationship, a gifted and ethical psychic can assess the reality of the situation: is their real love from the other person or not, will it ever be there, and how is it best for you, the client, to proceed forward with your journey?  Try to have your definition of love be centered and clear and not filled with over reactive hot button emotions.  If need be, always clarify this very all encompassing, loaded and often misleading term when having a reading to get the most from the divine information spirit has to offer you.

Soul Mate

One of the most misunderstood and inappropriately used terms in a reading, “soul mate,” is one that most clients don’t understand.  When having a reading, hearing the term “soul mate” suggests: two people being together forever, laughing and giggling next to the fireplace with drinks in hand in their beautiful home, completing each other’s sentences and making love with wild abandon ‘round the clock.

And even though someone might possibly experience those things with their soul mate, there is no one dimensional description of a real soul mate relationship.  Whatever the two entities involved have done to each other in past lives determines and indicate the karma (both good and bad), that is present in this lifetime.  Also, the spiritual/life lessons they are here to learn will define each soul mate relationship separately and individually.  Therefore, a soul mate relationship can entail absolutely anything including not being together at all to being married till death do us part.

But the term is emotionally charged.  People ask about their soul mate as if they believe that it refers to “the one,” where time stands still at the moment they first meet, everyone else will literally fade from view and what follows will forever be eternal bliss, fulfillment and completion of all of their dreams.  However, that is hardly ever the case, as soul mate relationships are always complex.  By the mere fact that you’ve spent so many lifetimes together (possibly more than with anyone else), there is the tremendous likelihood that one or both parties have created a lot of negative karma, therefore lessons and growth now need to be learned. Often, clients think that the person they feel the most intensely toward must be their soul mate, which is not necessarily true.  Again, it depends on the individual lessons involved between the two entities in question.  Even though we like to believe that are soul mate relationship will be a romantic one, and sometimes it indeed is, that is not always the case.  Sometimes, a mother and a child are soul mates; often, twins are as well; and even sometimes lifelong business partners can be legitimate soul mates.  In addition, just because someone is our soul mate doesn’t mean that we would be the happiest with them as our romantic life partner.  It all depends on what the lessons are and the past life karma that’s involved.  Sometimes, a relationship where there is less negative karma between you and another person provides a better opportunity for happiness in the long run. For clients having readings, it is always important to look at the term soul mate through neutral eyes — meaning that there is no rule of thumb or guarantee as to what one’s soul mate relationship will entail.  It must be looked at on a case by case basis.  With having an open mind, the reader can hopefully offer accurate information regarding your real soul mate relationship, what it potentially is and isn’t, and guide you toward the best course of action for you to take in this earthly journey. Keep in mind that there is distinct difference between your soul mate relationship and the various karmic relationships we have.  Karmic relationships are those which are important to us and relevant because karma exists between the parties involved.  That karma can be good, bad, and/or a mixture of the two and in any karmic relationship, the nature of the karma (based on past thoughts, words, and actions by those involved), determines how these relationships are spiritually set up to unfold in an incarnation. Your soul mate is the one entity who was cast down from the Godhead to walk with you through this eternal journey as you began the reincarnation journey.  That is only one person: not two, three, or more, as we do not have multiple soul mates.  In pop culture you can hear absolutely anything and everything regarding this term as it is in vogue.  Believe it or not, I actually saw a book once entitled, “How to meet your celebrity soul mate!”  Believe it or not, the premise of this book was what we all have a celebrity soul mate.  In popular culture, there is a multitude of false and erroneous definitions of what a soul mate is.  However, we must keep in mind that each of us only have one soul mate, and the dynamics of that relationship cannot be defined in a general way, as it is one that singular and unique unto itself. Relationship versus Committed Relationship When readers predict any kind of a relationship, a client often adds the word “Committed” in their own mind to try and maneuver what is being said to fit their own emotional expectations of what will actually be there in the future.  Remember, there are many varying types of relationships and it’s easy to see any “relationship” as something that has the makings of being one that will end up in a commitment. People who are dating each other part time with one or both parties also seeing other people, (whether openly or secretly), may feel they’re moving toward a commitment.  Even people who are just being used on the side sexually by someone who is married can feel that commitment with this person is in their forecast, while some even take a casual “friends with benefits” situation as something that will lead to something permanent down the road.  The term “Committed Relationship” has a very positive and reassuring ring to it: suggesting security, fidelity, and a long term union with a solid future.  However, just because a committed relationship is predicted in a reading, doesn’t mean that everything that comes with it will only be positive or what one wants.  Often, when receiving a reading, hearing that there will be a commitment is all that is emotionally absorbed by the client, while everything else is discarded. However, in a given reading, the client must hear all dimensions and elements of what is coming through from spirit to see exactly what type of relationship is being predicted and commented on.  If it is going to be a commitment, what kind of union will that be?  Even with marriages, each one has its own special, unique one-of-a-kind dynamic – and that is sometimes great, other times horrible, and/or a mixture of the two.

Karen met a man named Rob on a trip and fell instantly in love with him.  He seemed to feel the same way, as he kept contacting her daily for nine weeks straight, so she decided to see her psychic Serena about the situation.

Serena had a very clear image of this man: he was tall with dark hair and worked as an accountant.  These were all attributes that Karen confirmed about Rob.  Then, much to Karen’s shock and delight, Serena predicted that Rob would try and marry Karen within only a matter of three months.  However, Serena also felt that it was too soon to tie the knot in such a short time and that the marriage would only last about a year or so.  Furthermore, Serena felt that Rob was an alcoholic and an unfaithful man.  Of course, Karen didn’t want to hear any of this – all she allowed herself to hear were the terms: “Committed Relationship” — and “Marriage.”

So she only took want she wanted out the reading and walked out of the consultation as if she was on cloud nine and indeed, married Rob within three months.  Yes, this was a committed relationship, but what kind was it?  Everything the reader predicted came true: Rob cheated on Karen, he was an alcoholic and on top of that, he actually dumped Karen for another woman after about a year of marriage.  If Karen would have listened to what Serena was saying, she could have avoided what turned out to be a terribly costly mess, as the scars she incurred from her marriage to Rob are still with her.

When we want what we want, we lose our perspective – and sure, we could all say that this is just being human, but part of what we’re here to learn in this physical dimension is to master our emotional natures, and not just act on whatever we feel.  Pretending a dime is a million dollars doesn’t make it one, and often, one pays a heavy price for trying to only hear one part of what a reader is saying about a relationship in question. 

Hopefully, we can all learn a great deal from Karen’s story, as the right information was provided to her by Serena, clearly and concisely.  Karen, like so many of us, only took the one part of the reading that suited her emotionally – and discarded the rest.  We must all do our best to respectfully take note and listen to what spirit offers, as it is there to help us make the choices that keep us out of harm’s way, and open the door to our divinely deserved blessings.

Connection

The term “connection” has profound implications – that there is a cosmically binding link between two people that it is meant to be and beyond how things appear at the time… Most clients believe that when they speak of the term “connection” regarding a romantic relationship in a reading, it indicates a union that will someday be binding, lifelong, and absolute. 

It’s easy to believe that the other person we feel connected to will somehow and someday end up feeling the same way toward us and we’ll end up together.  Even though this is typically what a client feels when receiving a reading regarding a particular “connection,” there is no rule of thumb as to the outcome of any situation, regardless of one’s emotional intensity, and it must be looked at one situation at a time.

Sometimes the connection a client feels with another is completely real and they will end up with that person; while at other times, the possibility is there but through choices by either party, the connection either leads to a long term commitment or falls short of a permanent union.  In some instances, the relationship is only partial and cannot go the distance, no matter how powerfully one feels about it; yet shockingly to some clients, the connection they feel is mostly or solely one sided, not based on reciprocal feelings, and is largely or completely based on their own false internal projections.

We let our emotions get the best of us – meaning that just because we feel a connection to someone else, no matter how profound it feels to us, doesn’t necessarily mean that the other person feels the same way. We must step outside of our emotions and allow guidance to come through in a reading to identify the reality of whatever it truly is we’re experiencing.

Jonathan had a reading where he asked his psychic Mary Lou about a younger woman named Kristy.  They went on a few dates, and afterwards, she had cut off all contact with Jonathan for the last six months – but Jonathan believed Kristy was “the one,” and ostensibly wanted to get some insight into the situation.

The psychic felt that Kristy went back to her ex boyfriend and that she was no longer interested in Jonathan and that he should let the situation go in order to meet someone new.  When Jonathan heard this, he reacted quite strongly to Mary Lou and said:  “You mean she doesn’t want me?  I felt such a connection with her from the moment I laid eyes on her and I have never felt that way before.  You’ve got to be wrong.  I know what I felt was real and that we’ll end up together.”

So time went by and Jonathan never heard from Kristy as she refused to answer any of his messages.  After seven long years of trying to contact her every so often to reconnect, Jonathan finally got the answer he needed when Kristy responded to one of his emails with the threat of harassment charges if he ever contacted her again. 

