Autonomy -v- Authority – Discerning Decisions

Autonomy -v- Authority – Discerning Decisions

By Ian Mansell

Ask yourself: How could we live in such densely populated cities and towns if we didn’t have rules? If we didn’t all agree to drive on the same side of the road, and stop at red lights, life would be dangerous and chaotic. Right?

Clearly the balance between individual freedom and the need for social stability will never have an easy solution, as we can see from the recent uprisings across the world. Individual freedom versus the power of the state will always be a pendulum that swings according to the government of the day and the wishes of those who elect them. The frustration experienced by individuals who want to alter the policies of their government has caused huge expenditures of emotional energy: energies that may have been better spent elsewhere.

Self-determination – meaning to make your own decisions about how to run your life – has become a significant challenge to almost everyone in the industrialised societies we now live in, as we move from dictatorial systems (B-Zone energy) towards democratic environments (C-Zone energy). How can we live a self-determined life where some individual freedoms still have to be sacrificed for the common good, but we no longer feel respect for the authorities who used to make the rules for us?

What does Spirit have to say about this?

We know that in a democracy the power of the government only exists because the people have granted them that power to make decisions on their behalf whilst balancing, respecting and tolerating opposing ideas. We want to believe that those we choose to have a larger spiritual picture that is required to lead the country and make those decisions.

As the world evolves and we change our own states of consciousness, we alter the way we view our life. We make a paradigm shift. One day we observe the world in a certain way, and then we change to a completely altered perspective once we elevate our level of awareness. It becomes more expanded. We understand a bigger picture ourselves of existence than we sensed was available previously.

We also have an expectation that the vision of our leaders to grow bigger with each day’s exposure, to swallow any pride and expand beyond any prejudices, to keep their decision-making fresh and to allow and keep themselves to be spiritually elevated in leadership. Of course there are always exceptions to this, particularly when we elect people because of our disinterest, greed or our own out-of-balance ideas at the time.

It is prudent to keep vigilant about who we have around us if they are in a position of making decisions that affect us – whether that is government, business, employers, family or others. Kristy Kaye discusses how the state of consciousness of our leaders, and how their decisions can affect us, in her book “The Constitution of Our Soul”:-

“If we are not the leader but rather one of the people being led, we may have a very clear idea in hindsight of the leaders who had good communication with their guidance and those who did not. The ones who were social and talking nonsense and deceiving us we know were not connected. Those who got drunk on the power of the opportunity and were playing games, misusing it for their own advantage or stimulation, we can say they were in their ego self, not their connected self, and were imposing flaws in their own aura. They will in their evolution need to address those shortcomings with all those affected by their actions.”

How to evaluate a decision?

We are now using more information to make a decision, and yet not finding the decision any easier. If anything, the choice may be more challenging. The conundrum that access to information does not equal easy decision-making is true whether we are planning our weekend errands, strategising a million-dollar business move, or making a health care choice. Why? One reason is that in order to use the information at hand, we have to be able to trust the raw data, trust the insights gleaned from them, and trust who is providing that information. But how can we determine their veracity?

The solution is discernment

As in all things, it comes down to discernment – our ability to tune into the sensitivity of our feeling nature (our soul part) and bypass the conditioned opinions, influences, bias and outside loyalties of our intellect. Our angels only communicate to us through our feeling nature. We get down to the truth of the matter – for us. Ask the question:-

“Is it in my best interests to trust this decision that has been made on my behalf?”

In other words, is there an echo in my feelings, resonating with the truth of this proposition?

We now know that to fulfil our spiritual purpose for being on this planet we need to be the master of our own ship, pivot from our feeling nature and use our intellect to organise and act on what we have discerned. No other person can truly know what our spiritual purpose for being on this planet is, because we are all unique products of all our past lives and we all have a unique inventory of issues we need to address for our own personal healing if we want to leave this lifetime with a feeling of fulfilment. Our feelings are the door to what our soul is telling us, and therefore our decisions and pathway are unique to us.

We as a society have lost touch with our feeling nature. But our feeling nature is who we are! Our soul part. The real us. Unique. Profoundly wise. Desperate for opportunities to expand our awareness, struggle with new challenges, overcome our weaknesses, and confront our fears. And to release our love unconditionally and to shower it over our world.

We see the consequences of this every day. One of the challenges for most people new to the Living Illumination program is to answer the question, “What are your feelings telling you right now?”

The pathway to self-determination:

Self-determination, therefore, begins with self-knowledge. Waling the pathways of self-acknowledgement and self-awakening and unblocking our ambition, action, achievement and advancement gives you a true understanding of your Personal energy.

Only when we know who we are and where we are coming from can we build a life for ourselves that addresses what we need to do next for our advancement as a soul. And no one knows better what those needs are than our guidance!

Naturally, our personal freedom has sometimes to be compromised for the sake of others in our community. Learning to relate to the needs of others around us, which we call empathy or compassion, is an essential aspect of everyone’s spiritual education too!

How much compromise is too much compromise? We can’t turn on a tantrum every time we don’t get our way, nor should we meekly submit to whatever tyranny our leaders inflict on us. Instead, we need to discern every situation with facts from our guidance and make a decision that is right for us, for that time and that place - one that they will back as being in our best interests.

Yes, the old adage is true: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

However, you can rest assured that, with practice, this process will start to occur instantaneously – at the speed of light - in your feelings.

And each decision you make like this – for your own best interests – becomes a stepping stone on your ladder to true self-determination.

Reach out through our website www.livingillumination.com or by connecting with us in person.

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Read other articles related to this topic:

1.  Master of My Own Destiny – Igniting The Fire Inside By Kristy Kaye
2. Manage My Anger -v- You Manage Your Stupidity! By Living Illumination
3. The ‘Divine Mystery Supreme’ of Self Determination – 8 Aspirations By Sue Mazur

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