Youstream Questions

The soul lays out the life path and lays out the challenges and major experiences that you will experience on that life path. How you choose to interact with those challenges and experiences is up to the free will of the physical personality.

The free will of the physical personality can control how you approach it—whether rapidly or slowly. The expansiveness of the experience—in how many expressions of your passion do you interact with or express—the number of people you interact with on their life path—how you choose to affect them or be affected—all these things are in the domain of the free will of the physical mind.

What has been predetermined is what the soul—with its free will—has determined are the challenges and experience that the soul has determined will help it learn and grow in the way that will add to the expansion of creation.

So science is correct in one sense—that an aspect of that is predetermined—but it’s predetermined by the soul, not by materialism.

It is not that they are quote unquote “left behind.” It is simply that their life path may be one where they have chosen to navigate in a different direction through a different series of parallel versions of Earth.

So no one is left behind. We understand what you mean by that terminology.

But all souls are eternal and infinite—and make the determination for themselves as to what lessons they will choose to learn and when.

So no one is ultimately left behind—but the soul can determine a different pace from someone else’s life path. And it may appear as if they are left behind because they haven’t necessarily caught up to the experiences of a different soul—but that doesn’t mean that they won’t at some point.

But they have laid out what—for them—is the correct timing for these things based on the lessons that they have chosen to learn.

In a sense, all the principles are well known—it’s just that they are couched in different terminology due to the understanding or the languages of the time and the interpretations that humans may have had at those different times in history.

So the idea of—say—acting on your passion has been described in many different ways: like living your dreams, following your bliss, living your truth, being your true self, “know thyself” is part and parcel of examining your belief systems.

Letting go of the ones that don’t work for you, facing your fears, facing your inner demons—all these are different ways of saying different aspects of the formula.

It’s simply that now—in your modern vernacular, your modern time—we have brought them all together in a way that forms a clearer instruction manual for the understanding and the terminology that is relevant for your 21st century.

Not exactly. Because every time that you incarnate, you are a completely different life path experience.

So if there is something that might relate to the idea of something that may have happened back in history in your family lineage—it’s not because of what happened in the past.

It’s only because your soul—in its present life path—has determined that there is something about that that can serve as a lesson for the things that the soul wishes to learn in the present life.

So, it’s not a direct connection—although the soul can certainly choose from being inspired by different things that may have happened in other incarnations or to other members of your soul family—and utilize those inspirations in its present incarnation—but there’s no direct connection.

You are controlling everything that you perceive—in the way that you perceive it. Because the way you perceive it is perceived because of the choices you are making to buy into specific belief systems that color and filter the way you perceive everything you experience in your physical reality—including your versions of other people.

You may not be controlling their choices—but you are controlling the way you perceive the choices that they are independently making—because of what’s necessary for your life lessons, what’s necessary in your belief systems to perceive in that way.

So you do control everything—including the belief that you don’t control everything—you’re controlling that.

A mistake can be a lesson if you approach it in a positive way. Yes. That doesn’t mean you’re not capable of choosing to act negatively.

It’s just that if you really are positively oriented, it’s simply not a relevant choice to act in a negative way—unless that negative mechanism has a positive intention and purpose.

Again, we use the analogy that you have used a negative mechanism—so to speak—to focus your consciousness down into the experience of physical reality—but for learning lessons, which is a positive thing.

So you can use negative mechanisms in a positive way—but the idea is that that will always be the case. It’s about how you use things and what the ultimate intention is for why those things are chosen.

So, in a sense, the answer to your question is yes—but also you have to take it on a case-by-case basis for how you are using things—and are those things and the choices you’re making truly in alignment with the idea of being a positive being and being of service to others—in being your true self and standing in your truth as a living example to others of what they can also choose.

This is a type of procrastination technique that comes from holding on to some negative belief about the self that makes it seem incapable of moving forward—and again has to do with connecting to the fear of what will happen if you do move forward.

