Bad Decision? Consequences? Ah, there's relief.

The process of moving on from bad decisions.

 

They say, what's done is done and can't be changed; move on. That's the What, what about the How? Just exactly how do I move on? It's easy to say, but if nagging unresolved issues remain, moving on is just words. Why can't I move? You can't move on because what doesn't go away is the thought that I could have done it differently, or what if. And most important of all, the consequences of an unresolved issue(s) remain.

You can't change what's happened but you can change the consequences, starting today. It requires introspection, perhaps of a new kind. And, of course, there's a process, which I sum up in four words:

 Openness

Surrender

Listening

Acting

The tone of the four words goes from humility to action, and here's how I break it down.

Openness means you're Open to the possibility that the way you've been doing business isn't working, in part or in whole, and ready for some help, right now. Open to doesn't mean you're committed forever to something you don't understand. It simply means, your thought process can go a new direction if you let it. It’s a new mindset. Can you imagine how significant it is in just being Open? In so doing you've overcome the obstacle of not being Open. That's huge!

 Now that you're Open to possibilities, another giant step is to Surrender. When we decide something on our own, we have at best a 50/50 chance of success. The problem is when we have a few losses in a row the chance of success seems 50/50 at best and 0 at worst. Somewhere in between is where we all may be.

 Surrender means that God's Spirit is a new partner. I know, we say Holy Spirit all the time, but do we really get it. Do we understand the power that lay beyond the words. So, let's start from scratch. I'm now Open to possibilities and want to Surrender that which I need to. For some it's ego, for some it's lack of self-esteem, for some it's both and maybe more. Recognizing the need to Surrender that portion of our mind and spirit that makes our life a constant battle of 50/50 is the built-in value of that step. Recognizing the NEED to Surrender your agenda (or as I like to say, surrendah your agenda) may be a revelation.

So far you've dipped your toe in the pool of unknown and decided to decide to be Open. And it is a choice. No set of rules can make it happen, you make it happen by choice. You're up to your ankles now in letting go whatever it is that needs letting go. Let's go for the knees.

You're now at a point where your thoughts are spontaneous and unrehearsed. You mind is suspended, you've left your baggage behind and haven't had time yet to worry about future baggage.

 Time has stopped.

 In that milieu is where God's Spirit can work. You are no longer the boss, he is. Here's where it might get a little spooky. "You mean I'm going to hear voices or something!?" Maybe, maybe not. Are you willing to be Open to something, anything? Maybe it's your own "voice", your conscience speaking. Maybe it's someone ahead of you in line at the grocer. Will you Surrender your agenda so that even the tiniest bit of intuition may kick in as allowed by your choice to. You've already had those moments in your life when something came to mind, you acted on it and it worked out. What happened is you suspended your mind for a moment, time stopped, and God's Spirit jumped on the opportunity. Call it intuition or God-speak, you make the call. The point is in those fleeting moments you realized something intuitively, which satisfies the Listening and Acting portion of the process. Guess what. You can determine those moments of opportunity at will simply because you want to.

Now what? you may ask. Now what is probably the most difficult of all: Listening and Acting all the time. It isn't as if the precedent isn't there as I described above; you've been there, done that possibly without realizing it. Even if you've knowingly been there it will always be the constant exercise of dipping your toe in the pool, into the unknown. So you take the chance. After all, you're in up to your knees now, what's to lose by jumping in? What you heard/felt intuitively/spiritually is worth acting upon and so you do it. Did it turn out? That's for you to decide. What can be said is that, after some practice (and it's like anything else, practice, practice, practice) your chances should change from 50/50 at best so that 50/50 seems like the least. Which would you prefer, continue to make decisions on your own, not knowing how it's going to turn out; or give to God.

 What does "give it to God" mean. All too often we get to that point where we've tried everything we know and the problem still remains. So now, finally, "I'll give it to God", meaning I dump it in his lap and expect him to let me know when the problem is fixed. Two big errors: waited too long; and expecting God to do it all. No wonder the problem doesn't get resolved.

 The process is a two way street and in essence a new way to pray and meditate designed by you. The point is to get rid of the consequences of bad decisions that hang on like a horse collar around your neck as if it were bondage. It's time to take it off and throw it in the fire. Only by changing the consequences can peace be restored so you can in fact move on.

 We were born in peace. Then stuff happened and peace was disturbed. Time to restore that peace.

Peace,

Vern Schanilec