Jonathan then finally conceded that the “connection” he felt may have not been what he so adamantly believed it to be.  Kristy was married with two kids by this time and obviously wasn’t interested in coming back to Jonathan.  Needless to say, it was a humbling experience for Jonathan who took a brief moment where two uneventful dates occurred, and tried to turn it into a profound beginning of a lifelong, eternal connection.  He convinced himself that this “connection” was absolutely from above and meant to be.

Here we see that we should never assume anything about the conclusion of the connection we feel.  Just because we feel it, doesn’t mean that it is reciprocal, or that it will turn out the way we believe with our entire being.  We cannot just lead with our feelings and desires, and assume that our emotions are one and the same as God’s divine destiny.

His reader Mary Lou knew this over six years ago and shared it with Jonathan.  Because of his refusal to listen back then, Jonathan wasted all of those years waiting on a dream that was not going to come true, when instead, he could have listened with an open mind and heart, let go of Kristy, and met the person who is right for him.

Chemistry

“Chemistry” is one of the most seductive and hypnotic terms that comes up in a reading, because the implication is that it is always a fantastic thing.  However, just like the varying levels of quality that can be present in any relationship, chemistry is in and of itself neither always good, or to the opposite extreme, always bad.  It can be either one or the other or a combination of both, and that is determined by the basis from where the chemistry is coming from.

Certain chemistries are only physical – literally.  Remember, we are in a physical body which is built and designed to be sexual, and even though we’re on a spiritual path, we can’t ignore our earthly qualities either.  We see a hot movie star in a movie making love on the screen.  They are great to look at, charismatic, sexy, and we feel chemistry.  But it is not based on the essence of the person, or a real connection we share with them.  It is merely physical and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

Now take to the next level: a woman is driving down the street and sees a construction worker with his shirt off who has ripped abs and bulging tight muscles and sunglasses on.  That woman feels chemistry toward that guy, but is it worth acting on?

We can even go one level higher: a man is at a business meeting and a drop dead gorgeous female coworker enters the room.  She is tall with long shapely legs, gorgeous flowing blond hair and has a perfect body and face to march.  In fact, she looks like a high fashion model.  Her demeanor is confident, breezy and aloof and he feels immediate chemistry like a lightning bolt — and again, it is physical and nothing more.

But in this instance, he could act on this chemistry as getting to know her is potentially within reach, but in reality, he probably shouldn’t as it is only physical plus they work together.  Remember, we shouldn’t take all aspects of the chemistry we feel all that seriously and it is dangerous if and when we try and base something in our lives as important as a real relationship merely on physical chemistry.

Then there are other times where chemistry is such a deep and wondrous thing, as it brings out the very best in us.  There is a physical, spiritual, mental, personality, and energetic match between two people who absolutely bring out the best in each other.  The chemistry that drew the two people together is the initial spark that laid the foundation for a lifelong union.  We see this is really successful marriages where two people are truly in love, blend together, and just cherish each other’s company.  That type of chemistry is enriching and helps us to blossom together and separately as well.

However, all chemistry is not good as we like to believe and sometimes, it reflects on our worst and most self destructive qualities.  In these instances, it is our lower self that feels that chemistry – it is dark, dangerous, and potentially life debilitating.  We of course don’t like to acknowledge such a thing, because there is the strong presumption that “chemistry” is not only necessary for a relationship, but is always a very good thing.  Plus, negative chemistry is quite addictive, all consuming and obsessive.

Think of it this way: We can feel chemistry with cocaine, heroin, alcohol, and violence, but are these things good for us?  Of course they’re not.  It is the same thing with relationships.  Just because we feel more electrified, turned on and drawn to someone then ever before, does not mean that it is to our benefit to get involved with them on any level.  The feeling of chemistry in and of itself must be analyzed further that just the concept of: “I feel drawn to someone, so I’m going for it!”

Lorraine was in a dead end marriage that lacked sexual chemistry and passion, and although she hadn’t ever cheated on her husband, she was terribly frustrated in the union.  One day, she called a new plumber to come out to her house and fix the sink as it was leaking.  When she opened the door, she was immediately frozen and could barely speak.  As she first laid eyes on him, she never felt more attracted to anyone in her entire life.  Lorraine couldn’t help it — it was instantaneous and right there.  She felt chemistry, and literally wanted to make love to him right then and there without even knowing why.

Surprisingly to Lorraine, the plumber, who was ten years younger and attractive in kind of a cocky, bad boy way, starting flirting with her while on the job.  Lorraine felt like a school girl with a crush, but didn’t try and push the issue right then and there as this was new to her.

Because of how hypnotized she was by what she felt, she decided to have a reading about this situation, as she actually thought the plumber could be “the one.”  Her regular psychic Jasmine had predicted that Lorraine would eventually divorce, but wasn’t sure when and how.  Jasmine was startled by what she felt as she kept seeing that the plumber was an ex convict and only out to use Lorraine for her money as she and her husband were quite well to do.

Her reader told her that the chemistry Lorraine felt was dark:  she wanted passion, excitement and danger as that was missing from her marriage, but only wanted someone who was unattainable as she was in no place to manifest a new committed relationship at that time, and on top of that, Lorraine wanted to be punished for her sins – meaning that since she was doing a “bad” thing, she needed to be punished for her actions.  With the plumber, she got all of those things… and of course, Jasmine begged her not to have sex with the plumber.

But Lorraine refused to see any of this and threw caution to the wind in every way imaginable.  She began having a sexual affair with the younger plumber, boldly told her husband about it two months later, filed for divorce and forced her husband out of the residence.  She then moved the plumber into the house and believed that he and she would soon be engaged to be married.  For about six months, Lorraine felt hypnotized and entranced by the wild lustful love making with a much younger man who was commanding and dominant in bed, feeling like she was a new woman. 

However, after a little over seven months, the plumber proved Jasmine right.  He stole Lorraine’s credit cards, cleaned out her bank accounts and took her social security number as well.  And guess what — it wasn’t that hard for him to do.  Because Lorraine believed that they would soon be engaged, she gave him complete access to everything she had.  When she called the police, Lorraine found out the plumber was indeed an ex convict and never gave her his real name as he was using an alias.  So through all of the magical and wonderful “chemistry” she felt so entranced by, Lorraine lost nearly a million dollars.  Devastated and broken hearted, Lorraine not only had to start over emotionally, she was ruined financially as well. 

Her story is so telling as it shows quite graphically that all chemistry is not good.  Again, where is the chemistry coming from?  As stated earlier, the right information came through from spirit for her – she didn’t have to do this as it was a choice, and one that changed her journey irrevocably for the worse. 

Keep in mind that the examples of those who have made life choices that uprooted their lives in a horrible way through misunderstanding common terms in a reading and not listening to what spirit offers is a very helpful and positive thing to take note of.  If we can learn from the choices of others, we’re able to hopefully avoid the pitfalls that happened to those of us who rebuffed the insights that were indeed for their highest good.

Remember, spirit wants to help us and readings can be the muse for divine information to come through to us and for us.  We must first clearly understand the terms that we’re inquiring about and furthermore, it is incumbent upon us to listen to the information we receive with an open mind and heart because when we do so, we are in a position to truly manifest our divine dreams!  In the next blog entry, I will address five new additional terms that are commonplace in readings, yet greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Jim1537 can help provide you with the information you are looking for. If you are interested in having your own private reading with Jim1537, click here.

Goal: To gain a clear understanding of any and all insights that are inquired about or that come up in a psychic consultation.

I am open to understanding the true meaning of the insights that come up in any reading I receive!

If you are interested in custom affirmations to help you acheive your dreams, or in having your own private reading with Jim1537, click here.

In the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, a man discovers a Coca-Cola bottle in the Kalahari Desert (which had merely been dropped by a passing pilot) and promptly has his life completely turned around by this “mystical object.”  In this setting, a Coca-Cola bottle is perceived to have literally come from God – as a “sign.”  This may sound absurd to us who think of a Coca-Cola bottle as nothing more than an inanimate object that contains soda, but is the premise of this comedy really as strange as it initially sounds? 

People have been claiming to have been witnessing “signs” directly from God for all of recorded history with recent examples ranging from a statue of the Virgin Mary weeping bloody tears to Jesus’ face appearing embedded in a piece of toast.  In fact, “signs” are everywhere and for some, they apparently come out of the blue while others ask, look and wait for them.  Whether seemingly by “accident” or deliberately sought out, signs can come to us in a variety of ways from prayers; visions; dreams; affirmations; intuition; a physical manifestation; the tarot; Rune Stones: the I-Ching; a psychic reading; to even what is perceived as a bona-fide “miracle.”

Many of us who have some type of spiritual belief strongly trust in signs and ask to receive them to help provide answers to our current situations and clues as to what the future may hold.  Sometimes, we even expect signs to come to us, while some take it even further and absolutely demand to know (through signs) what’s in store!

However, how truly spiritually valid are the signs we receive and moreover, how necessary are they in our lives?  The Bible says that we should never look to signs for answers or spiritual knowledge, but even evangelical Christians seek out signs, pray for them and believe fervently in their messages.

