To summarize where we left off, I wrote about how the image of the spiral gave me a whole new perspective on where I found myself in my life and a perspective on the past. A sense of relief that there was a purpose to why I felt drawn back to a spiritual tradition that often time left me feeling frustrated and confused. The image of the spiral shows me that there is no such thing as moving backwards, you can only move along the spiral in cyclical motion.
A spiral is circular but the circles are cyclical in nature. In a spiral you never repeat a circle, you simply wind up at the same point but in a new circle that is connected to all the others. The cycles continue to turn. They don't ever disconnect form each other. The spiral continues to move in circular motion.
When life is like a spiral, what may seem like a repeat of a past mistake is really a new cycle, a new opportunity. In this new cycle, you bring with you all the experiences and lessons of the previous cycles. All that wisdom is available to you if you choose to use it. Let me explain it in this way, anytime we come across what we may perceive as a repeat of a past mistake, it is a new opportunity to experience that event in a new way. We can choose to do what we did last time or we can choose to do something new, something different. We always have a choice.
In our humanness we often perceive things in a more linear way. We forget that there is a much bigger picture that we fit into. The spiral teaches us that there is something much deeper and larger at work. We are in constant motion, we move around the spiral that is our life. The events that seemingly repeat are the opportunity to put into practice all that we learn along the way. We can let go of the perception of the past, the perception of making mistakes and embrace the ability to choose how we experience the current cycle we find ourselves in. We can do this because we know that no matter what happens we will always have the opportunity to do things differently at another point along the spiral.
So in this cycle where I find myself drawn back to a place I thought I left behind. I realize that I never really left it behind. I brought the wisdom from the previous cycles with me that I can now use however I choose, I can do that experience the same way I did before, if that is my choice. There is no shame in going through an experience over and over if we consciously choose to. For we never really repeat the experience in the same way even though that may be our perception. However, I can also choose to form a new experience using the lessons from the past, knowing that the cycle of the spiral will bring me back to this point in the future providing yet another opportunity to create my life.
So the next time you feel like you are repeating a past experience, pause for a moment and call up the image of the spiral. What are you choosing? What do you feel called to do? Whether to "repeat" the experience or go through it in a different way is not so much the issue, only do so consciously, with awareness. Knowing that whatever your choice, you will have the opportunity again in another cycle on the wheel.
Namaste
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