“From the Ancient Wisdoms to Quantum Physics,
It’s All About the Energy!”
How Do We Stop Making "Mistakes?"©
Dennis L. Dossett
(All Rights Reserved)
Last month’s blog addressed the question, “Why Do We Make ‘Mistakes?’” and suggested several reasons for this all-too-human phenomenon. These reasons include:
• We haven’t yet learned one or more life (a.k.a., “spiritual”) lessons.
• We respond out of “Habit.”
• We “listen” to our [Lower] Self rather than our Higher Self.
And why do we listen to the Lower Self? Again, there are a couple of reasons:
• Stubbornness.
• We haven’t yet learned to discern or distinguish between Higher Self and Lower Self.
Far more important than “why” is the question of How Do We Stop Making “Mistakes?” Sorry, I take back that last statement. It is only more important for those who consciously choose to raise their vibration, to work toward becoming a better version of themselves. Those who (shall I say, unconsciously) choose to focus primarily on explaining “why” something happened are generally content to find a “reason” that “get’s them off the hook” for taking responsibility for a “mistake.” That is just another excuse (an old habit) and (sorry again) just another life lesson that awaits a time, place, and situation to be addressed when they are ready to do so—and not before. That’s OK! There is no requirement to learn life lessons unless you choose to do so! But if you really want to stop making mistakes, the starting point is this:
Take/Accept Responsibility, but ...
Accepting Responsibility for your behavior and/or outcomes empowers you because that act acknowledges that you are in charge of your life. Take responsibility for your “mistake” but do not blame yourself (see my blog, “Taking Responsibility versus Blaming Yourself”). Let’s face it. You can’t “fix the problem” (that is, learn the lesson) unless you accept responsibility for becoming the Master of your life rather than being mastered by life. The alternative is to constantly be a “victim” (a favorite tool of the Lower Self).
• “Never be defined by your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.” ~ Unknown
Oh, and what is the “but ...” in the header for this section all about? Read on.
No Judgment!
Be a witness, not a judge. A witness observes and reports what they have seen, but decades of psychological research clearly show that judgement before observation produces systematically biased observation in the direction of the judgment. Who would trust a biased witness? Only ourselves if we are the judge! And this applies whether we are “witnessing” our own behavior or that of others. One of my wisest teachers, Maitreya (channeled by Margaret McElroy) states:
• “Humanity has always felt it must justify itself for its actions. Yet, those actions are often a major learning experience for others and for the souls themselves being judged. Before making judgment ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this? What am I upset about? Why does this concern me?’” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #138, January 1, 2005)
• “Do not judge yourself ... because what you judge yourself as on this Earth plane may be a karmic debt that you came to repay or a lesson that you came to learn. Only when you return home will you know." ~ Maitreya (Newsletter, February 21, 2016)
Forgive Yourself
Blame, shame, guilt, judgment, and recrimination are all “stuck” energy, and will completely demotivate and derail any attempt to change either the situation or yourself. And remember, it is rarely the situation that needs to be changed! We are here on the earth plane to choose to become a better version of ourselves, not to master our environment. In short, Forgive Yourself—sincerely and completely—if you really want to have any hope of not making a “mistake” (especially the same one) again.
• “There is no shame in making a mistake. All of you seem to take it so personally when you do make a mistake. You get angry with yourselves, worry about what others will say, etc. What a waste of energy! ... Forgiveness is the most important energy in the world, yet so many of you cannot forgive yourselves for making the wrong choices—or mistakes if that word must be used.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #220, February 2, 2009)
• “The [Lower] Self sees itself as perfect. It will argue with you to preserve its own truth. It can never see a positive outcome of any situation! The list is endless of what the Self will do to reign supreme. And what of the Higher Self, what does that do? It does nothing! Absolutely nothing! It does not have to justify itself because it knows God knows its own truth is correct. ... It always has a positive outcome for every situation. It never judges, it sits quietly and lets the world pass by while it deals with issues which need to be dealt with for its own higher good.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #113, June 28, 2004)
Learn how to listen to Spirit
One of the reasons given above for listening to the Lower Self was “stubbornness.” Stubbornness is knowing better but ignoring it in favor of imagined control over one’s life. I say “imagined” because this is a common (and very effective ploy) of the Lower Self to maintain control of your life! If you were truly in control of your life (the Master of your life), you would consciously strive to do what is in your best (that is, highest) interest. Anything else is the best definition I know of for what is sometimes called “stupidity,” knowing better and doing (or sometimes not doing) it anyway. Either way, stupidity is not a character flaw; eliminating it is just another lesson to be learned from life experience.
An important step on the spiritual path is developing and learning to trust your capacity for discernment between your Lower Self and Your Higher Self. We are often told to “listen” to our intuition, but the problem is that they both “sound” alike. Dean Koontz (1945–; American author) says that “Intuition is ‘seeing’ with the soul.” While I fully understand the difficulty human beings have in trying to describe this phenomenon, I believe that Abraham (the collective consciousness of Spirit as channeled by Esther Hicks) uses a much more practical term. Specifically, Abraham speaks constantly about discerning how our thoughts, desires, and actions feel. Do they feel uplifting (in alignment with Higher Self) or not? That is the crux of discernment. I’m all for learning to develop and to trust our intuition (that comes with raising your vibration), but that is a learned skill, yet another important life lesson.
Ask for help
It is critical to understand that you not ask Spirit to “do it for me” but rather to provide assistance to help you to deal with a problem or situation—another important life lesson. Maitreya (channeled by Margaret McElroy) is clear on this point:
• “The Universe will provide all that you ask for—but you have to ask! There are those of you who ask and then in the next breath say, ‘Oh, but that will never come my way,’ or ‘I do not deserve that,’ or ‘I am not worthy of such a thing.’ While you do this, you will stay pushing the grindstone, and each year it becomes heavier and heavier.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #276, January 4, 2010)
• “First you must remove all fear from your being. Then you must have total faith in all that you do, and no doubt that what you do will happen. This is the only way to fight the negative energy. While you have these negative traits you cannot be in the light, for the darkness of negativity blinds the light of Good and God and shuts you off from the spiritual realms for a time. The length of this time will depend much on you. But ask for help and we will do all we can to assist you to break free from the negativity that you find yourself in. It is your choice!” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #342, August 2, 2010)
Constantly try to learn from experience
As I have written before, wisdom is the essence of soul-level learning if we choose to learn the lesson. Lessons learned are not mistakes. Mistakes are only lessons willfully not yet learned. We come back to the earth plane periodically because this is the best place to try once again to learn to align our life energies with Higher Self. Don’t expect perfection; you will not find it on the earth plane. That is why we are all here together.
Instead, ask yourself “What can I learn from this?” I much prefer this question to “What does this situation have to teach me?” which has a completely different energy. Can you feel the difference? Conscious Living is proactive, anticipatory, and it is a choice, your free will. Situations don’t teach us anything, but we certainly can learn a great deal from them if we allow ourselves to do so.
Choosing to follow these simple steps will go a long way toward helping you to transform your “Mistakes” into “Happy Accidents!” Next month’s topic will be “What’s In It For Me?” Take some time to think about that. Until then, have a great month!
Dennis
www.DennisDossett.com