Together, We Light the Way

Self Imprisonment

I have been upset about something happening in my life. The details are not important because I really do see they are just symbolic of all the little dramas that I participate in. One drama is truly no different from the next one except in form. Sometimes, a drama comes along and I watch it for a few minutes, give it to Holy Spirit and go on as if nothing had happened which is exactly true; nothing happened. But sometimes, like now, I hold onto the drama and suffer awhile. After it is over and I have finally released it, I wonder why I did that. But while it is going on, I can’t remember how to get free of it, or seem unable to make that decision to do so. This used to be frightening to me because I thought it meant that somehow, maybe I really could not let go. If it was up to me and yet I was the one resisting, I was doomed. Circular ego thinking would keep me trapped longer. But over time, after watching this happen many times, I now understand that eventually I will come around to sane thinking because I can only stand so much pain.

I was talking to the Holy Spirit about this particular drama this morning and asking Him why I could not get lose from this, and what I needed to do. In my mind I saw myself standing behind bars, clutching them in a white knuckled grip, longing to be on the other side. The Holy Spirit told me to look to the right, and I saw the bars ended within a few feet. He told me to look to the left, and again the bars ended. They were connected to nothing above or below. The only way they remained upright was that I was holding them in place. The reason I was holding on so tightly was to keep the bars in place. As long as I looked straight ahead at my drama, and did not glance in any other direction, I was able to keep the illusion of being a victim in place.

I asked the Holy Spirit why I do this. He reminded me that just this morning He had guided me to read something that He had given Regina. It said:

You may ask why you would choose the pain of resistance when you could experience peace. The answer is simple and one I am sure you have not overlooked. You choose resistance because you choose not to know fully that which you are. Resistance serves your choice to know yourself not as you are.

Even now, I seem reluctant to let the bars go, and the Holy Spirit gave me a thought that I have invested a lot of time in this victim stance. I have gotten pretty comfortable in my suffering. But I remain both prisoner and jailer so it is up to me to make a new choice.

As I sat in silence listening to the Voice for God, I received another reminder; I am the ruler of my kingdom, I created this situation and it is good. It has brought me right to this moment that shows me what it is like to experience imprisonment, and it allows me to see that as easily as I did that, I can experience freedom. Both are in the kingdom of my mind. Which do I choose? I am the maker of all that I experience.

Acceptance of all that is, just as it is, allows all the resistance to melt away. I feel the knot in my stomach loosen; I feel the muscles in my jaw unclench. I no longer look at my creation (my drama) as something bad that I need to fight my way out of. It is perfect and brings me the gift of release. How can I release the energy of fear if I do not know I hold it, or why would I want to if I do not realize how painful it is? By experiencing it in a way that I can see and feel I recognize it as something that I do not want to choose again. And if I forget this lesson, I will set up another one to remind myself of what I no longer want. I could never be the victim of the world I see, but to know this is true, I must be willing to take full responsibility for everything that is happening in my life. And just on the other side of this acceptance is freedom.

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