I recently received this email:

If life is a neutral energy how and why do all of the bad things happen in life ? I understand about painting my own story, however, if I were attacked by a stranger, where does this come from?

I saw it as a great opportunity to explore what happens when we see events in life as either good or bad.

Good and bad are relative

To most people violence, car bombs and terrorism are ‘bad’ things. While world peace is considered a good thing, a desired outcome. When we think in terms of good and bad we limit ourselves.

I still remember the day I realized world peace would be living hell for people that believed in violence. I took me a while to fully embrace that idea. Am I saying world peace is a bad thing and violence is a good thing, NO, not at all.

In reality peace is an inside job. All of our emotions are generated by the story we tell ourselves about life, not the event itself.

If our story is full of judgment we will create more events to judge. The best way to have peace is to let go of any thoughts that create anything unlike peace. Having inner peace is all you need to experience peace in your world.

It is ALL just energy

Death is a wonderful example. We don’t die the energy that gives life to our body just transforms. Energy can neither be created or destroyed. Energy just keeps changing forms.

After my mom died she often came to me in my dreams. She was alive to me in those dreams. At the time I felt cheated because when I woke up I had to remember she was dead. Now I enjoy those visits. We may seemingly die from the perspective our body but from the perspective of our spirit we are returning to our true nature.

Are you BAD

One day my mom and I were walking down the street in NYC. A group of teenage boys were approaching us. I sensed we might not enjoy the interaction they had planned for us.

I did my best street kid strut, got right up in the leaders face and asked him if he was BAD. I’m sure I looked a bit crazed when I did it.

His face was priceless as he and his friends took off running. Guess they decided dealing with a mean looking, crazy chick wasn’t a good idea.

My mom asked me what I thought I was doing. I just shrugged and we continued peacefully on our way. Had I just avoided a ‘bad thing’ or merely created a different outcome?

What paradigm?

If we view life through the paradigm of right and wrong and good and evil we can certainly come to the conclusion that there are bad things happening to good people. But what if we choose to see life through a different set of filters?

Love and fear, good and evil are just energy states. Love expands while fear contracts. I see all events in life as an opportunity to see the result of our choices.

I could have had the awareness that the group of boys were going to create an experience for my mom and I that was negative and done nothing. I have no way of really knowing what would have happened if I hadn’t acted but in that moment I practiced making a choice based on my intuition.

Every time we decide something is bad or wrong or evil we discount our ability to use our discernment to make a choice.

Life really is about choices and outcomes. If you want to fit through a small door, pulling in your energy and making yourself small, is a great idea. Or if you want to dissuade some boys, making your energy big and even a bit crazy, works better.

So do bad things happen to good people? Things happen and it is up to us what we do with them. I’ve learned to pay attention to my inner voice, intuition, spirit whatever you want to call it. I like  the results when I do.

On the other hand when I make my choices based on fear based, limiting beliefs the results I get are seldom pleasing.

So simply put, “What do you want to create more of?”

If you divide the world up into good and evil, right and wrong you limit your ability to choose. You create based on your thoughts. The more you see the perfection in everything and everyone the more expansive your life becomes.

Embrace all of life and watch your life transform!

As always I love to read your thoughts in the comment section below!!

With love and aloha and still practicing,
Susan

Want help shifting your perspective in life? I have a few spaces available for my Loving Life Sessions!

I look forward to hearing from you!