Life has many interesting twists and turns. After my dad died in 2011, I found a free writing I had done and given to him. I’ve read it a couple time in the last few years and didn’t have any acknowledgment of when I wrote it. Many of the concepts I still believed, but I had no recollection of sharing my ideas. Slowly, a few memories came back but I still had no idea when I wrote it.

Recently, I was doing some rearranging and I pulled the drawers out of an old family dresser and there were papers stuck behind the drawers. I guess I had faxed a copy of the writing to my mom. With that, I got my date: August 27, 1998. At the time, I was on top of the world. I was just starting out in my career as a sales trainer and I was becoming very successful. I lived in Dunedin, Florida at the time.  I was 22 years old. In January 1999 I moved to Phoenix, Arizona.  In the next few years, I travelled the U.S. and Canada speaking at engagements and creating many different training programs and materials. I had endless confidence. I didn’t believe anything wasn’t possible, and I kept proving myself right. I lived in places all over the country and got to enjoy countless experiences with food, nature, people, travel, and entertainment.

Little did I know, at the end of 2001 my life would start to take some very unexpected turns. I would get some of life’s hardest life lessons. I had forgotten the girl who wrote this. She got lost for quite a few years, but when I started to re-emerge, I started paying attention to the signs once again and miracle after miracle led me back home to God’s infinite Love. The love of a Universe that goes beyond any love humanly known. A love that ends all separations and connects us to all the elements of the Universe. Seeing this with my open eyes is so powerful.

Since this particular free writing keeps being brought up in my life and put in my face, I decided to share it with my readers. It is unedited and raw. I had no idea I even knew some of these concepts so early on. I listen to how I repeat concepts over and over, almost like God was preparing me for what was ahead.

In the world we know: How many times have we asked ourselves what does it all mean? We try to take control of situations that we fear that we won’t like the outcome that God presents to us. Why do we do this when the truth is we should always thank God for whatever outcome he gives us, because it just means there is something better out there for us. We are faced with a series of lessons in our lifetime. They are all a part of our spiritual journey. None of these lessons are meant to purposefully hurt us. They are meant to help us grow stronger and lead us to spiritual enlightenment.

We will have peace in our lives when we accept these lessons with loving arms. When we discover the love within us is stronger than any love we can get from the outside world, and that we welcome more and more outside love, the more we love ourselves.

What we must learn to do is let go. Ask for what you want and then accept that the Universe will do what is best. If it is a person you are asking for you must realize that the love comes from within you. Those people on the outside will be more attracted to you the more you love yourself. Fear sets into place when you try to control the situation, and that is when you begin focusing on negative energy, and when you do that is when you will get whatever the negative energy is focused on. We must not talk about all the things we don’t want in our lives. We must talk about all the things we do want. Focus on the positive and it will come to you.

When we look into ourselves we find out what we are asking for. We can get everything we ask for, if we ask for it in the right way. You might not get it the way that you thought you would or when you thought you would, but if you focus on the positive you allow that positive energy into your life.

We also must remember to ask for the best thing for us. If we do not and we try to take over the control and say this is it, you could be sorry that you got what you asked for. Always keep in your mind that God is always looking out for you and will lead you on the spiritual path that best suites you. If you choose to leave the spiritual path he cannot be responsible for trying to get you back. You have to find your own way back, and when you realize that his love, the love that is stronger than any love you ever known, is waiting for you.

When we let our heart lead us, it won’t lead us wrong. It’s when our fear leads us that we are led off our spiritual paths. That fear is a side road that we often decide to look down and even more often the average person will take. Sometimes it takes a lot of love, trust, and faith not to take this path. For it is a temptation. We want to see where that road leads to see if the grass is greener when we try to take control. If we could take the same situation and lead down two different roads, it would be interesting to see where we would end up. Somehow, I believe that everyone who was able to participate would start trusting and opening the end result up to the Universe instead of trying to take control. What a lot of us are misinformed of though is the fact that many of us do get the choice, time and time again. Look at every time we say I did it again or we are brought into the same situation over and over again. We choose every time what way we are going to go. Most if not all the time if we choose the same road to go down, we will end up with the same outcome. So the best thing for us to do is right the situations that keep repeating themselves down without writing down any names or places and check out the set up of the situation each time and pay attention to how you deal with it.

Most of us would be amazed in the similarities. What we all need to learn to do is stay on the path no matter how we think the end result should be, and whatever the end result is, even if you don’t understand it. We should thank God for the experience and thank him for giving us what is best.