Of all of the aspects of our spirituality, “signs” is amongst the most deceptive, tricky to figure out and complicated to decipher.  Many times, what people would swear on their children’s lives are direct signs from God are not signs at all and the fervor of one’s belief in a sign doesn’t necessarily make it valid.  We are often quite fooled and duped by what we erroneously believe to be a sign from God when it actually isn’t.

There is indeed a place for signs in our spiritual life, but it is not as simple as to say that all signs are either completely valid omens from God, or complete hocus pocus.  Again, the validation of a sign can never be judged by the emotional reaction and intensity any of us feel when receiving one.  It is the goal of this writing to help sort out the fallacy from the reality of signs and provide the tools, techniques and understanding for you to be able to know the difference.

Looking for the signs we want and believing we’re getting them

I once knew a woman named Kristen whose career involved a great deal of daily driving up and down the highways as she was in sales.  Kristen was very much into signs and had a daily ritual in her pursuit for answers by starting her day with a question.  Then, she believed that the actual answers would reveal themselves through the various license plates on the vehicles that she would see while driving her car on the road.

After Kristen began dating a man in 1995, the majority of her questions that she wanted to be answered by signs through license plates would center on this relationship.  One that she typically asked was, “Is my boyfriend going to marry me and be with me forever?”  One day she saw a license plate that read “2B1720,” which she interpreted as “2B” meaning “to be,” and that “1720” was providing the date of “1-7-2000.”  In her mind, she was convinced that the answer to her question was that it was meant to be for them to be together and that it would happen on or by 1-7-2000.  Another plate she saw said “2BGO” which she interpreted as “to be go,” meaning the relationship was meant to be and would go forward.  Believe it or not, Kristen actually based her relationship with her boyfriend on these license plate “signs.”

In fact, she kept receiving what she firmly believed were signs from God that appeared on license plates, especially because they all seemed to be saying the same thing to her.  Therefore, in her own mind, everything that she wanted would ultimately come to pass as it was just a matter of time.

The year 2000 came and went and by mid 2001 he had not offered her a commitment of any kind as the relationship had not progressed at all.  Even though the writing was clearly on the wall by then, because of her unwillingness to give up, Kristen stayed with this man through the end of 2005 when it was actually he who left her for a younger woman.  For ten long years, she believed she was receiving divine signs about their future together when she wasn’t.

Here we see that not only were the “signs” she believed with all of her heart to be directly from God completely inaccurate, but the fact that she refused to look at this relationship realistically allowed Kristen to stay in it much longer than she would have had she just assessed it for what it was.  He was a man who never promised her anything, was inconsistent, and only saw her when it was convenient for him.

Instead, she let her emotions and ego lead the way using what she falsely misconstrued as signs, which allowed her desires to take her on a ten year ride – one that didn’t end at all the way she had convinced herself it would.  Here we see how Kristen believed in signs, sought them out and falsely allowed her emotions to believe whatever she wanted and one could easily say that the old phrase of “If you’re looking for it, you’ll find it” sums up her story in a nutshell.

Kristen’s story is certainly not the only way signs manifest in our individual journeys and as we explore further, we will look at the tremendously varying relationships and experiences many of us have with signs.  For better or worse, the consequences can range from destroying our lives to saving us from disaster and pointing us in the right direction.

Looking for signs where our emotions affect the answers and the outcome

John was a man who regularly practiced “dictionary divination” by first asking a question, closing his eyes, then flipping through the pages of the dictionary until his finger stopped, at which point he would open his eyes to discover the word he arrived at.  That word was the answer to his question and therefore, his “sign.”

In 2006, his regular question was whether he should sell his house, quit his job and relocate or not.  On certain days, he was emotionally open and neutral regarding selling his house and moving, knowing that if it was supposed to happen, it would and at the right time.  When he practiced his dictionary divination on those days, he would always end up with a word such as “patience,” “wait,” or “timing.”  He took that to mean that he should wait, as it would unfold as it was supposed to.

Then, on other days, he would feel restless and anxious about wanting to sell the house and compelled to move right away without a minute to spare.  When he was in that frame of mind and asked his question and went through the same process of arriving at a word through dictionary divination, John would always come up with a word such as “now,” “immediately,” and “hurry.”

This back and forth see-saw ride went on for about six months and during that time, John became more restless because he didn’t like his job and wanted to turn in his resignation and leave town!  So with each dictionary divination, the words he arrived such as “today,” “go,” and “move” kept reinforcing what his anxious emotions wanted. 

How could this happen?  Was it just some sort of a coincidence?  Of course it wasn’t, as John’s strong feelings actually interjected themselves into the dictionary divination process and legitimately affected the outcome of the words he arrived at because his emotional desires were so strong that they became the driving energetic force of the “signs” he received.

As he kept receiving the same exact type of words each time, (the ones he emotionally desired) he decided that he had the signs he needed and put his house on the market.  After all, he had received the same signs so many times that he felt that it had to be time to go!  It was his destiny! 

But was it really…?  To sell the house, he had to lower the price significantly which didn’t give him hardly enough money to be able to relocate.  When he did finally move, he went to a location where he couldn’t find a house in his price range and had to rent – something he hated doing.  To make matters worse, he couldn’t find a job nearly as good as the one he disliked from before. 

We see that John’s practice of dictionary divination gave him two completely opposite types of words as answers: one when he was calm and relaxed and another when he was anxious and restless.  Two things happened:  first, John received the right signs when he was open and not emotionally charged about his situation; words such as “wait” and “patience.”  He needed to wait this thing out and let it unfold as the right course of action would reveal itself through time down the road, but he didn’t listen.

Secondly, John received completely different “signs” when he was emotionally anxious and restless – words that reflected on those emotions and provided the wrong answers as witnessed by the tremendously negative outcome of his situation – one that was solely based on choices John made based on his belief in the words that instructed him to act right away. 

As we see how John’s emotions were life altering regarding the “answers” he received and acted on, we must always look for signs with an open mind and an unbiased point of view.  The more open we are, emotionally unattached and objective regarding our situations, the more likely that that we’ll receive and listen to the truthful signs offered to us – just like the ones John was given but refused to accept. 

Asking for signs and when arm twisting doesn’t work, the answers are discarded

Tasha had been receiving psychic readings with her personal reader Janet for a ten year period where the consultations she received were almost 100% accurate.  In 1990, Tasha asked her reader about a business opportunity where she would work for two friends who owned a business that entailed her moving to Denver Colorado, the place she had wanted to relocate to for many years.  She was definitely looking for a sign, so she immediately sought counsel as a decision needed to be made right away as her friends were pressuring her to relocate to Denver and work for them.

“What do you think?” Tasha asked her reader Janet.  “This seems to be everything that I’ve ever wanted: to work for friends, leave the area I’m in and live in Denver.”  However, what Janet felt was troublesome and told Tasha, “I do not get a good feeling on this situation.  Don’t make this move for at least a year.  Give yourself a year before making this decision as it will be clear at that time why.”  The most important part of Janet’s insight was to wait for a year, because she felt that in one year, everything Tasha needed to see would be revealed to her factually.

But Tasha didn’t like the answers she received, so she began trying to twist the arm of her reader by saying:  “What could possibly happen in a year that would make it different?  If you don’t know what it is now, how can I not go based on something that isn’t clear yet?  Maybe you’re wrong. You’ve been wrong in the past.”  However, Janet had never been wrong regarding anything of any real substance. 

Tasha even tried to pit her own “intuition” against Janet’s, as a way of being competitive, again to find a way to get what she wanted from any signs that were received.  “My intuition says that this would be a good thing,” Tasha stated.  Of course the psychic didn’t argue with Tasha as after all, it was her decision and her karma, not the reader’s.

So Tasha refused to listen to Janet this time, simply because the reading wasn’t what Tasha wanted to hear.  She asked for guidance and when the divine universe indeed gave it to her, she discarded it.  And of course, she had to make some lofty excuses as to why she wasn’t going to listen: from needing to trust her own inner truth, following her own path to believing and relying on herself. 

But none of us can do it all on our own, which is why we ask for guidance from a hopefully objective source in the first place – in this instance, the psychic who had never steered her wrong.  The answers were there in a positive way to protect Tasha, but she immediately upped and moved to Denver and began working for her two friends anyway.

What’s so telling about this story is the initial prediction of waiting it out for one year, because the business ended up closing in exactly one year, which completely explained the insights the reader received.  Through this one choice, Tasha’s life was irrevocably ruined: She had to file bankruptcy as her career collapsed, she was alone without the support of family and friends, her credit became ruined, she had no money and things didn’t end up working out at all for her in the long run either.

