There is a saying, “Life is a journey, not a camp”. We are either moving forward or moving backwards, but we are never standing still. In the vast river of change we call life, any life form either moves with it, or is swept away to be replaced by another.

Lifeforms that consistently oppose life may, after many lifetimes, even lose the ability to incarnate into physicality at all. Lack of growth weakens the lifeforce at someone’s disposal. Without sufficient lifeforce and energy, the formation of a lower or physical body cannot take place. It requires an enormous amount of energy to create material form.

Because everything is in constant flux, balance cannot be stationary –it has to consist of movement. Many light seekers think of balance as always living in serenity and peace no matter what occurs. What they fail to understand is that by refusing to embrace the dark, they call it forth. Anything that we deny the right to exist by failing to acknowledge its contribution within the cosmos, is strengthened either within us or within our environment.

We are the microcosm of the macrocosm, but the macrocosm is anything but peaceful and serene. Although some parts of it may be tranquil, it is also destructive and explosive and gloriously passionate. The only constant is the matrix; the underlying grand scheme that gives the overall purpose and the allotted time and space within which creational cycles play out.

As we enter God-consciousness, we see the big picture. Not until we re-enter the human condition do we pay attention to the stormy ups and downs of life. Even as we cry and laugh once more in the drama of human life, we still keep our inner focus on the big picture; the perfection of the divine plan. Like the cosmic matrix that underlies the passionate drama of the cosmos, this large inner perspective underlies the stormy changes in our lives. It provides stability within flow, measure within movement.

Keeping our eyes fixed on the perfection underlying appearances can be called the first half of balance. It is the masculine, positive polarity of balance. Learning to bring balance to the movement or flow of emotion is the second half of balance, the feminine, magnetic aspect. If we have expanded vision, without allowing the balanced interaction of emotion to occur, growth stops and we start to stagnate. When emotion is denied the right to exist, it eventually surfaces as jagged and disproportionate; in other words, out of balance.

Shining Your Light
Traditionally, it hasn’t been safe to let our light shine; to demonstrate too great a passion or too deep a joy. It has brought about persecution from the tribe whose lack of luster becomes apparent by comparison. Tribes exist everywhere people see the safety of uniformity and these groups reject that which cannot be controlled.

When confronted with anything superlative that lies beyond the status quo, the tribe has the uncomfortable choice of either living with excellence in their midst and feeling less by comparison, changing their own behavior to match the new standard or, alternatively,
to eject from the tribe the ones who excel.

Throughout history those who have demonstrated great passion or joy have been all too frequently ostracized and shunned. The great ones in our midst have found that more often than not, the price of greatness has been solitude. But to still our inner song to conform to mediocrity is psychological suicide. We have come too far through space and time to be the wayshowers of this planet, to allow ourselves to blend into the grayness of the unaware masses.

Surrounded by our own inner family, driven by passion and sustained by joy, let us with courage walk the path of a life well lived. Let us fulfill our destinies as light beacons unto the world.

Excerpt from Almine's second book "Journey to the Heart of God". For more books, articles, retreats, meditations and much more, visit Almine's website: Spiritualjourneys.com