So, it’s a hesitation mechanism that needs to be explored to find out what the belief is that would make one procrastinate by flooding oneself with all sorts of thought patterns that don’t necessarily align with your preferred vibration.

This is still the result of some belief within you that something might go wrong in even worse ways if you actually allowed yourself to move forward.

So, it is putting on the brakes. It is holding back for a reason. You need to find the reason—and that reason is usually that the alternative—in some way, shape or form—is being defined by the negative belief and the story the negative belief is telling you as something that will happen even worse if you don’t just stay where you are.

You have a level of awareness when you are non-physical. It’s not exactly thinking in the same way that you think as a physical being—because obviously it does not involve neurological pathways of the brain.

But the idea is that your consciousness has awareness—to some degree—from the soul’s perspective in non-physical reality.

It can feel similar to the way that you are used to thinking in physical terms—but it actually will be sensed when you are in non-physical reality in a different way.

You will simply know what you need to know when you need to know it. And it isn’t so much the experience of the process that you relate to thinking—as it is simply being aware of information more directly.

Well the fundamental purpose is so that you can experience a process—so that you can experience the process of creation, the process of change—the result of the idea of making a choice and seeing how the mechanism plays out and unwinds in physical reality over space and time.

But people can get caught up in that. They can have negative beliefs about that that force them to have more of that process than may be necessary.

This is why we originally gave you the threshold of believability test—so you can reduce the process that goes along with the idea of overthinking—and reduce it enough so that you simply go through whatever process is truly relevant and necessary for you to discover the information that you need—rather than overcomplicating it.

It’s not even so much a matter of stopping the thoughts. It’s a matter of aligning the thoughts in a very specific way with the true vibration of your soul—so that it doesn’t feel like you’re thinking in a physical way.

This is what we were just describing. It’s more about the idea of going into a state of being where you simply know what you need to know in that moment.

And when you align the way you think with the way your soul perceives information—then it doesn’t feel like thinking—it feels so effortless that in a sense what you’re calling the chattering does stop.

It doesn’t mean that you’re not thinking at all. It means that your thoughts are aligned vibrationally with the way your soul perceives things—so that thinking feels effortless and almost invisible.

One trick that can be used is to incorporate any outside sounds—any outside stimulus—or what you might have called a distraction—or a thought intruding upon you—into using your creative imagination—incorporating it into the meditation exercise.

That can start the idea of everything being used—that is coming into your reality—as some kind of a stimulus or apparent interruption—and learning to use it in a way that will actually create the flow ultimately that we’re talking about.

So it’s not about shutting things out. It’s about including everything in—so it finds its place within the meditation—and then it can start aligning and become almost invisible—because it’s creating a kind of a flow that is more effortless.

Many people struggle because they try to shut everything out instead of finding imaginative and creative and inspirational ways of actually incorporating it into the meditative flow.

And in a sense that is creating a state of allowance—because you’re allowing everything that’s happening to be part of what you’re experiencing—as opposed to trying to assume that it’s not supposed to be there and now you have to struggle with that.

Yes. Exactly. So you don’t set up the challenge by accepting everything as part of the challenge.

Well, there are different types of fear—or different levels of it—or different reasons for it.

Obviously you have what is called a physical survival mechanism—so that you can feel a little bit of fear if you step too close to the edge of a cliff, let us say—so it can keep you safe in that sense by not doing things that would get you killed.

But that’s different than the idea of a fear that is connected to ideologies or beliefs.

So the idea is that fear—in that context—can be considered a friend or a guide or some kind of a warning system that you are filtering and flowing your energy through a belief that’s out of alignment with who you prefer to be.

And using fear that way—on that level—that kind of fear—then can allow you to use it as a constructive tool to let you know when you are flowing your energy through a belief that is out of alignment with who you are—to put you in touch with it—to make you aware of the fact that you’re doing that.

So you can investigate yourself—find out what that belief is that you are filtering your energy through—and realize that it doesn’t serve you to hold on to it.