Like Tasha, many of us often disregard the signs we receive.  We look to an objective source to supposedly get truthful insight but then try to manipulate the signs when they don’t conform to what we want and ultimately, toss out life saving information.  But when we know that the source of our questions is objective, reputable, accurate and reliable, we must listen to the signs the divine universe offers us through that source to not end up like Tasha, whose life was permanently damaged by this one life altering choice.  Remember, God is not a trickster – the right information is offered – but we must not try to twist it into what we emotionally want it to be once we’ve received it…

Asking for signs where the answers are adaptable: the I Ching, Rune Stones, and the Tarot

Many of us ask for signs through such ancient systems as the I Ching, Rune Stones, and the Tarot.  These tools certainly do work, however there is a catch.  Their messages are not always literal and open to interpretation; therefore, we must make every attempt to read the signs we receive with an objective, open mind and heart.  It is highly dangerous to distort, twist, and maneuver what we receive through these ancient tools into being what we want.  Here, I would like to offer a little background on what the I Ching, Rune Stones and the Tarot are, what they can do for you and how to best handle these systems when asking for signs and answers:

I Ching:

With some portions dating back to 3000 years ago, the I Ching (pronounced Yee Jing) is one of the most ancient books we know of.  It is also known as The Chinese Book of Change and for centuries, it has been consulted by people of all walks of life from ordinary folks seeking guidance to the great Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.  In fact, the I Ching has even been utilized to answer questions of state and assisted leaders in making decisions regarding warfare throughout the ages.

As people, we would often like to think of our lives as stable and “set,” but the basis of the I Ching is that our life is quite the opposite.  According to the I Ching, our existences are in a constant state of change and we are always confronted by the unexpected.  This profound book of wisdom helps us to make sense and provide order to what often seems like merely at random chaos in our journeys.  Consulting the I Ching does not present us with yes/no black and white statements of a future already written in stone, but a future that is constant flux, much like the changing seasons that we interact with.

In searching for guidance, the best type of question to ask the I Ching is one that is simple, clear and direct as opposed to a question that is complex and multi layered.  Yet don’t expect one dimensional thumbs up or thumbs down responses.  One can compare consulting the I Ching to a conversation with someone who is rather wise and insightful, who might point out our options to us, suggest different pathways we may take, but who will always leave the choices up to us. 

This helps to inspire us and direct us toward a clear mindset regarding the problem or issue at hand.  Therefore, a consultation with the I Ching is more a way of helping to define, clarify and understand our actions and thought processes than a sedative for our various worries about what the future may hold in store.  We are helped by the awareness that we create our own future and that we must coexist peacefully and harmoniously with the world we live in.

Since the guidance we receive from the I Ching is very much open to interpretation, we must make every attempt to use the information received in a spiritually objective way and not an emotionally subjective way.  This is tricky, as almost all of our questions would have at least some emotionally charged element to them, as they tie into our lives and those we interact with on a deep personal level.

Rune Stones:

Runes are an oracle from which one seeks signs, advice, counsel and guidance.  Traditionally used for divination, magick and writing, Runes are actually an ancient Germanic alphabet.  The actual rune stones are stones (or they can be pieces of wood) with runes carved on them for the purpose of divination. As we understand that the word “rune” means mystery, secret or whisper, we begin to get a glimpse of what a rune stone reading entails.  Answers are not offered as absolute facts which indicate a predestined outcome but rather hint toward answers, with you having to figure out the details. 

Since each particular rune stone has esoteric meanings associated with it which are far deeper than mundane definitions or simple phonetic values, the guidance received is multi layered and requires interpretation and insight on your part.  Think of runes as providing a type of road map which points you in a direction, but how you navigate and view the journey is up to you.

The early peoples who used runes attached particular words and phrases to them which signify concepts that are important and relevant.  As each rune has its own specific unique story attached to it which represents the forces of nature and mind, each rune stone carries a secret meaning which is then encoded by you.

Throughout places such as northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Iceland, runes were used from about 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E.  Challenging the historical premise that Columbus discovered America, ancient Runic inscriptions have even been found in North America, supporting claims that it was the Vikings who actually arrived there first.

Regarding questions, runes work best if you detail your current circumstances and then ask a specific question, but the answers may not be crystal clear as rune readings are sometimes vague.  Remember runic divination or “rune casting” is not a way of predicting the future in the sense that one actually sees what’s ahead in a fixed unalterable way.

Instead, runes give one a means of analyzing the path that one is on and a possible outcome as the future is not written in stone because it changes with our thoughts, words and choices.  This is why it is so important for the person casting the runes to be able to interpret what the reading is saying correctly. This not only entails listening to one’s intuition; it also involves not letting one’s ego, emotions and desires get in the way.

The Tarot:

The original purpose of the Tarot was to keep secret records of history, and the origin of the Tarot is ripe with allegory.  At the time of the Tarot’s creation, allegory was culturally prevalent as a form of expression and description to tell the story of the ever present and unfolding human drama and the Tarot easily personified these dynamics through its powerful, colorful and expressive images.

In modern times, the 78 card Tarot deck is quite often used as a spiritual tool for signs, divination, self-help, spiritual and psychic readings and development of intuition as well as internal growth.  Part of its power comes from the visual concepts the Tarot cards themselves provide.

Some believe that the pictures themselves work as a trigger – like a universal Jungian archetype symbol that opens up our own subconscious and super conscious powers to allow universal information to come through to guide us.  Others believe that the pictures can mean absolutely anything and that their respective meanings are personal in nature. The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, which comes with as instructional booklet offers specific meanings for the cards.  Many believe that even if someone merely did a basic Celtic cross card spread and had no apparent psychic ability, they could follow the meanings of the cards as indicated in the included instructional book and receive an accurate reading.

No matter which of these belief systems one subscribes to, it is clear that the Tarot is open to interpretation.  Even if one follows the instructional booklet included with the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, one’s interpretation and intuition generally comes into play.  That’s where things get tricky.  If you’re doing a Tarot reading for yourself, it is presumed that you’re dealing with an emotionally charged issue, therefore, you may not interpret what the cards are saying in on objective way – but rather in a subjective way.

Of course it is easier and probably better to have an expert Tarot reader perform the reading for you.  Make sure this is a person who is ethical, spiritual and not out to manipulate you through playing on your emotions by telling you what you want to hear.  A truly ethical and evolved Tarot reader can help provide the signs and ultimately the answers you’re looking for.

Interestingly, one can read regular playing cards in the same way as the tarot as our modern decks of playing cards are derived from the tarot.  The 56 cards of the minor arcana of the tarot correspond to the 52 cards of the modern deck, with the page and knight of each suit blended into the jack in the modern deck.  As far as suits, pentacles, swords, wands and cups they correspond to diamonds, spades, clubs and hearts.  The joker in the modern deck corresponds to the fool of the major arcana.

As we see with the Tarot, one can literally see anything they want in the cards.  I have known people who completely reject any standard interpretation of the cards and just view them in the way they speak specifically and individually to them.

When we’re looking for signs using tools and systems that are quite adaptable such as The I Ching, Rune Stones and the Tarot, we should never assume that we’re being objective.  If they don’t let surgeons who have been rigidly trained for over a decade operate on family members because of emotional bias, we as people must have the humility to never be presumptive as to our emotional frame of mind when seeking signs.  We work a lifetime at trying to be objective, open, and willing to interpret what is given to us through signs, guidance and direction in a spiritually accurate way – and it is worth the effort as the benefits of our work to become clear minded can allow us to see the truth.

Looking for signs with an open mind and heart through receiving a legitimate psychic reading

We should always make every attempt to look for signs that get us in touch with our higher selves versus signs that validate what we want and we must always work toward seeing the real difference between the two.  It is never a good idea to want a reading only to confirm what we already feel or validate our own “intuition.”  Sure, a reading that confirms what you already feel seems accurate at the time because it’s a mirror of your mindset, but that type of reading is not necessarily helpful or accurate. 

It is important for us to not insist on our own opinions as the reading should offer an objective viewpoint and show us our higher possibilities and not parrot back to us where we’re already at in consciousness.  If one is truly doing his or her job, a capable reader is objective.  By seeking counsel with an open mind and heart through a legitimate psychic reading, we can find the signs, guidance and answers our higher selves are looking for. 

Constance was a woman who had been in an abusive marriage for ten years.  Even though she kept hoping and waiting for her husband to change for the better, the pain and torture she experienced firsthand in her marriage was pushing her to the edge of what she could handle.  At her wit’s end, Constance was truly looking for signs with an open mind and heart, so she sent out a prayer for the universe to connect her with the right reader; one who would help her with accurate and truthful information.

Here, Constance asked the divine universe to give her the information she truly needed — and she got it.  When she received her reading, the psychic clearly picked up the physical abuse, financially deception and cheating of her husband.  In addition, the reader asked Constance if there had been some unusual occurrences, such as her tires being slit and repeated hang up phone calls.  Constance confirmed that both of these things had been happening.  The psychic felt that it was the other woman who was doing this and that she wanted to physically hurt Constance. 

The reader clearly advised her to immediately file for divorce.  The timing felt important to the reader as things were coming to a head one way or another:  either the other woman would assault Constance along with her husband continuing to abuse her, or she would leave the marriage, but it had to be done now in order for Constance to be physically safe.

In this instance, Constance listened to the signs she asked for, promptly filed for divorce and moved on with her life.  Furthermore, the psychic also told her that if she worked on being at peace with herself and rebuilt her life, she would meet her truly right life partner in a year.  Constance also followed through with that aspect of the reading and in a little over a year, she met the man of her dreams and is happily remarried today.

