Last week, I talked about “moving on” when a relationship ends. At the same time, on a spiritual level, I don’t believe any relationship truly ends. I am going out on a limb here, but from what I understand from all the books and teachers out there about life-after-death, reincarnation, and near-death experiences, all our relationships are actually sacred. A relationship may end in this lifetime, but only because that is what is meant to happen. I am not talking about predestination here, but simply about planning.
We all know the phrase, “I saw my life flash before my eyes.” We hear it in regards to someone who has experienced a dangerous situation where his or her life was threatened. Several people who have claimed to have near-death experiences explain that what this really means is that when we die, we get to review our lives to see what we did or did not learn. In other words, our lives were planned out before we came, and after life ends, we get to analyze our lives to see how well we did in terms of what we intended to do.
Stay with me here. You may not believe in life after death, or reincarnation or any of these things, but just consider for a minute what it would mean if this belief were true.
Is it possible that our lives and the roles we play are no different than being in a giant play with each of us as an actor following a script, or perhaps more accurately ad-libbing our speeches based on some basic parameters we’ve set before we entered these lives?
Spiritual teachers suggest that we make contracts with one another before this life. We agree to be mother, brother, friend, spouse, enemy to someone. We believe that by doing so, we will learn more in these experiences. Consider the less desirable relation roles, such as an enemy, or at least, a difficult sibling, or a friend who rejects us. Some spiritual teachers have surmised that the people who hurt us in this life are the ones who love us the most because they are willing to sacrifice themselves in that way to make us learn and become stronger.
Rewriting the Script is not only about changing our mindsets; it’s about understanding those mindsets and why certain roles, people, experiences come into our lives.
Perhaps we have a falling out with a loved one, a drag down fight with that person and we never speak to her again.
When this life has ended and we meet that person on the other side, what’s the chance that we might pat each other on the back and have a conversation that reads something like:
“How did I do? Was I mean enough to you?”
“You were wonderful. You’re breaking up with me really made me reprioritize my life. All the good that followed I can attribute to the mean words you said when you dumped me.”
“That’s great. I’m glad I helped so much.”
“You did. You played the part great. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was my pleasure. I love you and I wanted to help you in the best way possible, no matter how difficult it might have been for you during your life.”
Could such conversations happen in the next life after death? No one truly knows, but it’s nice to consider the possibility. After all, how often do we find that the worst moments in our lives led us to the best results?
Irene
Watson, MA, is author of The Sitting Swing: Finding
Wisdom to Know the Difference, and co-editor
of The Story that Must Be
Told: True Tales of Transformation,
and Authors Access: 30 Success
Secrets for Authors and Publishers.
She is a workshop leader,
managing editor of Reader Views,
and president of a non-profit Higher Power Foundation.
Irene lives next to Barton Creek in Austin, TX, with her husband Robert.
Comments