Let us start with a question for you: Are you trying to “win” the game of life? How many times each day do you compare yourself to somebody else? Maybe you have not been paying attention to that. But if you start to pay attention, you will find the answer is many, many times. Humans compare yourselves to friends, family members, co-workers, and even strangers. These comparisons are usually about measures of how you define success—money, beauty, and status—and often they are self-deprecating: “She’s prettier than I am.” “He’s more successful in his career.” “They took that trip to Hawaii that we so want to take.” “His physique is way better than mine.” “She’s obviously much smarter than me.”
You also use comparison to place yourself above others: “I got the promotion, so the boss really sees how much more valuable I am.” “I’m aging much better than most of the people I went to school with.” “I went to Harvard, and only the best of the best gets to go there.” “I’m much more enlightened than them—I understand the world so much more.” And so on. Many humans will go a step further and decide that since things are working out well for you, you must have some special consideration from God—that you are perhaps favored in some way.
On the other hand, your sacred scriptures tell you all are equal in the eyes of God—that nobody is above another. In addition, they tell you that a heart full of love, compassion, and forgiveness is more valuable than any earthly measure of success. They also instruct you to not judge others and to be compassionate with yourself. And yet you judge yourself and others constantly—always drawing comparisons and using them as the basis for how you feel about yourself and the world. What’s this all about?
In short, you are all trying to “win life”. You have been told life is a game, and that’s true in a way. But most of you are quite unsure of the game’s objective and how winners and losers are determined. That’s why you look to others as barometers of your own success or failure. Is it about how much money you have? Is it about your experiences? Is it about how youthful and vibrant you are? Is it about what college you went to or how far you’ve advanced in your career? Is it about the fulfillment of some greater purpose? Is it about how long you can sit in meditation or how many times a day you pray? Is it about how much love you spread, or how many other people you’re able to serve? How do you know whether you’ve won or lost?
The answer may surprise you. Are you ready? Take a deep breath. It is about all of the above and none of it at the same time. Clear as mud? We will explain.
The Objective is Self-Discovery
You are all here on this planet because you chose to be here and were given permission to be here at this time of great change. Yes, there is a selection process for souls incarnating on the earth, especially at times of transition from one age to another, which is what you’re experiencing at this time. In other words, you are here by design.
The “game” you agreed to play is one of self-discovery. You agreed to seek your True Nature, which is the God within. That is why you are here. The degree to which you accomplish that has everything and nothing to do with the outward circumstances of your life. You can find the God within by sitting in a cave for years, and you can find the God within by running a Fortune 500 company. You can find your True Nature if you are a distance runner or if you are wheelchair-bound. You can find It by traveling the world or never leaving your home town. All paths lead to God. The primary factor impacting success is the quality of your consciousness as you follow your path. The path of discovery is personal for each soul, and the external trappings of your life have little to do with the objective. But at the same time, the circumstances of your life provide the playing field upon which you make infinitely many choices that lead you closer to the Heart of God or further away from it.
You Are Much Bigger Than You Realize
Most humans have been taught to believe that certain experiences are sacred and others are profane, and most of you struggle to navigate between the two. If you are religious, you may go to a church, synagogue, or mosque every week and hear messages intended to put you more in touch with the sacred. If you have a Spiritual practice, you may spend time every day meditating or praying to achieve that connection. But chances are most of your time is spent tending to profane matters.
Note that the word “profane” is often used incorrectly to mean that which is opposed to God, or that which is detestable. When used correctly, it refers to anything (thoughts, actions, or words) to which you do not ascribe a sacred meaning. There’s a big difference there. The true meaning of the word is more neutral than negative. If that’s confusing, think of “profane” the same as you think of “mundane”. So, you spend most of your time shuffling back and forth between the sacred and profane (or mundane), and most of you spend much less time thinking, acting, and speaking in ways you deem sacred. That’s because most of you have been raised in a paradigm in which the day-to-day dealings of your lives are about survival, comfort, and accomplishment. You believe in a model of life that has you attaining a certain level of education, seeking fulfilling and/or lucrative employment, raising a family, and owning and experiencing many agreed-upon trappings of success. Almost everybody is doing this, and so it appears to be “the way the world works”. This consumes most of your time and energy, so it is no wonder that you would have only an hour or two every week to consciously devote to God.
But all of this is a subjective “reality” that has built over time and is sustained simply because humans continue to choose it and believe in it. What you focus upon is the reality you experience. But we want to tell you that you are all much, much bigger than most of you realize. Much bigger. You are, in fact, God incarnate—a splinter of the Divine Spirit that is the Source and Substance of all things. Some of you have heard this before, but you haven’t really grasped what it means. It means that you are never, ever apart from God. You simply cannot be separate from the Holiest of Holies in the Universe. But you can believe that you are separate, and that is what most of you do most of the time.