One might think that it would seem obvious that anyone seeking signs, guidance and answers whether through a reading or in daily life would do so with an open mind and heart — although that is not always the case at all.  Our ego, emotions, desires, self deluded thinking and false beliefs allow many of us who are seeking signs, guidance and answers to only be willing to hear what they want to hear.

But there’s often an additional twist which is that some people actually pretend that they are not looking for a sign at all regarding a particular situation, but in reality, their internal desires are sending out a strong request for the sign they want loud and clear – and the universe will tend to grant that request, regardless of whether the request is right or wrong.  Remember, pretending we’re not looking for a sign makes the signs we receive (based on our inner hidden desires) seem that much more truthful and accurate even when they’re not.

Pretending we’re not looking for a sign when we actually are

Sherry was deeply interested in a married man named Fred who she worked with and couldn’t decide whether to enter into a sexual relationship with him or not.  She claimed she wasn’t asking for a sign at all regarding her decision when in actuality, she really was.  Her internal desires strongly sent out the request into the ether for a sign — one that would completely validate her emotional desires – and Sherry got one. 

A few days later, she just “happened” to turn on the television and Oprah was doing a show on married couples who met while one of them was still married to someone else.  As she watched the show, Sherry literally felt that God had directed her to this particular episode.  After all, what was the likelihood that she would just turn on this show, especially when she didn’t watch Oprah that much?  

Tears began flowing down her face as a woman named Jessica confessed how she initially felt so horrible dating a married man, but in the end, everything worked out as he divorced his wife and married Jessica.  Sitting side by side on the show holding hands, they claimed to be completely happy together and in love.  Other stories by various guests told the same story and Sherry believed that these people were speaking directly to her as a divine sign from God regarding her dilemma.

Right then and there, Sherry made her decision based on the “sign” she received and the next day, she entered into the sexual relationship with Fred, fully believing that this was meant to be – no questions asked.  After all, she received her sign.  Sherry believed he was going to fall in love with her, divorce his wife, propose marriage to her and that they would ride off into the sunset just as all of Oprah’s guests supposedly had. 

However, Fred just wanted to use Sherry for sex as she was quite attractive, younger and in great physical shape.  So they embarked on a sexual relationship with not much else involved for about a year until Fred’s wife found out, at which point Fred promptly dumped Sherry in order to save his marriage.  But it gets worse.  Fred’s wife attached a condition to staying married to him, which was that Sherry would have to go – as in being immediately fired from her job.  Fred indeed had the connections to do just that and he did so. 

Within a week of Sherry and Fred’s affair ending, she was fired and immediately escorted out of the building by security guards, never to return.  Devastated, broken hearted and without a job, her life was in shambles:  “How could this happen to me and why did God do this to me?  I wasn’t even looking for a sign and then I got one, a real one, and then this all happened?  There’s no way that this wasn’t meant to be.  Out of the blue, I was directed to this show on Oprah, a show I hardly ever watch and then, I feel like I was played,” Sherry screamed to her friend Sue!

But if we step back for just a moment, we see that Sherry is looking at this situation from a completely biased and self delusional point of view with several aspects of her thinking being off base: First, she claimed she wasn’t looking for a sign, but she actually was.  Second, the sign she received was based on her emotional desires so of course she got what she wanted, but it wasn’t a valid omen from God.  Third, she assumed that just because she didn’t usually watch Oprah and that the show she was “directed” to told her what she wanted to hear, that it had to ne truthful, but it wasn’t.  Fourth, she assumed God somehow duped her, but it was her choices and desires that set this whole thing up.  And that’s not to blame Sherry for what happened to her; it’s just that she made these choices and unfortunately, her life fell apart because of them.

Since desire is such a tremendously powerful force, it is the desires of Sherry and Fred that set up their relationship, not a divine sign.  But even if we’re not consciously or internally looking for a sign as Sherry was, it doesn’t mean that a “sign” we receive is necessarily truthful.

Not looking for signs but still getting the wrong answers

Katie is a young Evangelical Christian woman with a strong religious faith who believes that God sometimes speaks directly to certain people through visions and prophecy.  She had never been in the habit of looking for signs, but has always felt that if God ever wanted to give them to her, it would just happen.

One day, as Katie just got off the phone with her husband in the mid afternoon, she suddenly had a vision.  She couldn’t stop it or help it – she started seeing money falling from the sky, then she saw her husband, two daughters and herself moving to a large, luxurious home.  What followed were the words, “Have faith, move now, money is yours!”  She was taken aback by this vision, as she legitimately wasn’t looking for one.  What did this mean?  Should she actually put the house up for sale?  Was this their destiny; to live in a beautiful, luxurious home?  Where would the money come from?

After not being able to get it out of her mind for a few weeks, she decided that this vision had to be from God – after all, she wasn’t into psychic readings, wasn’t looking for a sign and hadn’t even thought of moving.

So she took a huge help of faith, as she convinced herself that she would not be living up to her faith in God if she didn’t’ adhere to the vision she received, which she now assumed had to be right.  Boldly, she put her house on the market and believed with all of her heart that somehow, the money would be there to move into their new luxury home she received in her vision.

The house did sell, and rather quickly.  This further convinced Katie that everything else would fall into place. However, the house was only a modest home and gave her a little under $70,000.  But she kept believing and took that money, cashed out her savings along with her 401K and went looking for her dream home with a total of $200,000 in her pocket.

When she entered a lovely home that looked just like the one she saw in her vision ( the one where she believed she was receiving divine signs), the price was $500,000.  Of course it was out of her price range, but could she turn back now, as “God must have been guiding her to this house?”  So she plunged in, put a $200,000 down payment on the home which all the money she and her husband had and assumed that the rest of the money would end up being there to pay off the mortgage.

But what happened was quite different then what she received in her initial vision.  The money never came, Katie and her family went into serious debt and ultimately, lost the house after two hard years of debilitating struggle.  Flat broke and with no other options, Katie was in complete despair over the “signs” and “vision” she received.  How could it be wrong? 

Katie ended up blaming herself, as if she must have just not had enough faith to complete God’s vision that was given to her  – therefore, in her mind, it was her fault.  So without much of anything, Katie and her family had to start from scratch after filing for bankruptcy and ended up with horrible credit in the process and back in a house about the size and value of the one they were originally in.

Ultimately, what Katie couldn’t wrap her mind around was the idea that something she felt she received from God was not real and since she wasn’t looking, it would have had to be right as it was “given to her” without her asking.  However, she, like any of us cannot make assumptions about signs.  Just because she wasn’t looking for one, doesn’t mean that what she believed to be direct communication from God actually was, as proven by the disaster her vision led Katie and her family to.

Assuming that this wasn’t a spiritual lesson that she had to go through but rather, a choice, it’s important to comment on some alternative ways Katie could have dealt with her vision.  Certainly, the Buddhist phrase of, “When in doubt, do nothing” applies to Katie’s situation.  There was no real reason that Katie had to put her house on the market, cash out her savings, 401K and purchase a home far beyond her and her husband’s means merely because of a “vision.”

Also, God is not in the business of fooling us.  It wasn’t as if Katie had to move, or that somehow she and her family were in danger where they lived.  We should not take anything we receive as being gospel truth, but instead, question anything we believe is a sign, a vision, or a direct communication from God.  Through that process, we filter out the real signs from the ones that are not divine, but an extension of some part of our inaccurate internal process.  False “signs” can even from many sources that are not of a higher nature, such as a physical medical or mental condition, and/or a negative spirit.  We must look at any signs from all possible angles, to make sure we don’t act on the wrong information as Katie did and pay such a heavy price.

Not looking for signs and getting the right answers

Lorraine was a woman whose intuition was often correct – however, she never believed that she was always right and questioned whatever she felt to always try and do the right thing.  Her ego was not involved into wanting to think she was talking to God, or receiving signs in ways that put her above others.  She maintained humility about whatever intuitively came to her.

One night she had quite a disturbing dream that woke her up from a sound sleep.  She saw her son John, who lived in New York, walking down the street to a business meeting that afternoon where someone was shooting a gun at someone else, but her son happened to be in the crossfire and was shot to death.  She saw this dream as clear as if it were happening right in front of her.

So she called her son to share this information with him.  John confirmed that he was to go to a business meeting that afternoon where he would be walking down the street, as the meeting was only three blocks away from his office.  When his mother told her son of the dream she had, John was startled, but willing to listen.  Even though he wasn’t particularly intuitive or into that type of thing, he was somewhat open-minded, so he decided to reschedule his meeting to the next day.  After all, there was really nothing to lose.

At five o’clock that afternoon he called his mother almost speechless, as there had been a shooting exactly where his mother saw that it would be.  Her dream was obviously a completely accurate sign and indeed saved her son’s life.  Here we see how there are times when signs are legitimately spiritually accurate and can be a life saver!  It is mind boggling to think of the potential difference in the conclusion of this story had John’s mother not received this sign, didn’t give it to him, or if John would have refused to listen.  And it should be humbling and encouraging for us to realize that the divine universe is trying to watch out for our best interests and protect us.  

