Study well → get good grades → have a high-paying job → get married → have children → be a good parent → die.
The world already provides a standard template on how to live one’s life. Following it means you are on track. Deviating from it means you are preparing yourself for disaster, and that causes anxiety for many.
But what if you have been here in this world multiple times already? And in every lifetime, because you forgot, you always embarked on that standard journey—and now your soul craves something new?
If I browse my social media feeds, I always notice that people, including myself, want to travel to different places. Traveling is now a measure of living a good life. Perhaps it’s because airline tickets are cheaper now and there are lots of information available online. However, it was not the norm before. A few decades ago, if you worked abroad, it meant you were the sacrificial lamb—working hard for the benefit of your family. Today, being abroad means pleasure in many people’s minds.
It just crossed my mind—perhaps many people have already lived the standard template for multiple lifetimes, and now their souls just want the freedom to find new ways to spend their lives.
I remember my past-life regression sessions. I took three different sessions from different practitioners, with a few years in between. In the first session, two lifetimes were uncovered. In the second session, four (although the PLR method was different from the first and third), and in the third session, three lifetimes. The lifetimes uncovered in the first and third sessions were the same, and what I saw were exact scenarios—with much more detail in the third session. I am not sure if what I saw was real events or just symbolism created by my unconscious mind. However, I gained some perspectives about my current circumstances from that.
Moreover, it was funny to encounter the same souls—just in different bodies—lifetime after lifetime, resolving karmic consequences from past lives in the present. The universe truly does not forget, even if we do.
I didn’t see “…and they lived happily ever after” in the glimpses of my previous lifetimes. That line truly belongs to fairy tale books, not real life. Perhaps since they were only glimpses, only the important moments were shown.
Life presents us with choices, and each choice has consequences. Sometimes the choice is made by you; sometimes it’s made by someone else—but it still affects the trajectory of your life. I remember a scene in Emily in Paris, when someone said he prefers French movies because they often have tragic endings, unlike American films—because that’s what life really looks like.
Our current circumstances are the product of previous actions and choices. In making choices, there will be collateral damage or consequence. That collateral damage also carries energy that you may need to deal with later on.
But I’d say, even though there were challenges in each lifetime, I can feel that in some lifetimes I was happy, and in others, I was miserable. Perhaps a perfect life is a myth. You cannot have it all. Utopia cannot be found in this world—at least not yet.
I remember there are people who, when I ask, “How are you?” They just share their glorious lives and hide their struggles. No matter how many years you’ve known them and you call each other “friends”, you know you’re not quite there yet—unless they bare their soul to you and you see how human they really are.
Back to my original thought (toink!), I think following the standard template is not for everyone. If you want to travel, then go. If you want to settle down the traditional way, then go for it, too. If you want to settle down with someone and travel together, even better (meow!).
Life presents us with choices and opportunities, and sometimes, you cannot have it all. Either way, there will always be collateral damage. I just wish that next time, I will be someone’s choice and not their collateral damage (not again, haha).
So choose what you cannot live without. Choose what your heart keeps going back to—because regret is more painful than mistakes.
–G.A.