Tag: writing

Have We Lived Before?

YouTube: Have We Lived Before?

I’ve met many people in Unity who believe in past lives. While I don’t remember any of my own, it feels spiritually plausible that we’ve all lived before. If you accept that the soul continues after death, then the idea of pre-existence isn’t a huge stretch. I won’t try to prove whether we’ve lived before, but rather, simply consider the possibility.

The late Dr. Ian Stevenson, a leading researcher on children who recall past lives, shared the story of Maria, from Brazil, whose father drove away her young lover, leading him to suicide. Distraught, Maria lost her will to live, intentionally exposing herself to the cold and dying from tuberculosis. Before her death, she told her friend, Ida, that she would return as her daughter. Months later, Ida gave birth to a girl, Marta, whom she and her teacher husband raised. As Marta began to talk, she recounted numerous details from her previous life, which her father documented and verified.

The credibility of this case is what initially interested Dr. Stevenson. Stevenson, and now Dr. Jim Tucker, have documented thousands of similar cases, making it hard for even skeptics to dismiss reincarnation entirely. In Maria’s case, what fascinates me is that she chose to return as her friend’s daughter, purely out of her own desire.

I suspect this applies to all of us: we’re here because we chose to be. I also believe we don’t fully know what our lives will hold. We set our canoe in the river, unaware of the rapids or calm waters ahead.

Consider the many phases of your own life that have begun and ended. You were “born” into that role and “died” to it. It’s now just a memory, a past phase, a past life. Yet, you remain you. You launched your canoe at one point in the river and landed at another. How many times does this happen in a single lifetime? Often. It seems like a microcosm of the larger picture.

I have no wish to revisit any former period of this life, nor do I feel compelled to explore past lives. What truly inspires me is the power of choice, the knowledge that I’m not driven by a need to be anything other than who I am. It’s all mine to shape as I desire.

New Beginnings

YouTube: New Beginnings

Life unfolds in cycles. If you observe these cycles closely, you will notice there are times when things seem to be falling apart and other times when they are falling into place. We are often confronted with the familiar question: Is the cup half full, or is it half empty?

This question points to an important truth. The answer is not determined by the condition of the cup, but by how you are feeling at the moment you are viewing it. If you are optimistic and full of expectation, the cup appears half full. If you are feeling weak, vulnerable, or worn down by circumstances, the same cup will appear half empty.

Many spiritual teachers have embraced a simple principle: life is consciousness. The condition of the cup does not need to determine how you feel. When you determine how you feel, the condition of the cup often takes care of itself.

Have you noticed how, during a low moment, a single encouraging word—a phrase from a book or a line from scripture—can suddenly inspire a new way of seeing? A cup that looked half empty moments before now appears half full… and filling. Do not be discouraged during emotionally low moments. Refuse to set your course by these brief seasons of diminished vision.

Always remember that in the twinkling of an eye everything can change, simply because you allow yourself to change the way you see.

Each new moment holds the potential for a new beginning. It does not matter how negative you may have felt just moments ago—you can begin again now. Set a new energy in motion. Create a positive, encouraging affirmation and begin speaking it with joy and expectation, for these emotions lay the groundwork for transformation.

Refuse to see yourself as a victim of circumstance or personality. And when you slip back into a half-empty way of thinking, remember that life is dynamic. There is always reason to hold even the smallest glimmer of hope, affirming that the good you desire is already coming forth.

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, choose to see it not merely as half full, but as brimming with possibilities—many of them still unimagined.