So you can flow your energy through a belief that is more in alignment with your soul—with your core vibration.

So there are different types of fear that can be used in different ways for different purposes.

One is more physically grounded and practical in keeping you physically safe—and the other has more to do with your belief systems—acting as a guide and a system to warn you when you are out of alignment with who you prefer to be.

Well, that is what we were talking about in terms of the things that are inherent in your physiology that can pick up and sense certain vibrations that would be fundamentally incompatible with your physical survival.

So yes—you can call that a kind of fear—but it’s more of a warning or sensing system that is extremely sensitized to vibrations that can recognize probability paths that wouldn’t necessarily be conducive to thriving in physical reality.

It is a distillation of how things already work—simplified and free of all of the extraneous information that humans have piled on top of this concept.

It is the spare skeletal structure instruction manual for how you’re already creating your physical reality experience.

So it is simply given to you as the formula—to allow you to strip away all the extraneous information that can get in your way of utilizing it in a more conscious and aware way that will serve you in a positive sense.

Well, yes. Again—the soul lays out all the challenges. You can approach them—to some degree—with neutrality if that helps you at first.

But generally—if you understand that challenges are for the purpose of learning lessons and your soul’s growth—and you regard that as an exciting adventure and an exciting endeavor—then the neutrality that you may have begun with can actually turn into a joyful, exciting, and thrilling experience.

They are permission slips—trigger mechanisms—to allow you to give yourself permission to utilize your senses to stretch out, reach out—thinking that the cards are doing it for you.

But it’s an excuse aligned with your belief system that makes it seem easier for you to get in touch with your own abilities and expand your own abilities—using the cards as a reason to do so.

So this is why we call these things permission slips—because you use them to give yourself permission to be more of who you are.

It’s not necessarily limiting if you use it in an appropriate and positive way—in service to others and yourself—to learn to grow.

But ultimately what you learn is that you don’t need those permission slips. You don’t need the symbol. You ultimately gain enough practice using those devices so that you can simply tap into the things you need to tap into—without necessarily using those props, shall we say?

Well, some of this has to do with a lack of what your people refer to as critical thinking.

This is a lost art among many cultures on your planet now—due to a variety of manipulations by others wishing to keep people ignorant and uneducated—so that they can get away with certain ideas and schemes and control issues that they have about wanting to run things and control things.

And so they have created different kinds of scenarios that deprive many people in your culture of the ability to look at situations in a way where they would be able to have the discernment and the ability to tell what is what—and what is true from what is false.

And when we talk about the idea on this level—we’re simply talking about the practicality of being able to see physical reality and understand people’s motivations for what they actually are.

That would be the first step in regaining the idea of critical thinking—and the ability to discern what you are calling truth from falseness—is look to the motivations.

Look at the character motivations of why people say what they say, do what they do, choose what they choose—and you will start to develop a better understanding of how to tell falsehood from truth. Look at the motivations.

Well, you can understand that change is the main constant in creation.

If that’s what you’re referring to by ups and downs—you may simply need a better definition that works for you—because there will be variety. There will be rises—and there will be falls—in a sense of vibrational energy. There will be something that will fluctuate.

But the idea of learning to use those waves of fluctuation can be the most stable thing.

Look at this analogy that we have used before: Standing still in one place would seem on the surface to be the most stable thing you can do—but ultimately your muscles will tire of keeping you motionless.

Walking is actually more stable. Even though it may be the product of choosing instability temporarily between one step and another—it’s almost like you’re falling forward—but you’re catching yourself each time by putting your foot out and connecting with the ground.

So the idea is to understand how to look at the so-called ups and downs again as opportunities to learn something—to approach them with—as we have said—any challenge: calmness, confidence, curiosity, and creativity.

And then—even though things may in a sense appear to be rising and falling, rising and falling, rising and falling—it’s not just this kind of a pattern.

It’s this—where the down is still higher than the last down—and you rise higher and then come down—but the down is higher than the last down.

