How To Awaken Through Love, Not Suffering

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“Why invite suffering, when you can consciously awaken through Love.”

This thought came to me as I was reflecting on a recent event that happened in which someone I know nearly drowned. It was one of those traumatic events that we wouldn’t willingly invite into our life, but nonetheless happen, and ultimately lead us to awakening in some way and making changes within ourselves for the better.

But what if we consciously make the effort to awaken, rather than unknowingly allow life to present us circumstances that often cause us suffering? What if we take time to observe our behavior, self-correct negative habits, and acknowledge our spiritual nature, thus bring ourselves into greater alignment with a sacred part of ourselves. To do so often requires us to first recognize the good in our life, rather than what we don’t yet have. When we recognize our blessings, we naturally connect with Truth. And Truth is found in the divine Source of creation that flows through us.

We spend most of our lives trying to control things, people and situations. After all it is a natural part of this human experience as we innately seek to be happy and feel good about ourselves and our life. However, in our search for happiness and fulfillment, we can find ourselves lost in believing that if we get this or that in life, then we will be happy. This is often not the case.

How we are encouraged to awaken.

Fortunately, we are infinitely and divinely guided in our life. As reflected in nearly all religious and spiritual teachings, there is an energy of love that lives within each and flows throughout all of creation. It is what you would refer to as the Creator — be it “God”, “the Universe”, “the Way”, et al.

We may not always feel this energy, but it is always there. And it works to gradually awaken us to what matters most and to any areas we need to change for the better.

It’s expressed in Divine Providence by Emanuel Swedenborg, for example, that God is constantly focused on the goal of bringing us into heaven but will not do so without our consent. And that when we stray from that destination through our actions — whether intentionally or unintentionally — we will be course-corrected to lead us away from “evil”, and toward “good”. The way that this can translate in your life is when something dramatic happens that causes stress or suffering enough that it inspires you to take a look at your life. The following is an example.

After Nearly Drowning, He Changed the Way He Saw His Life…and His Wife

John, who I’ve known since I was a teen, is a man of underlying good. Yet he’s also known to disregard the feelings of others for his own gain, doing what he wants, even if it means hurting those closest to him — including his wife of twenty-plus years. Nearly drowning would ultimately serve as an awakening to his behavior and open his eyes to the gift of a loving wife still by his side.

A self-proclaimed “man set in his ways”, and at nearly 80 years old, John found himself one day at the mercy of the unknown when he accidentally fell into the deep end of the pool.

It was a brisk winter day when he decided to clean the leaves that had fallen. Dressed appropriately for the cold weather — jeans, two shirts, puffy vest, work gloves and heavy work boots — he proceeded to do what he had done so many other times. Only on this day, he lost his footing and fell onto the weighted pool tarp that covered the pool.

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The tarp immediately surrounded him and began to quickly pull him under. Seemingly alone in his backyard, he began to panic.

As fate would have it, John’s wife happened to be working on the side of the house when she heard a big splash. Upon coming around the corner and seeing him thrash around the pool, she immediately grabbed a long-poled pool sweep and reached it out to him, pulling him to the edge.

Too weak from the fight and frigid water to climb out himself, John’s wife, despite her small frame, managed to pull him out of the pool, get him warm, and calm him so he wouldn’t be overcome by shock.

Was it pure luck that she was outside to hear him on this day? Or was it God working to awaken John a little more through the experience of nearly drowning, but having his wife there to pull him out?

After the experience, John did, in fact, reflect on his behavior and the ways that he had been treating his wife, and how she could have left him long ago, yet she did not. Had she left him — as she expressed doing throughout the years — he would have surely drowned.

While God does not make bad things happen, as Divine Providence states, God may allow these types of events, if good can possibly come from them, and if they bring us closer to better ways of living. We are given the chance to awaken and the chance to change our ways — to turn toward God and not away from God through our actions.

How to awaken through Love, not suffering.

We don’t have to wait for a traumatic event to awaken us. But these types of events are often the most powerful in shifting our lives into clearer focus. They call us to live by more loving values, appreciate what we have, show kindness more often, and see the preciousness of life.

When we practice gratitude daily, love and care for others and take time to get clear on what matters most, we can awaken through Love, not suffering.

“Heaven exists anywhere when that truth is lived and felt, understood, infinite grandeur, splendid understanding, indescribable happiness and peace. Love is the greatest truth the supreme order of all.” – Love is the Seed: Teachings from the Spirit World