After meeting with a great group of people this evening to discuss the Law of Attraction, amongst other things, I came home feeling compelled to write.

This is a fascinating process for me - to listen, to absorb, and to find myself resonating here and there, and then this evening - I hit this place where I felt very stirred up inside.

What is this? Where does this feeling come from?

My studies lately have found me contemplating two concepts.

The first idea is the idea of how we emerge from a state of victim-hood to a state of empowerment. And what is important about this concept is that it does not happen all at once, in one fell swoop… nor does it happen at an intellectual level. Moreso, it happens here and there, and builds upon itself. You realize your power in places in your life, and reflect upon that power, and look for it elsewhere, and lo and behold - it is there also. And with each step, you must also let go of your blame and victim stories… and this is not at all an easy thing to do - especially if you — as most of us have done - if you have attached yourself to a part of that story.

In other words - if you have built a part of your identity around a blame story, then it may turn out to be very difficult for you to release that story, because your ego - your YOU - will want to hold onto every piece of itself.

Many of us do this with some part of our lives - so don’t beat yourself up. I am writing this down here only to acknowledge and recognize that this is a substantial undertaking in some ways, although it is also truly the easiest thing in the world because all you have to do is *LET GO*.

But before I forget - let me comment on the second idea I have been contemplating quite a bit lately - and that is the idea of Unity - as in… the idea that we are truly ALL ONE… that God is ONE infinite source of energy that is expressing itself through us so that it can witness itself - the idea that there is truly NO boundary separating me from you… that we are both an emanation of God, and a part of the great ONENESS that is God.

And so - when the discussion this evening turned to the idea that organized religion has somehow hurt and controlled vast numbers of humans over the centuries - I found myself in a unique place. On the one hand, I had my blame story inside me, ready to roll. I am a recovering catholic. I know all too well what all that guilt and all that dogma can do to a young person.

And at the same time - I have this awareness with me now… this feeling that NO - We Do What We Choose… we are powerful beings - each and every one of us.

There are no stupid masses, as I have often feared. There are no poor victims of power and authority. There are all sorts of people with all sorts of motivations - yes. There are things that happen every minute of every day that I detest, as there also many more things that happen that I find beautiful… but BOTH of these are JUDGEMENTS that I am placing upon the actions I learn about through my reading or observing - and nothing that I can do can truly make me aware of the inner experience of the participants - so why should I be investing any of my energy into trying to figure any of it out? It is not really my business.

What I am coming to see is that if you are learning to recognize your own power in life, and learning to take full responsibility for this amazing creation that is YOUR LIFE… then I believe we should see this as an emanation - as a ripple effect of GOD living its life through us. I believe we are all ONE SPIRIT - connected in ways that we cannot easily understand at an ego level. I believe that we are all an expression of - an instance of the one source of all that is… we are an indivisible part of the ALL-ness of the Universe, and as such - we can and do tap into that ALL-ness all of the time. We are divine - and we are base. We are indeed “extra-ordinary”, if you will.

As such, we are powerful beyond our own understanding. And despite appearances - this powerfulness can come in any shape and size. Where one of us may look and judge and see a sad, victim story — there in that very drama, there may be a powerful soul at work - learning an amazing lesson.

Where some of us may look upon entire epochs of time and see whole masses of victims of environmental or political forces - there in that place, there may be mass groups of souls undergoing training and learning that we are not able to comprehend.

This is not a rationalization on my part.

This is a realization.

This is a realization that I have lived through what could easily be perceived as a “difficult time”… that things have happened in my life recently that could cause some to feel pity - but what they would be missing is that in reality - I have undergone the most amazing training and learning experience that I could ever imagine.

Where some might see “loss” in my life, I see liberation.

Where some might look upon my life and see that I have taken blow after blow from fate - I see that on a soul level, I have brought about a change in my life that would leave me absolutely no choice but to change, and to drop the tapestry of illusion that I have so carefully crafted over the years, and to finally bare my soul to the unflinching unemotional reality of what my *real* life is all about.

I am no victim to the events of my life. I am the beneficiary.

But I have to say - the difference between the two lies in choice. It was my choice to make, and I am please to share that I feel that I have made the right choice.

It is the choice each one of us is presented with time and again in life. Each and every time that life presents us with a challenge - we can choose the dis-empowered path of blaming someone or something for our pain, or we can decide that life is what we make of it, and we will make the best of what is handed to us - no matter what.

And I only say this now - with all the love in my heart - because I have made the victim choice plenty of times in my life… and I know full well that this is not a linear set of hurdles that we clear, safely knowing that we will be forever free of these same challenges in the future. No. These challenges come to us in different areas of our lives at different times, and we are always, always, always learning.

What I would like to close with is this - that we are all One. I want to say to you that when you fall victim to someone else’s behavior or intentions - it is an illusion. We are all one. As such, no one else’s spirit can actually do you any harm - as their spirit is your spirit.

Likewise - when you make the empowered choice, and see that you are a divine and empowered being with full access to all of what the Universe has to offer… when you bring this awareness into your life - you are benefiting EVERYONE around you, and EVERYONE on this planet. You may not see it with your eyes - but trust me - it is happening all around us, now — every single day.

This is why I felt so stirred up during the discussion at tonight’s event - I was with these amazing people who are learning all about their own individual power, and yet I felt that they were blaming some abstract force for contsraining groups of individuals… and all I wanted to say was NO - it was their choice, and there is no POWER outside of each and every one of us — AND — we are in no place to judge the inner experience of others…

We are all one, and as such, we are all growing and learning together. So even when I consider the group of people I was chatting with this evening — it is not that I am right and they are wrong, of course, but moreso that our different perspectives can blend and inform us of many different ways of looking at things.