If we decide to live our lives in this way, we would realize how much easier it is to see all the beauties in the world. Without fear there is only love. Every insecure feeling stems from fear, and there is no reason to live under those boundaries of fear.

Unfortunately, we must look past the way society views life because they focus on the negative energy instead of focusing on the positive. That makes living in the light of God even more necessary. Always put out your positive energies for they are the ones you want in your life.

Live with the assumption that you already have all the positive things that you want in your life. If you begin to fall into negative energy, leave the situation, get back into the positive energy and deal with the situation in your positive energy.

I give thanks today for the lessons that God puts in front of me. I know that whatever is for the best will work out. I know that God is looking out for me and my best interests. Whatever the outcome may be, I know it will be what is best. God will give me the clarity I need and take me through each life lesson. Just because I know that these life lessons are in my best interests doesn’t mean that I will not go through periods of grief as I am saying goodbye to the experiences that have found their time to expire. God would not give me gifts if I would not feel.

All the lessons that will happen in my life will lead me towards one ultimate goal. They will guide me in the direction I need to go to really find my life’s meaning. There will be times that I don’t understand my lessons and that I won’t be able to recognize them as positive right away, but I will get to the point where I see their purpose. I will see that by having that lesson it led me to where I am now.

We all need to believe that everything that works in our life is right, no matter how long it may work out. It could be right for a few hours, a few months, or the rest of our life. Lessons have time periods and they will only last as long as that particular lesson is meant to last.

The trick is giving up control. We cannot control the lessons or these time frames, what we must do is ask God for what we want and if it is what is best for us he will give it to us. We must have complete trust that God has listened to our prayers and he will lead us in the best direction to get us to the ultimate prayer. God always answers our prayers, but sometimes it is in way that we might not understand at that given time.

Going with the gut feeling is very important, if something doesn’t feel right trust it. There are signs everywhere leading us in the right direction. We just have to be able to read them. Everything happens for a reason. Even if your eyes are closed and you don’t read the signs correctly, it is an opportunity for another lesson. All the lessons you learn from life will take you to a positive place (If you see them).

Accept responsibility for the lessons you learn. If you blame anyone else for the experience you went through you have not truly taken in the lesson. Blame=blah-me. There is nothing to learn from blaming. No kind of blame helps. By blaming someone we are rejecting the lesson. Therefore situations will keep coming up till we take full responsibility.

We are never stuck in any situation. If we focus on the positive energy in every situation there will always be room for change. Change is good and change is important for growth. If we stay in any one situation long enough and it is always comfortable there, there is no growth. We must step out of our comfort zone in order to grow. Nobody knows everything and has life experiences to make them feel full the rest of their life. We must keep going and keep leaving ourselves open for new life experiences. Freedom has been given to us by God. We can get anything we want in our lives if we focus on the positive.

Society today shows us all the negative events that could possibly happen. In most movies today there is high amounts of violence and negative focus. There is a reason that there has been such an increase in violence with the younger generations and until we do something about it, it will keep getting worse and worse. We can shrink these numbers back down if we encouraged society that the positive is what we want to see. Show us the positive solutions for the acts of violence. If we all start working together, we will be guided to brighter places.

That takes a group effort and a lot of prayers, but it is amazing what even one person can do if they focus on the positive energy.

Now, having faith in timing. We ask God for things to happen in our lives and he hears us. We must make sure that we are not trying to force the answer on ourselves. We must wait and let things in our life happen. When things aren’t running smoothly and it has to do with something we asked for, it usually means that it is not the right time or there is a better situation waiting for us somewhere else.

We must read signs. Usually one of the most obvious signs is when things aren’t flowing together. When something is right, doors will open and opportunities will show themselves. We just have to have faith in God that he is doing what is best, and faith in ourselves that we will be able to see the signs.

In order to truly grow spiritually we must deal with the problems from the core. Where they first began, because only then will you be able to release them. If we do not do this, situations will keep repeating themselves and we will keep repeating our old behavior. In order to become closer to God we must trust that he will only bring up the behaviors that we are ready to deal with.

Once we have reached the point where we have released all the anger and fear from our hearts, we will be able to react and treat everybody in a loving way.

This collage of pictures was from one of my most memorable adventures. The pictures were taken within a year after writing this free writing in Sedona, AZ.  The journey after writing the piece has been amazing. I definitely had to learn many difficult lessons, but I still believe they were all necessary to lead me to where I am today, and where I will be taken tomorrow. Each step has taught me to grow in love for myself, in the Infinite Love of the Universe, in love for nature and people, and in the love I share with all those around me.

With Love and Gratitude,

Rachael Wolff