So you are actually constantly rising. If you look at each challenge in a positive way as we’ve described it—that will be the effect—and you will not necessarily look at it in a negative definition of “Oh, I am falling back down to where I used to be”—because you never actually do.

Well, let’s finish that statement. It is absolutely possible to have everything you need—everything that fulfills you—everything that is the lessons you need to learn to move you forward—to expand and have a life of fulfillment and joy.

You can have everything that’s relevant for your life path. You can’t have everything because not everything is relevant for your life path. But you can have everything that’s relevant—everything you truly need.

In a sense, pain is the result of resistance to the flow of the natural self—the flow of the vibration of the soul.

Now we understand again—like we gave an earlier analogy—that there are different kinds of pain.

One that tells you that there may be something out of alignment with your physical body. Like you said—if you injure yourself—it’s a signal to your brain that something needs to be taken care of—that something is out of alignment, something is injured, something is damaged and needs to be repaired.

Nevertheless—there are those individuals—and even your body will do this in short order—there are those individuals that can go into an altered state and the pain can be shut down.

And when you go into what you call shock also—your pain centers shut down so you can handle the situation—if the pain were constant, you wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

So the idea is—it’s still a matter of resisting the natural self—but your body does go into more of an alignment with the natural self. You refer to this as shock—that alleviates the pain.

And what’s actually happening is of course you are releasing endorphins—and you’re going into a higher state—because in the channeling state—which is referred to as gamma—all the pain centers start shutting down.

That’s why when individuals are in a channeling state they don’t really feel anything that might be normally obtrusive or annoying to the body.

So the idea is yes—it’s still a matter of resisting the true self, the natural self—but there are reasons for why a temporary amount of it may be necessary—to alert you to something that you need to pay attention to.

But then the body will shut the pain down so you can deal with it once you’re aware of what the situation is.

When we use the word “valid,” we simply mean it is a real point of view based on real circumstances or real experiences that that person has gone through in their life that have brought them to this particular perspective.

It doesn’t mean that “valid” is used as a reference to the fact that it’s aligned with their soul core vibration.

We don’t mean “valid” in that context—because it is not in alignment with the soul’s vibration to be an abuser. It is not within the soul’s vibration alignment to remove someone’s dignity intentionally.

So it’s all about understanding how to use the word “valid” simply as a reflection of the fact that it is a legitimate journey that a person has taken to learn a soul lesson that has brought them to the perspective that they may be sharing—but that perspective may be out of alignment with their true core vibration—and therefore in that context is not necessarily to be condoned.

We don’t mean validation as condoning it. We mean validation as recognizing that there is an authentic journey there that has caused them to think this way—and that they—by investigating it honestly or being helped by others to investigate it honestly—can get in touch and come to terms with why that journey happened—and extract from that journey the lesson that will actually allow them to raise their vibration and improve themselves—to expand, to grow, to learn those lessons in a way that is beneficial to all humanity.

So understand again—that some of the challenge here is in knowing that there are different ways of interpreting certain words in your language—such as “valid”—because it doesn’t necessarily mean condoning what is out of alignment with the core vibration.

Well, there may be things that are not appropriate for you to know right now. You may be on a life journey or facing a challenge where they have to let you go through a process before you may be ready to receive certain levels of information.

It’s simply a matter of timing in most cases. They’re not going to withhold anything that you truly need at that moment—or is appropriate to give you in that moment.

But you have laid out—as a soul—certain challenges on your life that also then set up a certain timing for discovering information that will allow you to grow and move forward.

So your guides are not going to open your presents for you or spill the beans—as you say—before it’s time for you to understand certain things that will actually help you grow in the way that your soul has chosen to do so.

So that can be a reason why certain information may not be forthcoming at a certain time.

This is a memory. The thing about it is—many abductions are forgotten. They’re made to be forgotten so you can get on with your life.

And it may be that some of them are forgotten so effectively you don’t even know how many encounters you may have had.

