Free Will

Question: To what degree do we have free will and to what degree is our spiritual journey guided for us?

Aaron: Free will is an important element of your human journey. In your human form you are always given choices and asked to take responsibility for those choices. You can allow a fragmented self to make your decisions, directed by a brain that screams "Do this, do that," or you can learn to listen with your heart, to find a wholeness within yourself so that your choices become increasingly harmonious with the universe. When you make such choices guided by your heart's wisdom, then your path opens before you and the offered lessons are learned. When you fight this harmony, you often make unskillful choices. Then your learning becomes more painful.

You correctly understand that your lessons extend out to all others with whom you are in contact. Sometimes it may seem hard to comprehend the convolutions of the universe which join each of your separate paths, yet nothing is ever unplanned. You are offered choices which bring you together for shared learning. When this occurs, any of you can say "No," but perhaps you will be ready to trust the wisdom of your heart and your soul. Then the learning experience becomes a joyful sharing of love.

Always, your path is laid before you. You are given the choice, to follow or not to follow. If you choose not to follow, there will be a different path. It will eventually bring you back to the same place, but the way will wander a bit, and perhaps there will be steeper hills. If you've chosen the hill, it's because that steepness is necessary to your unique path, because on that rocky hillside you will find the lessons that you need. Again, you have free will, to learn those lessons, or to repeat them on the next hill. If you need to repeat them, that is fine. You are given all the time you need.

At times there may seem to be impossible obstacles, barriers to the path. Always you have chosen these, to teach you what you need to learn. Stop and look at this cliff side that looms before you. Ask, "What has brought me here?" If you listen with your heart, and search out the steps with love, you will find the learning there, and understand that you have willed this cliff into existence, just as you can will it away when your learning is complete. Your path is always your own choice, made with the wisdom of your soul.

Please remember that every path, no matter how smooth or steep, will eventually lead you home. Where you are on that path is exactly where you need to be, and the next step before you is always just the step you need to take. Listen with your heart and you will find yourself in harmony with the universe, and your steps will become increasingly joyous.