#46 Rear View Mirror

I tore November off of my large desk calendar the other day which revealed December of 2021. All of a sudden, I was struck with a feeling of ‘where did the year go?’ Then automatically, like driving a car and taking a glance into the rear-view mirror, I had to reflect back for another glance at the previous 11 months. All those minutes that turned into hours that turned into days and on to weeks which led to tearing off another month from my calendar.

I had to ask myself, ‘how did I do?’ My first thought was wondering how productive I’ve been. I suppose that may sound like a silly concern coming from a retiree of 4 years, but it’s important to me every day that I contribute something to someone in some fashion before I lay down to sleep each night. The way I figure it is that if you awake in the morning with breath and a beating heart it’s your responsibility to contribute to the collective in a positive way. It needn’t be monumental, because a simple smile or a kind word to a random person can do more that we’ll ever know.

Have I been kind and loving to those that love me? We so often forget about those that are the closest to us. We tend to take them for granted. Did I acknowledge my wife and tell her I love her every day? Was there enough quality time to share together? If not, was I aware enough to work on that? How about my grown children and my grandchildren? Did we touch bases enough? My siblings, was there meaningful contact? How about my small circle of friends? Did I see or talk to them enough?

While I’m at it, did I uphold my values over the last 11 months? Was I kind and considerate? Did I show compassion if and when it may have been needed? And most importantly, was I grateful every day for the multitude of blessings that have been bestowed on me? That list alone is endless.

Now that may seem like a long time to glance into your rear-view mirror, and if you were actually driving your car, you may have a problem. However, your “car” is in this case your life and yes, it is always moving forward, but with that forward motion we leave a trail. That trail is littered with other beings, all important and significant components to your journey. This includes those that pop in even for a short time that leave a disruptive or negative mark on us.

This leads me to the real point of this post. Aside from an awareness of being in a state of gratitude more often, it’s your relationship to yourself and others. You see one of the fundamental reasons that you’re even here in this life is to learn first of all who you really are as a spiritual being having a human experience and to come into full expression of the best version of yourself.

For all that to happen is a process of evolution of your soul which is the very essence of you that is directly apart of God the Absolute, our Creator. We are all part of what is known as a soul group. Literally hundreds of entities who all vibrate at a particular frequency based on their learning and evolution. It is from this group that we choose all the characters we need in each of our incarnations that agree to “play” specific parts that will provide us with the necessary lessons and experiences that we need to expand in some form from lifetime to lifetime. This starts with the parents we choose as portals into this physical life to our siblings, extended family members, co-workers, spouses, friends and even what we perceive as unwelcome acquaintances. Everyone has a purpose, good, bad, or indifferent. We are in agreement with these entities prior to our birth in physical because we all have something to learn and to grow from. Unfortunately, we don’t remember this after coming into physical form, but it is something that when the time is right, we’ll understand as Truth.

Now if you’re at a place on your journey that would allow you to at least accept this concept as a possibility even with a bit of skepticism, you are already growing toward higher awareness. If none of it resonates with you now, no worries. When it’s your time, you’ll know it and begin your exploration. In either case the lesson is still wholesome. Every time from now on when you do look in the rear-view mirror of your car, to see what’s behind you, may you be reminded that it is also where you came from on so many levels. And I might add that wherever you find yourself now is a direct result of the choices you’ve made and how you’ve responded or reacted to the experiences that you’ve called forth. By owning it all, without blame or guilt, you’ve expanded your awareness and heightened your consciousness. Here you will find a peace that sustains the trials of the outside world. Your current life experience is your lesson. Learn it well as you proceed forward from the rear-view mirror.