Your Past May Remind You, But It Should NEVER Define You

If you were raised in a church, then you are probably familiar with some concept of free will. Adam and Eve were given life abundant, including free will ... or conditional free will, rather. Except for the one forbidden act of eating from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve were “free” to do whatever they wanted. 

The churches in which I grew up perpetuated this concept of conditional free will. Do what you will — except anything that may cause shame, guilt, or eternal fire and damnation rain upon your head for eternity if you sin, like if you eat the forbidden fruit.

In the movie, Assassin’s Creed, the leader of the Templars references this idea that for centuries the free will of the masses has been controlled through authoritarians, religion, government, and more recently, the media and consumerism. In the movie, the Templars literally seek out the apple from the Tree of Life as it holds the key to controlling free will.  

Imagine being the one in control of the free will of the world’s population.

Now imagine someone else holding that power.

The idea that powerful institutions and/or organizations have been manipulating, if not fully controlling, our individual and independent free will is bit overwhelming, no? I mean, if that is true how would we even begin to consider breaking those chains?

“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” —  Glinda in The Wizard of Oz

I have a secret for you. No one — no person, no authoritarian, no church or religion, no CNN or FOX, not even BravoTV, FaceBook, a tech company, a sneaker company, or the President of the United States can take your free will away from you. Your right to choose your life experiences is and has always been, yours.  

You are the designer of your life and the chooser of your destiny. If you feel otherwise, it is only because you have subconsciously, or even consciously, given your power away.

So, here’s a myth-buster for you.

Free will —  in the Divine/Creator/LifeForce/Universe sense of the words —  is NOT conditional.

You are absolutely free to create the experience of your choice, whether it be gloom, doom, guilt, shame, drama trauma, and all Ode to Eeyore (nobody loves you, everybody hates you, you might as well eat worms). 

Heads Up: I really would not recommend the aforementioned choice, because while free will is not conditional, there are Universal Laws in effect that love you so much you will continue to receive what you choose moment-to-moment.

You could choose rainbow skittles, butterflies, unicorns, and airy-fairy pixie-dust.

Or, like many of us, you can choose somewhere in between the two.

It’s all up to you and has always been up to you, regardless of the circumstances surrounding your birth.

Yes, yes, I know. As kids, we were subjected to the mental, emotional, and possibly even the physical abuses of our parents and guardians. But now we are not, or at least we no longer “have” to be. Now, we are adults — legally, anyway. We have the power to choose to live out the rest of our days as that victimized child or as the victorious overcomer. Now, we have the power to rise up out of whatever disheartening situation we may have been raised in, choose to end the cycle, and go forth to be the inspiration for others in similar circumstance.  

The following is a Facebook post from my daughter (*reprinted with her express permission), who went through one of the ugliest one-sided breakups I have ever witnessed. Even after being gas-lighted and harassed to the extreme, she remained at peace because of her amazing, innate understanding of free will:

"I can tell you I've been living in a dream in the sense that I feel so happy and at peace when I listen to myself! When I behave knowing that I have free will and can control myself but cannot control others —  nor do I wish to! No one can damage me unless I let them. It's a choice. Strength and happiness is a choice! And when you choose it, it's like being impervious to any petty negative energy and instead being wrapped up in a blanket of safety and well-being! Taking all the things that happen (I believe everything happens for a reason) —  whether they're good or bad, easy or hard —  and taking that experience, and using it to your advantage instead of feeling trapped trying to solve or control things out of your control. It will only make you smarter, stronger and happier!" 

I’m not saying power reclamation is necessarily easy breezy.

It can be, but depending upon the layers and layers of other people’s (parents, guardians, teachers, churches, employers, friends, partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses) rules, regulations, beliefs, expectations, guilt, shame you have been wearing around for years and years, it may take a bit of time, energy and effort for you to get to the core of your powerful true self.

And that, my friend, is A-Okay.  

Be gentle, patient, and kind to yourself while you begin this endeavor of shedding the onion-like layers of the imprints you have taken on. Now you know you can say:

“No, this belief, this pattern of behavior, this story, that I have been buying into no longer serves me and I am ready to make a different choice!” 

Raise your fist into the air and reclaim your free will, your personal power!

In addition to her roles of wife, mother, entrepreneur, LeNae is an artist, writer, and an intuitive, empowerment oracle of the pragmatic persuasion.  She has helped men and women across the nation reclaim their personal power and create the life, the loves, the careers and businesses of their dreams. If you would like to reclaim your power visit www.LeNaeGoolsby.com.