‘It was meant to be.’ That is a statement that I have heard hundreds of times. But are things really meant to be? How much influence does free will have? There are so many books nowadays showing us how we can create our own personal reality, but I have always felt that sometimes stuff just happens. The following is part of my personal search for understanding of the forces of destiny and free will.
Out of time
Imagine a drop of paint was falling onto a canvas, but on the way down it hits the tip of a brush and breaks into two drops. They both land on the canvas at the same time, a few inches apart. Now for this metaphor the canvas represents your life journey from birth to death and the two drops represent you and a goal.
As time passes, you travel across the canvas to reach your goal. When you get there, you see the other drop for the first time. To you, it didn’t exist until you arrived at that spot and ‘created’ it. But looking down from above, ‘out of time’, both of you landed on the canvas at the same ‘time’. Remember, time doesn’t exist for your soul.
Because you wanted to achieve that goal, the law of attraction drew you together through time and space. From your perspective, thoughts formed in your mind about the goal and then you attracted it. From another perspective, the goal attracted you, just as you could say that a marriage break-up caused an affair that led to it. It’s like a whirlpool up ahead on a river. It gently pulls you forward.
From out of time, from your soul’s perspective, neither is true. Each causes the other. Each is necessary for the existence of the other.
The point of understanding life like this is to step out of time. That’s where your soul is. And that’s where you’re heading. We all are.
Stepping out of time also moves you into a space of trust. It gets rid of the undercurrent of fear that most people live with and the feeling of separation. When you are out of time, you know that you are connected to everyone and everything. You’re all part of the same ocean.
Normally we spend our lives seeking to create, create and create, mostly from a feeling of lack – ‘I’m not there yet’ or ‘I don’t have enough’ or ‘I need such and such a thing to be fulfilled’. The law of attraction is a wonderful tool that helps us to attract our dreams and to realize the power we have to create our own life. But in and of itself it does not bring fulfilment.
Everything is perfect
When you are out of time, though, there is no one and nothing that is not part of you. So you are connected to all the things that you dream of. At this level you know that if you imagine something, it will come to you, and if it doesn’t then something even better will. Your inner wisdom will always guide you to what is ultimately best for your spiritual development.
From out of time the point isn’t what you do, it’s who you are as you do it. It’s who or what you are being right now that counts. Being out of time focuses you on the present moment. You stop ruminating about the past or worrying about the future.
A lot of people feel caught in the dilemma that they can either attract what they want or follow a spiritual path. When attracting, they put spiritual thoughts aside, and when immersed on the spiritual path, they reject all past hopes and dreams. But when you step out of time and align with your soul, you are inspired with spiritual thoughts and actions – forgiveness, compassion, generosity, kindness and love. And more often than not you also follow your dreams.
You still create your reality with the law of attraction. It’s impossible not to. But you realize that everything that’s happening right now is perfect, both for your growth and for the growth of everyone else. This means that what you perceive to be good things and bad things are all perfectly pitched at the right level for people to learn forgiveness, compassion and so on. It’s all happening to take all of us to the next level of our spiritual evolution.
From Destiny vs Free Will, © 2007 by David Hamilton, published by Hay House.