Trade-offs are the benefits and detriments we weigh, choose, and decline in every experience throughout life. The 1000-fold path many sages and yogi’s speak of are a direct result of the most simple moments that we make choices. The mind tends to notice pivotal #choices that affect larger scale structures in one’s life journey, but even the smallest choices have their role to play in the symphony of one’s #PersonalNarrative. Throughout the unfolding of experiences, an individual’s personal narrative intersects and affects the narratives of others from the circumstances we are born into and later learn how to co-create. One’s ability to #problemsolve and assess the #value of #tradeoffs is evident in the intentional effectiveness of their choices and corresponding outcomes.
Choices that lack #intention and are based on #impulse without prior #reflection for outcomes and trade-offs tend to be less effective because they are less informed and therefore less #calculated to achieve specified #goals and #desires. Once an individual learns at a young age, the power to have a choice, #unintentional impulses and outcomes are still a form of choice. This choice tends to follow the path of trial and error, which perpetuates reasoning for lack of #awareness and #ambivalence around #autonomy and #accountability. The path of #TrialAndError and the path of intention are both filled with many #teachings. Trial and error approaches tend to feed narratives of #martyrdom and victimhood, but the thrill of #chance and #surrender to cause and effect is its own language. Those that prefer higher levels of #risk and rebel against the #discipline required to unify #HeartAndMind with clear intention tend to prefer this path. Likewise, those who seek to release themselves of the burdens of awareness that #intentionality requires and feel the flow of #fatalistic perceptions may also prefer this path.
The path of intention seeks to embody #PersonalEmpowerment through #sovereignty. Discerning trade-offs naturally promotes the process of differentiating wants from needs, as well as impulses and ideals from practical analysis and probabilities. Building consistent practices of analysis and expanding the multidimensional experience of the senses refines one’s capacity to #evaluate all forms of trade-offs. Trade-offs in choices made have the power to affect one mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. These holistic aspects of being are #interdependent factors in the patterns of experience that continually play out in our personal narratives. Understanding the value of trade-offs for oneself enables more creative #problemsolving for the purpose of accepting the greatest gains with lesser-valued losses. The path of #TrialAndError and the path of #IntentionalChoice have their own trade-offs that may only be discerned by the individual choosing them for how it serves their narrative and preferred experiences in life.
#Perceptions of what and how much an individual values something will always dictate one’s draw to preserve it. When the focus of values is placed more on external sources, such as material things and people, there is less consideration in the quality of what one is gaining or giving up in their own sense of self. The awareness of #PersonalValues, #integrity, and fulfilling deeper #WantsAndNeeds in the #AuthenticSelf may be minimized, compromised, or sacrificed repeatedly, when faced with the choices that request or require it. This happens more often when an individual values something or someone more than integrity with self. Weighing the affect of one’s choices for the #GainsAndLosses many times will affect others connected to the circumstances those trade-offs have unfolded in. Considering these affects as factors in the outcomes of one’s choices is prudent if an individual values others. However, it is essential that the balance of #CompassionForSelf and #CompassionForOthers be honored in alignment with one’s #integrity to self when #choices arise in shared circumstances and #relationship. As more climactic events in life challenge an individual to #EvaluateTradeoffs, primary wants and needs, and how to define and preserve their integrity with self and others, their capacity to make successful choices becomes evident.
#LearningFromThePast to inform the present and #align the future unfolding narrative is the most effective way to break through patterns of dissatisfaction and harm to discover the #balance of co-creating with others and the forces of life. #Practicing and #witnessing the effects of change through choice in one's personal narrative supports the sustainability of #trust and #confidence with oneself as the journey continues. One of the most inspiring parts of life is that we have choice. We always have the choice to experience life events from different #perspectives, to assess and refine our values, to learn new ways to achieve what nourishes the authentic #soul or serves the #ego, and the opportunity to choose again. One may not be able to change the past, specifically, but the trade-off for this is that an individual can witness it and #evolve one’s perceptions of trade-offs when choosing to walk the intentional or unintentional path in the future.
The interwoven existence of trade-offs will always bring the awareness of gains and losses. Perceptions of #loss may create a sense of #grief and resistance that burden the capacity for receptivity to the #gains on the horizon. Time also affects an individual’s experience of gains and losses, invoking patient #anticipation or #disregard, depending on the strain time casts over the circumstance. Continuing to reflect on #PersonalValues and perspectives, revealing #BlindSpots in prior #choices made, enables opportunities for discovering gains and losses one incurred without realizing. The simultaneous experience of grief and #appreciation through relinquishing and being #OpenToReceive is a cornerstone in the #AlchemicalProcess that empowers #sentient embodiment in a physical world. Embracing #AwarenessOfSelf and being intentional in the choices an individual makes solidifies the alchemy that takes place in these moments. This potentiates the #SkillsRequired to find enjoyment and peace for the outcomes of each trade-off. The #acknowledgment for the alchemy of trade-offs advocates a journey toward #sovereignty and #fulfillment of the #AuthenticSelf.
~ Open your hands to feel what is asking for release and what is coming to be received. Open your eyes deep within to evaluate intentions and values that honor the authentic self. Center your feet and feel the pivot that resonates with the wisdom of your own harmonic decree. ~
Excerpts from the Writings of Julie Hightman