Bad validation and good validation

We strongly want validation when receiving signs, guidance and answers, but in and of itself, is validation a catch all term that represents the truth?  Clearly, there is bad validation and there is good validation and it is incumbent upon us to draw the best possible clear line between the two.  Just because a sign validates and confirms things, does not mean that it is accurate, right or for our highest good at all.

Many people crave what I refer to as bad validation, because it feeds into their ego, emotions, desires, belief systems and current frame of reference.  Never think that just because you’ve said a prayer for a sign that the next one you receive has to be “the one.”  Don’t try and connect the dots to have a “sign” make sense. If you’re emotionally involved at all, be extra careful.

Good validation reflects the positive path one is on.  If a person is open, humble, unattached and as non subjective as possible regarding the entire process of signs, they will often receive good validation, as Lorraine did regarding her son John. 

But even then, all of us – yes, every one of us can still get fooled.  We must put into place the best possible tools and techniques to differentiate between bad validation and good validation – and that is not easy to do.  No matter how intuitive, enlightened or spiritually aware we are, we can never assume anything about the signs we receive, except that we will do our best to see the truth. 

Perhaps most importantly is to never forget that before acting on a sign, assess any risk factors involved:  The risk for Katie and her family selling their house was life altering, while the risk for John was merely that he would reschedule a meeting for the next day.  If there is high risk involved, it may not be a divine “sign.”  If there’s no emergency involved regarding a sign, wait it out if you’re not sure.  In time, it will become clear and make sense either way. 

As with anything the divine universe gives us, it cuts both ways and must be utilized correctly:  food can keep us healthy or make us overweight; physical beauty can give us self esteem or make us arrogant manipulators through our sexuality; money can provide us with the prosperity that frees us from lack and limitation or turn us into being greedy.  It is the same with signs – they can literally destroy our lives, or offer us the transformationally positive life altering information that protects us from danger, attack and harm, helps guide us and lead us to a life of miraculous dreams.

Jim1537 can help guide you. Whether you are interested in custom affirmations to help you acheive your dreams, or in having your own private reading with Jim1537, he can help. Just click here to begin.

Goal: To not only receive the signs the divine universe offers us, but also to recognize them truthfully for their meaning and what they are.

I am always provided with the divine signs I need to manifest my highest good at all times and in all ways!

Jim1537 can help you interpret the signs in your life. If you are interested in custom affirmations to help you acheive your dreams, or in having your own private reading with Jim1537, click here.

The thing that is appealing about the idea of Roger Fishman’s What I Know,is that it touches on several key points.

First, it teaches us that passing wisdom on to others is an important, meaningful part of our journey. Secondly, it reminds us that wisdom comes to us from many places, whether is is the words of a child or a lifetime of experience. It is a great reminder that the universe provides wisdom from many different sources. We just need to look for it!

For any of us who are on a spiritual path, words and phrases such as destiny, fate, meant to be, karma, karmic agreements, everything happens for a reason, and kismet are commonplace.  However, these  words and phrases mean so many things to so many people, that it would be unlikely to find two people who agree on their spiritual applications and significance in our lives.  Some of us believe that everything in life is meant to be, is predestined and a matter of fate.  Others feel that our own choices account for everything or most of what happens to us and all we experience, while there are even those who feel that this is a vast topic far too complex to be understood at all. 

In reality, all of the above words and phrases are relevant to our journeys in one way or another. It is not just a simple matter that things are merely meant to be, or to the opposite extreme, that everything that happens in life is merely based on our individual choices.  Clarifying and explaining these complex, interweaving and multifaceted dynamics from a spiritual perspective is the goal of this writing.  However, before we can clarify and explain these dynamics, there are several things we need to understand first.

How we handle our Karma makes a difference
Karma always deals with our past actions and what we did before – and the nature of our past actions determines what the karma is.  Of course, positive karma is easy to deal with, as good comes back to us based on our past good deeds.  However, the karmic repercussions of our former negative acts can be overwhelming to us when it does indeed come back.

It is our reaction to karma (especially negative karma) that is so pertinent here, because the way in which we deal with karma coming back to us, determines whether we burn off all the karma or only some of it, or, conversely, create additional negative karma through the way we handle things. This is always based on our free will and what we choose to do.  No matter what our karma is and how and when it comes back to us, our free will is ever present.

Brett was a man who amassed a lot of success in business during a former lifetime but became an arrogant, uncaring and selfish man who only cared about himself.  He didn’t experience the negative repercussions of his actions during that particular lifetime, but it was spiritually set up for him to begin reaping this karma in his current lifetime as “Brett.” 

In his current incarnation, Brett would indeed amass a great deal of success in business again, just like in the former lifetime referenced above, however this time around, he would be stripped of everything he had and lose everything.  In his current incarnation, his karma would come back as a lesson of humility to begin burning off the negative karma he created before.  Since this karma was supposed to happen, of course it did physically occur, but what is important is how Brett would respond to the situation as his free will would determine his choices and ultimately, the conclusion of this situation.

Because of his enormous ego, Brett became furious when his success started to crumble and he began hurting people again by ripping them off financially, engaging in deceptive acts to try and save his business which in turn, created even more negative karma for him than he started this lifetime with.  It is similar to having 50 thousand dollars in credit card debt and, instead of working to pay it off; you add another 50 thousand dollars of debt to your balance.

Even though there was a higher spiritual plan – a lesson of humility and working to burn off some of the negative karma from before, Brett actually compounded the problem.  He still lost everything as he was supposed to, but through his choices he now has more negative karma that will have to be dealt with in this lifetime and/or in the future, through resisting the lesson and acting out of his lower self.

You might ask, “How would a man as arrogant as Brett know what he was supposed to learn and do?”  Clearly, Brett would not “consciously” know what his karma was as he was not that spiritually evolved, but the lords of karma would not set things up to give him more than he could handle.  Clearly, Brett (at his level of awareness) knew the difference between right and wrong in the most basic sense and when his success started falling apart, it’s understandable that he could have tried to preserve his success even though he wouldn’t have been able to do so.  That makes perfect sense. 

But he knew better then to deceive, lie, rip off and steal from others – meaning it wasn’t as if he was given more than he could handle – he just let his ego get in the way as many of us do and behaved in a way that was clearly “wrong,” and therefore created additional negative karma for himself which was all an act of his free will.

Karmic agreements and living up to them
We enter into karmic agreements on the other side before incarnating into a physical lifetime with other souls; much in the way two or more people sign a contract here in the physical world.  There are past occurrences done by one and/or all parties involved (karma) that must be worked out and lessons to be learned here on earth.  Once in the physical world, these agreements require time, work and effort on our part to fulfill – meaning, fulfilling karmic agreements is not an easy thing to do.

Even though we have entered into our karmic agreements on the other side before incarnating and the lords of karma would not let us make such agreements unless we were spiritually ready to fulfill the terms, we may only do so partially or renege on our agreements entirely once we’re in the midst of the situation here on earth because free will always applies. 

You might wonder, “Why would that happen?  If someone agreed to something in their spiritual body, why would they back out on it once they’re on earth?”  The answer is simple.  It is because that from the other side, everything looks easy, as if you’re just going to come into a lifetime and simply breeze through your lessons and do exactly what you’re supposed to do.  However, when you’re immersed in your ego, emotions, defense mechanisms and false sense of sensations we experience in the physical realm, it is much harder to do the “right thing” then when viewing it on the other side without the emotional/ego/illusory perception burdens experienced in our physical bodies.

Think of it like the difference between viewing someone suffering with cancer, versus actually having cancer.  When we look at what will occur in our coming incarnation from the other side, we are viewing what we’ll go through but we’re not “feeling it” right then and there as we’re not yet really going through it, therefore, it seems far easier than it will actually be living through it once on earth.

A man named John viewed his coming journey on the other side and felt there would be no problem fulfilling the terms of a karmic agreement.  John owed another soul a debt of service because of past sins John committed against another soul; therefore, he was apparently ready to work this out.  So he entered into a karmic agreement to father the other soul who agreed to come into a lifetime as John’s disabled son, with the absolute promise by John that he would take care of his son for his entire life – no questions asked.

However, when the son arrived, the father was overwhelmed with feeling responsible, trapped and resentful that his son would never be a completely functioning man and that John would always have to take care of him. Through his human shortcomings, he disconnected from the promise he so valiantly made on the other side to this other soul.  So instead of fulfilling his contractual agreement, John allowed himself to become immersed in his ego and selfish emotions and pulled away from taking care of his son and didn’t do what he had agreed to do.

By John reneging on his contractual agreement, this altered and damaged the life of his son forever, who was never taken care of properly once John backed out on the agreement.  (Remember, John was the person who agreed to do this and once he pulled away, his son experienced great difficulty with ever receiving proper care.)  Here we see something that is quite profound yet happens every day without us even realizing it – that people don’t live up to their karmic agreements, which alters the path and the conclusion of all involved in a terribly negative way.   Therefore, John irrevocably changed the journey of his son and all involved for the worse and John will have to deal with the repercussion of his choices in this lifetime and/or in subsequent lifetimes. 

Now we’re going to talk about the different terms people would use which commonly refer to varying types of “destiny.”