But in many cases, the idea of the memories being available to you may come through in a dream first—so that you can pass it off as nothing more than a dream—and don’t have to necessarily deal with the implications—so that they don’t get in the way of your life path.

So it is a memory of a real encounter—a real event—and came through in a dream state—so you could ignore it in a sense.

But you have had more than one encounter. You are part of the hybridization program—whether you remember it or not.

Eventually, it may be that these memories will come back to you in the future—especially after open contact—when you will feel that it is safer for you to know these things—after you have been supplied with more information about the purpose behind the hybridization program and the idea of how it’s connected to the evolution of humanity and your part in helping with that.

So once that may be established in your mind and in your energy—you may start remembering more encounters that you’ve had. We’ll see.

Well, in one context—not very much really at all.

The difference we have made—just to clarify things—is that the soul lays out the life path and the challenges—as we have said—creates the physical focus that manifests the physical personality and the physical reality that seems to be projected around you.

Going through that experience kind of burns into the soul that particular personality—that particular experience—as that person.

And when that personality dies—in a sense—and goes back to being the soul—the memory of that experience—that specific incarnation—you could say—then can be presented as the spirit of that life.

So a spirit can be representative of a particular incarnational life path experience that is always then capable of being recalled by the soul—in much the same way that you could say there’s a difference between your adult mind and the child mind you had when you were growing up.

You are no longer that child—but you can call upon that childhood experience as if you were still capable of connecting with that child.

So you could say that the child memory is the spirit of the adult you have become—and it’s within you and always able to be tapped into.

So the soul is always able to tap into each specific incarnational experience—and for each incarnational experience and each physical personality—there is a spirit aspect to the soul that represents and symbolizes that incarnation—and that’s the spirit that you’re referring to.

So the soul—in a sense—can be containing many different aspects of incarnational memories—and therefore—in a sense—different representations that can be called upon by the living.

“I want to talk to my uncle Frank.” Well then the soul can project that idea of uncle Frank as a spirit to that physical person—to have something they can relate to.

And that’s the spirit of that incarnation. That’s the spirit of that person—but it’s still coming from the overall soul that that being actually is—that had that incarnation.

Yes, it’s your cat. And the basic message is: “Hi, I’m still here.”

So, you can connect. All you have to do is remember that particular incident and the feeling that went with it. And in that feeling state—you will be strongly connected to the cat—because the cat’s just in a different state.

And you are always connected. It’s part of your soul group—just like any animal that you encounter in a meaningful way in your life is also—in a sense—connected to your soul group.

So yes—that was your cat. That is your cat.

Well, that’s because you’re thinking of this concept from a human perspective—in a linear space-time way.

You’re talking about things like “for all eternity” and “starting all over again.” It’s just a way of understanding that creation is holographic—and you can observe it from any point of view.

In other words—it’s another way of understanding that when people on your planet have said, “Well, ultimately you ascend and go back into and be absorbed by God”—but that’s not exactly what happens.

It’s not as if you lose your identity. What we’re simply saying is—if and when such an experience happens—when you choose to have that experience—it’s not that you lose your identity—it’s that your identity is the only identity.

In a sense—you see from the perspective of Source. You are the Source. But that doesn’t mean it lasts forever. You can choose anything you want—because you are Source.

So the idea is that—look at it just as one experience. You can have one perspective. You can have the perspective of being Source. And you can choose any experience from that point forward—just as Source can experience anything that it is—and any distinct individual that is a reflection of it.

So stop thinking about this from a human perspective—from a linear perspective—and you won’t have to be so scared.

It’s just one way you can perceive your identity—as being Source—as opposed to being an aspect of Source. It’s not meant to confine you or trap you for all eternity being alone.

You’re just looking at it in too human a way.

Yes—it’s a simplistic analogy that has some merit and some application to what we just said—because it’s simply like moving into different states and different levels with your consciousness—all the way from Source down to whatever individual reflection you wish to experience.

So yes—all these things exist at once. No one is ever trapped for all eternity in one particular point of view.

