I am making a conscious effort at communicating better because I believe this is one area of my life that needs development.  As a natural thinker I tend to keep my thoughts to myself instead of communicating them effectively.  Don’t get me wrong, I am an excellent communicator, but, only when I want to discuss the topics that interest me.  However, when I’m talking about improving my communication skils, I’m referring to my human connection and communication with others.  I am speaking of developing my ability to communicate my thoughts on a level that allows the other party to understand or create their own conclusions of the facts I present.  Often times I forget that people do not think like me and that creates frustration in both myself and the other person because there is a huge communication gap.

My inability to communicate stems from my lack of awareness in reading others needs.  I recently told you that I read a book by Jan Spiller who explains certain traits that we need to work on in this lifetime in order to develop ourselves spiritually.  The main lesson for me in this life is communication.  I am a very informed individual, however, I tend to keep all the knowledge I have attained to myself.  What purpose does all this studying serve if I cannot teach others of my findings?  I naturally isolate myself and avoid discussing certain topics because I feel others will not understand me.  Most of the time that I did try to discuss my findings I was shut down by the audience.  They either lost interest or it just didn’t mesh well with their beliefs.  I realize today that the information I presented is not what they shut down, but rather, my approach and how I presented the information.

I mentioned before that I have a tendency to think others already think like me.  When in fact everybody in this world has a very unique way that he/she thinks.  What I need to focus on in this life is to connect deeper with mankind on a human level, not just a worldly and universal level.  I need to stop assuming that everyone will understand my words because I understand it.  I have all this information in my head about how to attain spirituality and enlightenment, however, it is not being properly conveyed because I am not actually connecting with others.  In this life, I am here to learn how to communicate these lessons to others in a way that will allow others to become enlightened on their own.  Going forward I need to express my ideas as thoughts that I incept into their minds and have it simmer there for a while.  I am here to create a ripple effect.  Although I may not get my point across by doing this, I will connect with people this way because I got them thinking of something their minds never realized or had knowledge of.

If anyone ever watched the movie Inception, they will understand what I mean.  My approach needs to be catered to each individual by learning and understanding their needs based on their current life situations.  After connecting, I should communicate my ideas by way of asking their opinions on it.  I shouldn’t just talk about my idea, rather I should discuss the idea with the other party.  Have them give me insightful opinions based on their knowledge, even if they are not knowledgeable on the subject.  By not judging others and actually actively listening to their feedback I am giving the other person a chance to see things from my perspective and voice their opinion on the matter.  By having them discuss the topics they engage their mind in a subject that they possibly never thought about.  This is real communication.  I didn’t have to force anyone to believe what I believe, instead I got them forming their own conclusions, whether correct or incorrect.  This creates a ripple effect in their mind and allows them a chance to research the topics on their own and learn more about it in their own time.

My personal challenges have helped me relate to others in a way I never imagined.  Now, I know that I need to keep connecting with others in the way I know how, while improving my communication skills.  I have to practice communicating better and I can do this by not judging, actively listening and asking questions that allow the other party to participate.  A real teacher can only open doors for his/her students. A teacher cannot force a student to walk through that open door. I am learning that I am that teacher in life that will open your minds door. I am here to open doors for anyone who is seeking enlightenment, whether its in love, life, spirituality, or etc..

Time to reflect:

Have you ever felt like you are a teacher, however, your students are just not listening?  Maybe it’s because you are the person not listening.  Think about it.  Everyone you have encountered, have you actually listened to their side without already judging or making your own assumptions?  I urge you, that if you are a teacher of this lifetime, open yourself to the knowledge others have by asking questions and getting to know their mind.  This is the only way two minds can exchange ideas.  So, accept others for their opinions without judgement and help open their minds by opening your own first.

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ~ William Arthur Ward

I recently read this book called Astrology of the Soul by Jan Spiller and I was completely blown away.  This book discusses Nodes and how they drastically affect a persons personality and characteristics based on past life experiences.  The North Node and South Node of the moon are direct opposites of one another.  The Nodes represent points of ones karmic imbalance.  Meaning, the characteristics you developed in past lives have a natural tendency to creep up in your current life even if they don’t make sense to the type of person you are in this life.  The North Node represents the kinds of experiences that we must work on to develop our karma and to allow spiritual growth.  The South Node represents those experiences and qualities that come naturally to us and are over-developed from past lives.  By understanding these two Nodes we can learn to apply the lessons we are meant to master in this lifetime.

The reason why I am writing about this is to share how amazing this book really is.  If we all took the time to dig deep and understand our invidual personalities and how they affect the type of choices we make, we could attain happiness and fulfillment a lot quicker.  By understanding the type of natural tendencies you have (which may be negative tendencies) you can avoid making poor choices.  By understanding the type of weak characteristics you have and need to develop, you can make more conscious choices to improve your life.  Understanding the balance between the two Nodes can help you become a more effective human being.

We all have natural tendencies that get carried on somehow.  I am sure you all experienced this at some point in your life.  Think about it for a second.  Have you ever wondered how you are interested in certain topics or how you always end up making the same type of choices over and over again?  For example, I love philosophy, history, religion, science and etc..  After analyzing my Nodes I was able to determine that in my past lives I was a philospher who was always on a quest to find universal truth.  When I read this, it blew my mind.  It totally makes sense.  The family I grew up in, the environment I come from and my surroundings, in this life, does not have any connection to those subjects.  My family is not politcal, philosophical, religious, or scientific.  I come from a middle class average family with minimal interests and I always wondered how I fit in.

In my past lives I have always been one to isolate myself and seek universal truth on my own.  This is something that I have mastered and this tendency, I noticed, does come up in my current life.  When I feel overwhelmed or stressed my natural tendency is to isolate myself from everyone around me.  I retreat and shut down and I stop communicating with others because I feel misunderstood.  I feel unaccepted because my thoughts don’t match the rest of society.  The lessons I am supposed to learn in this life is not what I have already mastered in previous lives, ie. searching for universal truth.  The lesson in this life is to communicate better.  I am meant to develop better communication habits and I am given that enviroment to do so.  I have a large family and one of the biggest problems we all face is communicating effectively with one another. I am also the oldest of many young cousins and they all look up to me.  I am supposed to be a teacher in this life and help those around me become enlightened to the truths that I have already mastered previously.

So, in this life, my lesson is to become a better communicator.  I am here to master the art of connecting deeper with humans and understanding them better so I can enlighten them effectively.  I am here to learn about different human personalities and pass along my universal truths so they too can grow spiritually.  When I think about this, everything in my life makes sense.  My role in my family, in my community, amongst my friends and colleagues all point to me being that teacher in their lives that will guide them to finding their true selves.  So, I leave you all with this information to help enlighten you.  By sharing my knowledge and communicating the “truths” that I know of and have experienced, I hope you can make more effective choices in your life that will lead you to reaching your full potential in this lifetime.

“We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more.” ~ Carl Jung