When it’s meant to be
This is perhaps the easiest reality for us to understand, because if something is indeed “meant to be,” it will absolutely happen. As people, we like allness statements, black and white explanations and simple yes/no answers.  That’s because there’s no grey areas for us to have to contemplate or sort out.

From a spiritual perspective, there indeed are certain things that are “meant to be” and hard wired to happen – and therefore, they will occur no matter what we do, think, say, or choose.  Some perfect examples of this are set up before we incarnate into a gi en lifetime, where we always choose our parents (as they also always choose us), along with our physical gender, and our astrological birth chart. 

Parent/child relationships are “meant to be,” as there are always lessons and karma between parents and children that require the opportunity of a physical incarnation with everyone together for the karma and lessons to have the chance to be worked out.  Physical gender provides the basis for much of our karma and lessons as well, while our astrological birth chart is something we also set up before being born on earth as a foundational blueprint of what our life will be, as well as the possibilities of its highest and lowest potentials. 

Three souls had lessons and karma to be worked out together and they spiritually chose to reincarnate as a child, a mother and a father in a family unit.  The father and mother both had musical talent and their son was to be a great musician once born on earth. The mother was conservative, judgmental and needed to learn the lesson of tolerance, which the son was to teach her as he would be a nonconformist child.  Because there are no one way lessons as we all teach each other, the son needed to learn to accept himself, which was to occur through his interactions with his mother.  The father tended to be emotionally distant and needed to learn to become more openhearted, which was to be taught through these family dynamics.  The son agreed to be born as a male and all parties set up their astrological charts to facilitate the karma
and lessons they agreed to experience.

In addition, these three souls had more lessons and karma than what was mentioned above and because of the profound nature of all of these dynamics, we see how their incarnation together as a family unit was “meant to be” and would indeed happen as these three souls entered into the earthly family unit that could be referred to as their “destiny” and “fate.”  It profoundly laid the foundation and set the stage for all parties to experience what they agreed to and learn what they would come together on earth to accomplish and do.

When it’s not meant to be no matter what
I have seen so many people feel that they had to have something – in fact that their entire well being — and even their life depended on getting it – and many believe that because of their intense feelings, it is simply “meant to be” – it must happen.  Why would they have these feelings unless there’s a reason?  And that “reason” always translates into “Getting what I want” in the end.

However, there are certain things in life: whether in love, career, finance, or in any area of our journeys that are not meant to be – no matter want.  It doesn’t matter how much we want it, pray for it, obsess over it or wait it out.  It clearly is not “in the cards” and therefore, it won’t come to be.  There are reasons for this type of experience, but they may not necessarily be the reasons we wanted…

Stacy was a woman who met a man named Darryl in 1999.  She immediately felt a connection with him and convinced herself that he felt the same toward her.  However, Darryl didn’t feel that connection with Stacy at all and was not attracted to her as a woman in any way.  Stacy tried to initiate contact with him after they met at a business meeting in their career and for a short time, Darryl responded casually, as he had no idea that Stacy wanted to have a romantic relationship with him.  After she began flirting, Darryl, a man who was engaged at the time, immediately
ceased all contact with Stacy and never responded to her emails ever again.

But Stacy refused to see the writing on the wall and started convincing herself of things that were not even remotely true – all to justify what her emotions, desires and ego wanted.  After Darryl married his fiancé, Stacy told her girlfriend, “I know he’s attracted to me, but he’s stuck with his wife.  He may not know how to get out.  If I wait, we’ll eventually be together.  My intuition confirms this and in my gut, I just know that he is my soul mate.”

Stacy built her reality on this delusional premise for ten years, all the while thinking that one day, he was going to become her lover – but of course, it never happened.  After ten years of refusing to let go, arguing with her friends who told her she was wrong, she finally hit rock bottom and had to admit that he was never going to be hers after she tried to reinitiate contact and Darryl tersely responded that if she ever contacted him again, he would hire an attorney to deal with the situation.

Regarding the “reasons” for this experience, they are there – but they’re not the reasons Stacy, or most of us for that matter would want.  Stacy was learning the lesson that just because she wanted something and vehemently refused to let go of it, doesn’t mean that she would ever get it.  She was supposed to learn “to not get what she wanted.”  This was a lesson of humility for her and to learn that life was not just a matter of “I want it,” therefore, “I get it.”  Even though she hated this lesson, it showed her to not just lead with her ego, emotions and desires, but to look at any situation more realistically and clearly than before.

Karmic agreements where the “opportunity” is only meant to be
There are times when karmic agreements between parties are designed to provide an “opportunity” – meaning that what is “meant to be” is only the actual opportunity.  Then, what the parties involved do with that opportunity will determine the outcome.  The outcome is not pre-destined, but the opportunity itself is.

John is a man who had serious fear of commitment issues, and Judy is a woman who had been unhappy in her marriage and was legally separated, but not sure whether to divorce her husband or not.  It was predestined that John and Judy would meet in June 2005 as stated in their karmic agreement where the opportunity would be provided for them to decide whether to build a relationship with each other or not. 

If John didn’t get past his fear, or if Judy wasn’t willing to divorce her husband, the relationship opportunity would fail.  However, if John got past his fear of commitment and Judy decided to finally divorce the man she had been dissatisfied with since she was first married twenty years before, John and Judy would have the chance to end up being together.

When the two met, they were both instantly attracted to each other and the situation felt familiar.  Since there was a karmic agreement, there would be a good chance that both John and Judy would feel something compelling when they met.  For Judy, meeting John gave her the extra motivation she needed to complete her divorce as she felt like John was the perfect partner for her.  John was more reluctant, as his fear of commitment was quite deep rooted even though he really felt drawn to Judy.  However, after about a year, John did indeed get past his fears and was willing to date Judy, who by that time was legally divorced.  Ultimately, because both John and Judy got past the issues at hand, they ended up together in a successful, long term relationship that led to marriage.

Lesson driven – the outcome is conditional upon us learning the lesson
This is one of the hardest aspects of our journey and “destiny” to understand, because here we have a situation where we deeply want something, but conversely, we won’t get it till we’ve learned our lesson. We can’t figure out how come our deepest desires don’t seem to ever come true or manifest at all in our lives, as we feel we know what we want but find that it is out of reach no matter how hard we try.  Years or decades of frustration only make matters worse and we find ourselves at our wits end…But the simple truth is that there are situations for all of us where we must learn our lessons to manifest our dreams – it is not optional – what we want cannot and will not happen till we’ve learned what we’ve
spiritually agreed to learn.

Jennifer was a woman who had been divorced twice, with her second marriage being physically abusive.  It was now ten years after her second divorce yet she still hadn’t met anyone suitable to have a new relationship with.  She couldn’t understand what the problem was as she was open to dating, had joined several online matchmaking websites yet nothing came to fruition for a long hard ten years. But Jennifer’s problem is that her situation is lesson driven and not just a matter of going on enough dates till she meets Mr. Right.

First, because of her two failed marriages (especially the second one where she was physically abused), she had shut down within and had erected a defensive, protective, vibrational wall that would not allow anyone in.  This was simply designed as an unconscious survival mechanism to keep herself safe and alive.  Here, she would need to learn the lesson of letting down her wall of protection so that there would spiritually/vibrationally/internally be an open door for someone to be able to walk through.

Second, because of the confusion of being in two marriages that weren’t right for her, Jennifer had no idea what she really wanted and needed in a romantic life partner.  She just kept trying to meet people hoping that it would all just “click” with someone, but of course, it didn’t.  She needed to learn what it was that she really wanted and that would only come through taking a break from dating and learning the lesson of deciding who she is as a woman and what type of man would be the right fit for her.

Third, she felt that the abuse in her second marriage was her fault, which brought her self esteem dramatically down.  By not feeling worthy of being treated well and deserving of love, the divine universe could not bring a loving partner to her because she didn’t feel that she deserved it. Furthermore, at her current consciousness, she wouldn’t actually be attracted to a man who treated her well as she didn’t feel worthy of such treatment — it would feel completely foreign to her.  Here, she needed to learn the lesson that the abuse she went through was not her fault, that she didn’t deserve it and no longer needed to feel bad about herself for all she had been through.

With Jennifer, we see how there are lessons that she needs to learn, not once she meets Mr. Right, but to be able to meet him – meaning that her dreams won’t come true unless and until this journey of enlightenment is completed.  Like Jennifer, all of us have areas of our “destiny” that are lesson driven and in those instances, it isn’t just a matter of continuing to hit our heads against the wall; we must learn what our souls have agreed to take on or learn in order to be able to manifest our dreams.  After all, on a spiritual level we have agreed to these lessons, therefore, they not only must be learned to manifest our dreams but are necessary for our overall spiritual growth.

Choice driven – our choices determines multiple possible outcomes
Many times, the outcome of a situation has multiple possibilities, like a movie plot that can have several endings — and in these instances, it is our choices which solely determine the actual conclusion that will occur.

James was a man who had had a rock solid and honest work ethic.  In his twenties, he made decent money while always living within his means and it was clear that he would be able to continue making decent money by staying on the path he was on.  From a spiritual perspective in this instance, the outcome of his financial situation was not prewritten or predestined and was choice driven – meaning that his choices would determine the outcome.