Well—you don’t have to suffer through it. That’s the point. You need to learn lessons for the soul’s growth that you have chosen as a soul.

But the idea is to learn to engage with these things in a positive way—not to suffer.

Well—because I think they’re saying that it’s sort of like the hardship and the difficulties that people experience here—in pain and etc.—and that that the soul is up there in 5D bliss having a great…

No, no, no, no. The soul is not up there in 5D bliss. You are the soul. The soul is experiencing every single thing that you experience as a physical being—every single thing.

It’s not like it’s kicking back in a lounge chair while you do all the heavy lifting. You are the soul.

So—I guess the idea is you have to get to the place where you recognize that you laid out certain things in your path here. That it’s up to you to be creative—to have a positive attitude about them—whatever comes your way.

And that knowing that if you stay in a positive state—you will get a benefit from it regardless of what the intention of another person was—or what you had set up as your soul.

Yes—there is a misunderstanding here—because of the fact that humans are very used to the idea of separation.

When we talk about the idea of the soul being in non-physical reality and the physical mind being in physical reality—remember we’re not really describing two different places.

Physical reality is happening within your soul. Your soul is still in non-physical reality—but physical reality is also in non-physical reality as an experience being created by you—the soul.

So your soul is experiencing everything. Choosing to experience it in a more positive way is the challenge the soul has laid out for itself.

So if you—as a physical being—are choosing to buy into belief systems that allow you to experience the idea of suffering—then you are suffering as a soul too.

There is no difference. There is no separation. It’s not like your soul is off somewhere else and your physical mind is in another dimension altogether.

Yes—I understand we refer to those things differently as different dimensions—but these are euphemisms that are generated from the human perspective that things are actually separate—and they’re not.

So the ultimate truth is—you are your soul—and your soul you is experiencing everything that you experience as the physical version of your soul.

There is no separation. So—choose to experience things in a more positive way. Learn your lessons in a more positive way. And that’s exactly what your soul will be experiencing.

Remember—the idea is to stop thinking so much in separation—and start understanding yourself as a whole being.

Again—a very human question—having to do with things like concepts of separation.

Why? That which exists does not need a reason to exist. It just does. That’s its nature.

Asking “why” is nonsensical—because there is no beginning to existence. There is no end to existence. Existence simply is—in a constant state of nowness—of isness.

There is no beginning. There is no ending. There is no birth or death to existence itself. It just is.

And that is what all that is—is. If you want to call it God, goddess—whatever you want to call it—doesn’t matter.

Its fundamental nature is just isness. And it’s not therefore that anything needs it. Nothing would exist without it—because it is everything.

So the “why” question is irrelevant—because it doesn’t apply to that which is—it just is.

You utilize the experience to decide what lesson you’re going to learn next in a different state.

So you’re learning experiences. You’re learning lessons in those experiences. You’re having experiences.

You take those experiences all together to decide what you haven’t yet experienced.

So again—a crude analogy is like going to a theme park. You may decide to go on a roller coaster. You may decide to go on a merry-go-round. You may decide to go on something that swings back and forth.

Now—having all of those experiences—you may now say, “All right—all of those involved some sort of interesting motion, movement in space and time in a different way.

But I’ve done all that. And having done all that—I am now deciding I would like something different—because I now know what those experiences are like.

So—I’m going to apply the experience of movement through space and time in the way that I already have done—to add another aspect to it.

I’m now going to go on what you call a dark ride. And so—I’m going to be moving—but I may be moving more slowly and having different kinds of experiences in the environment that is created within a dark ride.

That can be any number of things. It can be full of wonder. It can be full of chills and thrills.

So—I’m going to use my understanding of the experience of movement in space and time in the way that I already have done—to add another aspect or another dimension to it—and experience something different now that I understand what motion is all about.”

So—it’s sort of like that.

Essentially—growth and expansion is inherent in life—and that is what the soul and spirit and all of us fundamentally are programmed to do—is to grow and experience.

