Hi, this is Mariane Parisi with my first-ever “blog.”

This week I had lunch with a woman who attended the preview on December 3rd.

Did you ever have an experience where, you’ve only just met someone, but it seems as if you’ve known each other for a long, long time? Right away, you feel an “inner knowing” about them, while at the same time, you’re learning even the most basic personal information about each other. Between these two “virtual” strangers, there is a visceral connection that some people call “past life energy”—whether or not you believe it, or are even aware of it.

The two of you immediately begin to dance to a song that only the two of you can hear, the connection is immediate, strong, and instant. Sometimes that instant connection means trust, common ground, and fast friendship. However, sometimes that instant connection means, even before you even know one another very well, that you mis-communicate, feel misunderstood, or step on each others’ toes. All at once, your sensory system is being downloaded a ton of information, none of which can be validated or verified…only felt and translated. The problem is, when your karmic friendship is a positive one, there’s no problem. What about when your new karmic friend brings feelings of inadequacy, competitiveness, isolation, defensiveness, or the sense of being judged?

Let’s say, for just this moment, that past life energy does exist (and you should know that I believe it does), how do you actively heal a relationship of which you are not entirely aware of its origins? Well, you can begin by engaging your logical mind. Ask yourself, “Since I haven’t known this person for very long, why am I having such a strong reaction to them?” (The purpose of this question is to simply give your mind something to do while you get busy with the real work.) Now, begin to honestly notice your reactions to them. Notice what you say, what you want to say, and what you avoid saying. Notice it all, without judging it. Where did all this energy come from? It couldn’t have come from this “current carnation” of the two of you, because you barely know one another! Notice, if your reaction is so strong, that you want to move as far away from this person as possible. Why? You barely know each other. So, stop and check in. This is the moment (the person) from which you’ve spent years—maybe lifetimes—avoiding. And here they are again, represented by this new human being, presented to you as a gift from the universe for your health, healing, and well-being. And another thing, if you don’t face it now, you know you’ll meet one another again. So go ahead, dive in! Breathe. Stay engaged. Learn what you need to learn. Heal what ever is there to be healed. Be more interested in what’s on the other side of this “conflict” than in the temporary experience of the conflict itself.

You ever find yourself ruminating about the past? Thinking over and over about the mistakes you made, the opportunities you missed, the opportunities that you let slip through your fingers. And, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to make anything in your present-day life make any sense! You find yourself wondering what would have happened if you had made a different set of life choices; and you feel as if you’ve made all the wrong decisions, or that your life is in a holding pattern…permanently.

Time is an illusion. Time, in fact, is the grand illusion. And another thing, it’s important to remember that in hindsight, everything appears different than how it actually occurred. And, you know what? You already know all of this—intellectually speaking. So, how do you make a shift that impacts your present-day experience? Just let go.

Let go of your expectations about the past. Let go because it is unrealistic to believe that you could’ve made a single choice differently. In that particular moment, whichever moment you are considering, you were making the best choice you knew how to make. If you could step into a time machine, or walk into the movie screen of your life at that time, you would know that given everything that was going on, that person was making the best choice available. It’s only in this moment that you are aware of the possibility of a more enlightened choice. So, the key is to forgive yourself for the choices you think you made incorrectly. Those choices, good or bad, right or wrong, effective or ineffective; brought you to your current awareness. So, appreciate those choices for what they were…stepping stones along your life’s path. And like most journeys, it is difficult to realize, while en route, the importance of each step. So, let go. Let go of your judgements about yourself. Let go of your judgements about others. Let go of your expectation that you should already be where you are headed. Let go of everything, and connect with the value of today’s step. Just let go. Why do you have such difficulty letting go?

The difficulty in letting go stems from the belief that you are supposed to be perfect. Life is supposed to be perfect. We’re all looking for the fairy tale life. Prince or Princess Charming. Children Charming. Job Charming. Life Charming. And we should never experience pain, disappointment, embarrassment, anxiety, or fear. Or, if we do experience those things, there should be a guarantee that our fairy godmother will come and make it all better. My biggest life shift occurred when I stopped believing that, in any moment, the cavalry was coming to save me. That instead of waiting for the cavalry to come and save the day, I would be my own cavalry, and save my own day. It would be difficult to describe how liberating it was to stop waiting, and to simply get into action. However, I offer to you that there’s even a higher level of shift than being your own cavalry. Are you ready? What if there was nothing wrong? What if there was nothing from which you needed saving? What if things were “perfect” in their “imperfect” present-day state? Well then, you could just relax and enjoy the journey. Sounds like a great idea to me!

Jaimes McNeal

I must be honest, this “blog” thing is a little bit frightening for me. I have never seen myself as a writer. I have several books in me that I have always thought about, but I don’t know the first thing of what to do to get them out of me and put them on paper.