Around the age of twenty two, James started saving a hundred dollars a month faithfully and he never touched that money.  Then, at the age of thirty, he purchased an apartment building and methodically used the rents he collected to pay off the mortgage on the building, while making a reasonable monthly profit.  Additionally, he invested his money into CD’s and safe IRA’s and just let his money grow.

By the time James was sixty five, the sum total of all of his choices landed him a nest egg worth almost a million dollars.  He was able to retire and do the things he wanted to do, knowing that his financial future was secure where he would not have to worry about what would financially happen to him in old age.

However, if we flip the coin for just a moment, we could imagine a scenario which would have the exact opposite outcome:  James makes a decent living, never saves anything because he isn’t forward thinking, didn’t invest his money and just lived paycheck to paycheck and never bought the apartment building.  When he would turn sixty five, he would have nothing to retire on and be in a difficult position in the work force because of his age, which would have James moving into old age in poverty.

When we see a conclusion, we often falsely believe that whatever happened was the only way it could have really been – after all, it’s right there for our very own two eyes to see — but that is not necessarily true at all – as often, our choices will solely determine the conclusion of the situation at hand. 

Telling the difference between meant to be versus not meant to be
There is a great metaphysical phrase that says, “When nature supports a decision, you know it is the right one.”  When everything seems to flow in a particular direction in our lives, we see exactly where the tide and current is trying to carry and take us.  This is represented by things that happen outside of our control which are separate from and/or in addition to our own personal efforts. 

It must always be kept in mind that what nature supports is often not at all what we want, or only partially what we want, while at other times, it is exactly what we’ve been dreaming of.  It is safe to assume that when, how and what nature supports is for our highest and greatest good (even when it isn’t what we subjectively want).  But more importantly, it is how we handle what nature supports in our journeys (meaning our choices and free will), that helps to shape the ultimate outcome of a situation.

Here is a situation where what nature supported was in addition to the efforts of the person involved: Cindy was an entertainer who wanted to make it big as a singer.  For several years, she tried hard to become successful but nothing much happened for her in her singing career except that she performed local shows for small audiences.  Then, nature began supporting the decision for her success as a singer through bringing opportunities to her which came about in addition to her own efforts.

Cindy hadn’t changed anything; she just continued to do what she had been doing and seemingly out of the blue, an internationally known talent manager “accidentally” saw one of her performances.  This manager liked her voice very much and offered her a management contract.  Through this contract, several other occurrences were set up that led to her success: signing a record deal, then releasing a hit album which was followed by a successful international concert tour.

In addition to her efforts, nature supported her success at several times and in several ways: meeting her manager, a record company signing her, her record becoming a success and her concert tour.  Keep in mind that many people who are equally as talented as Cindy try to manifest a successful singing career but fail.  As there are so many variables of what could have happened to Cindy and her career, from success to abysmal failure, even with a record contract and influential manager that it’s abundantly clear that nature supported the decision for her to be a successful singer.

Just as important was how Cindy handled the situation.  She was centered and grounded regarding her career: she didn’t do drugs, or take herself too seriously and had a great work ethic, therefore, she was able to ride the wonderful tide that was supported in her musical career and reap the tremendous benefits the divine universe afforded here. 

Obviously, her musical career was something that possessed legitimate elements of “something that was supposed to happen,” or else nature wouldn’t have supported it.  Of course, her choices and how she handled it would determine the outcome and she indeed did make the most out of the situation.

On the other hand, events can push us in a particular direction, even if it’s not at all what we want.  That is the case with Julie, a woman who was in a physically abusive marriage which she refused to consider getting out of.  After three years of being battered regularly, nature supported the decision for her to get out of the marriage and divorce her husband.  Seemingly out of nowhere, someone she met offered her a great job making 100 thousand dollars a years and it was a position she was capable of filling which would have required relocating to another state.  The employer would pay for her relocation and since she didn’t have kids, all she would have had to have done was to pack up and leave her husband for this fantastic life changing opportunity.  Here, nature supported the decision separate from any effort by Julie to leave this marriage, as she did nothing to attempt to manifest this possibility.  It was all done by “nature” and for her highest and greatest good.

However, she adamantly refused to leave her marriage, as she believed her husband really loved her and would change for the better, so she refused the job offer and stayed with her husband.

Julie was given the way out, but through her own free will, she refused to walk through the door that was opened for her.  Consequently, the abuse continued which eventually led to Julie having permanent physical injury and ultimately, her husband dumped her for a much younger woman anyway about ten years later.

Julie’s life could have manifested a completely different outcome than the one she chose as nature really did provide the way “out” for her – and it is compelling to note how Julie’s refusal (through her free will) to go with the tide and the flow resulted in her self destruction.  It is a lesson for all of us to always pay attention to where, how, and why nature is leading us, as it is always for our highest and greatest good regardless of how we emotionally feel at the time.

Regarding whether something is meant to be or not meant to be, it is always tricky for us to determine the truth in any situation.  We often interject or replace what we personally want with what is meant to be or not meant to be, especially when we’re emotionally involved.  Our egos get in the way and we distort what the events seem to be saying, all because our egos, emotions, and our personal wants get in the way.  We can even convince ourselves that we’re getting “signs” of what is God’s supreme will.  Of course, we pretend that we’re not being subjective as a smoke screen to camouflage  ow we’re really viewing a situation, which is way of hiding our true subjective motives.

The force of our personal will as a factor
Just because we can make something happen and bring it into physical manifestation through the force of our personal will doesn’t mean that it was meant to be or for our highest good.  We often gauge how we validate what we’ve done simply by the fact of whether we get what we want in the end or not – meaning, if it all goes our way, we find it easy to make it okay no matter how many other people get hurt in the process.

Sue was a woman who lived by the philosophy of “I get what I want.”   In early 2003, she set her sights on having a relationship with a married man she worked with named Rob.  In fact, Rob’s wife Sharon also worked in the same company, so the three of them interacted on a professional level daily.  Sue was jealous and felt competitive with Sharon and was excited by the challenge of going for something out of reach – all with the intention of winning and “flexing her muscle.”

In her mind, Sue had hoped to have the affair with Rob, cause his marriage to fall apart which she then hoped would force Sharon out of the workplace.  In the end, Sue wanted Sharon out of the picture so she could “ride off into the sunset” with Rob.

By mid 2003, Rod foolishly succumbed to the affair mostly because he was bored in his marriage, not thinking that it would be much more than a fun and diversionary fling.  However, Sue set it up for Sharon to find out about the liaison, even though Rob had no idea that Sue would do such a thing.  So when Sharon found out, she was devastated — and in humiliation, she indeed left the company. 

So because of the force of Sue’s personal will, she set into motion an affair between she and Rob – (and yes, he agreed to it which was his choice, but he never would have pursued this had it not been for Sue relentlessly pushing this issue).  After Sharon left the company, Rob and Sharon divorced but Rob and Sue’s affair fell apart by mid 2004.  The reason that Rob and Sue’s relationship didn’t work out in the long run was because neither one of them really ever cared for each other on any real level.  This was a situation that was not “meant to be,” or something that was
supposed to happen – but rather a matter of one person, Sue, forcing her personal will upon others.

Here we see how all encompassing mainstays such as “everything happens for a reason” don’t apply to all aspects of our “destiny.  “As so many people try and put everything that occurs under a simple heading such as “everything that happens is meant to be” we see that is not always true.  There are so many variables as to why, how, if, and when things manifest in our lives.  As we look at these dynamics, the question is inevitably asked:  “How then do I know what my destiny is – what is right – what am I supposed to do?” 

Realize there is no simple answer to such a question as we must always be aware of our thoughts, words, feelings, choices and everything we’re doing, because one simple and repetitive formula will not always apply to every situation that presents itself to us. 

However, there are many tips that will assist us throughout our “destiny”:  We must always realize that the conclusion of all situations won’t be clear as they are unfolding, because if they were, we wouldn’t be able to complete our path, especially when something is karmic in nature.  The process involves our learning and we must walk through the journey to complete what we’ve agreed to and as we’re making the journey, we will not be able to know absolutely everything as it is happening.

But we must believe that what we need to know will always be present.  We just have to have an open mind and not be led only by our own emotional desires.  Sure, there’s a place in life for our emotions, but it cannot be the overwhelming or deciding factor in our spiritual unfoldement.  No matter what, we must always behave in a loving way toward others and ourselves and do our best to not hurt others – never rationalizing and excusing our bad thoughts, choices, words and deeds just because it ties into what we want.  Life is never a simple matter of “I want what I want” — end of issue.

Through walking the divine path, we can fulfill our karmic agreements, burn negative karma, create good karma, build upon what is meant to be while walking away from all that is not meant to be. We can become better people, spiritually evolve, help others which in turn always benefits ourselves, learn to not inappropriately force our own personal will and make the choices that lead to the best conclusions.  Never forget that mastering this multifaceted journey will forever be a great and wondrous work in progress that we are already in the process of completing. 

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