Well yes—I wouldn’t necessarily use the word “programmed”—but yes—the idea of course is that the pacing of that is up to you.

That’s again why we say you control the speed. That’s one of the hows—in terms of how you face your challenges.

So you can take many lifetimes to do that—or you can do it in one lifetime. It’s up to you.

We understand the emotion that goes along with that particular scenario as it has been described.

Nevertheless—it’s an opportunity to stretch your creative imagination into the understanding that everything is a spirit—a soul—and that even if a life partner were to transition into a non-physical state—even if they were to go home, as you say—you still have a line of connection.

So we would suggest that—while the partner is alive—practice in your mind—in your imagination—in creative ways—practice—visualize—entertain the idea that you can connect to your partner in spirit—to another member of your soul family—even if they choose to go back into the state of being you call spirit.

Practice while they’re alive—reaching out and connecting telepathically to them in that way—so that you can develop skills and abilities more strongly—that would allow you to know that even if they did choose to go back into spirit—you would still have an absolutely strong connection and communication with them—so that you lose your fear of losing them.

That’s the thing to lose—is your fear of losing things.

Well—yes—you observe that there are just as many opportunities to choose the negative as there are the positive.

But simply being shown that there are opportunities to do so has no effect on you if you don’t choose them.

So—so what if you get to see more of the darkness? You’re just aware that more opportunities and more options are there. That doesn’t mean you’re forced in any way, shape, or form to experience them.

That’s like saying, “Oh, I’m looking at a set of coloring pens or crayons.” And as I get a bigger and bigger set—as I buy more and more crayons—I’m becoming more aware that there are certainly a lot more shades of blue and a lot more shades of red.

Does that prevent you from still choosing the color you want? No. You’re just more aware of what’s there as a choice. So what?

So it’s really what we’re talking about is the fear coming up that expanding isn’t going to be as great as you think it’s going to be—and there might be all these challenges and you’re going to have to deal with your fears.

So that can be a way of sort of procrastinating or not allowing yourself to expand—because you’ve given a negative definition to the idea of seeing negativity.

Exactly. But it’s sort of just as—well—I’ll just use the word comical—as with the analogy I just gave you—and saying, “Well, I’m seeing a lot more shades of red and a lot more shades of blue. What do I prefer? I prefer the shades of blue—or I prefer this shade of blue.”

Now—it’s like imagining, “Oh—but somehow something’s going to force me to go over here and choose a red crayon when I don’t want to. Why would that happen?”

Just choose the blue. You can be aware that there are reds to choose from—but if you prefer to choose the blue crayon—just choose the blue crayon.

Being aware that there are more shades of red does not force you to choose a red crayon.

It’s that comical when you talk about “I’m afraid that somehow I’m going to choose the red crayon.”

If for some reason you did—it would be because that’s telling you you have a belief that makes it seem logical to do so—and choose the red crayon over the blue one.

But that should give you insight to the fact that you’re holding on to a belief that doesn’t work for you.

So get in touch with that. Use it. Examine yourself. Know yourself. Find out why you would believe that that’s true.

And as soon as you really understand how nonsensical that belief is—just as nonsensical as saying, “I am somehow forced to choose the red when I absolutely prefer the blue crayon”—then you will no longer feel any impetus at all to choose what you don’t prefer. It just won’t make any sense.

Let’s stop right there. Here’s an addition to the analogy: Some people love sad movies, don’t they?

So—finding a book that makes you sad—so you can cry because you enjoy doing that—finding that book that made you sad made you happy, didn’t it?

So—you can actually experience the idea of being happy that you have found something to make you sad—because you’re using it for a certain purpose—for a positive reason.

Maybe going through that sad movie or going through that sad book is cathartic for you—and allows you to release a feeling and experience an emotion in a safe environment.

So there are circumstances where you can actually be perfectly happy being sad.

So again—it depends on what you’re doing with it—why you’re using it—how you’re using it. So—it’s not so black and white—it’s many shades of gray.