This belief in separateness is what leads most of you to spend so much time and energy trying to “win life”. You think things like “Once I get promoted to vice president, then I will have made it.” “Once I have lost these extra 20 pounds, then life will be good.” “Once I can buy the Mercedes, then I will know I have arrived.” “Once we can retire and travel the world, then it will all have been worth it.” And so on. And to be clear, there is nothing wrong with these aspirations or any others that drive you to seek fulfillment. But the message we want you to understand is that lasting fulfillment will never come when you make it about those things rather than about aligning your consciousness with the Mind of God. Any pursuit in life is profane when it is about the expected worldly acclaim or recognition you will receive from others, or that will elevate you in your own mind to a place of status above others. Not inherently wrong, mind you, but not aligned with sacred Heart of God. Junk yards are full of cars somebody once bought to demonstrate they had finally arrived, and the world is full of crumbling mansions somebody once built to demonstrate they had “won life”.
You Are Already Enough
By the same token, any pursuit in life can be a path to Divine Spirit. That includes education, work, family, and the creation of a comfortable environment for yourself and your loved ones. The difference lies in the consciousness with which you approach the pursuit. Again, we return to the continuum of love and fear, which are polar opposites. If you pursue any activity in life because of fear, you are aligning with something other than Divine Spirit, which vibrates only at the frequency of pure love. If you are trying to “win life” there is undoubtedly fear present—the fear of somehow not being enough.
Friends, you are already enough. Each one of you. You were born into this planet enough because you were born as the pure Divine piece of the Creator that you are. Any belief that you are anything less than that is something you were taught by others who also adopted and then contributed to the dominant paradigm of how the world works. You have been conditioned to pursue all the things that everyone else is pursuing to achieve happiness, and then maybe make an hour or two per week to intentionally connect with Source.
The funny thing from our perspective is that you are never disconnected from Source. You are simply not paying attention to and amplifying your connection. As with all things in life, the more you focus on it, the bigger it gets. And when you maintain your focus on the God within, you often find that the things you previously identified as demonstrations of your success begin to lose their importance. That’s when your heart begins to open wide and you begin to live much more of the time in a sacred space.
Every time you act with kindness and compassion in any context, you are drawing closer to your True Nature—to the Heart of God. That may take the form of helping a coworker with a difficult task—perhaps the coworker you were promoted above, or even the one who was promoted over you. It may come in taking care of somebody who is very ill. It may be as simple as letting someone go ahead of you in the grocery store line. Or even simpler, it may just be offering a silent blessing to someone you saw in the news who is suffering on the other side of the world.
Yes, every activity in life can be a sacred ritual, every thought can be a prayer, and it doesn’t have to mean spending all your time on your knees with your hands folded. Quite the opposite, in fact. You are here to be a fully active participant in the world as it exists—to have careers and families and social lives. The slight adjustment we are asking you to make is to recognize your absolute connection and parity with everybody else playing the game. You are all connected in Spirit. We mean that literally. It is not just something the minister says, but you don’t really know what it means. It means you are all facets of the same Source energy, and thus are all connected energetically. You are all drops of water from the same great ocean, and to that great ocean you are all returning.
Everybody Wins in the End
If you pause and really understand that, you will see how liberating it is. You will also see how it shifts the object of the game of life. Now it is not about achieving anything physical. Instead, it is about living in perpetual alignment with the Heart of God. What does that mean in practical terms? It means modeling the Love of God in your thoughts, words, and actions. It means pursuing any all activities with kindness, compassion, and a desire for the highest outcome for all. And it means you are patient and forgiving with those who have yet to awaken to this Truth.
But awaken you must, for that is indeed the ultimate result you all are here to achieve. Anything else is a distraction so long as it takes your focus toward a place of fear rather than love. Enjoy your worldly accomplishments, one and all. But do not compare yourself to anyone else in the feeling of accomplishment. Let your thoughts be, “I am one with all of humanity and we are all one with Divine Spirit. In my connection with Divine Spirit, I am infinitely fulfilled. I am so appreciative of the physical manifestations of God’s Divine Love in my life and the gifts of joy and material comfort. What I have achieved for myself, I also claim for all humanity in equal measure. For God is infinitely good, and each one of us on this planet is equally worthy and deserving God’s ceaseless abundance.
This is how you create the world as you would have it be—a world of love, compassion, and generosity. It’s nothing fancy, really. It’s just a subtle shift in consciousness—being mindful of the intention you bring to all your actions and constantly striving to act from Love rather than fear. See everyone as your equal, for they truly are. The more you align your thoughts and actions with this Truth, the more the Truth of the oneness of all things will reveal itself to you. Many of you will then find that the game is much different than you originally thought. The good news is that you all will win eventually. There are no losers in the game of life, for you will all keep playing until the objective is achieved. How long it takes is up to each one to decide of your own free will.
We are complete.
Image credits: Titus Staunton