Integritus Prime

Recently I read the fabulous book, When Everything Changes, Change Everything, by Neale Donald Walsch. Mom (Dr. Margaret) read it before me, and was mesmerized by it. The book is masterful in how it lays out how and why change happen, and why we resist it so much. The cincher is – he exposes some insights that are so convincing about what change really is, and why we should embrace it.

Here are the three big epiphanies I took away from this book, based on my own experiences as a behavior change practitioner, spiritual learner, and flawed human being:

1. YOU control your reality: Our being, says Walsch, is our soul, from which our consciousness flows. This consciousness gives us awareness, perspective, and perception. Our beliefs come from our perspectives and perceptions, and beliefs in turn guide behavior. When an event occurs, the data our brain gathers about it informs our truth, our resulting thoughts, emotions, and experiences, which in turn create our reality. Therefore, we are always creating our reality based on these aspects of our being. Walsch also uses this framework to explain why we get triggered – we are holding perspectives, perceptions and beliefs about certain behaviors, and we snap back to old realities when the same behavior happens in the now and triggers past pain.
2. Change is happening FOR you: Walsch explains that we are souls having human experiences. We are here to go through those experiences. Therefore, when we go from one experience to another (a change), it’s because at the soul level we are ready to evolve through our next experience. In some sense, we have asked for the change. The change that comes into our life is happening because our soul asked for it, and it comes when our soul is ready to evolve.
3. ALL change happens for the best: Walsch calls this the answer to everything. He posits that the soul is directing the changes in our life. The soul is wise and brings us change when it’s time to evolve. When we look back upon some of the most difficult hardships in our lives, we realize they happened for the best, to bring us to where we are now. Walsch claims that this is evidence that all change is happening for our good. Therefore, we must think of change not as a disruption, but as an ally.

Another fascinating point Walsch makes is that life nourishes life through the process of life. This statement is very similar to what I’ve learned in the science of biomimicry (emulating nature): life creates conditions conducive to life. As elements of Nature and beings who are alive here and now, change is our greatest learning and leverage so we can evolve according to our soul’s wisdom. A beautiful and somewhat detached way to approach life and it’s ups and downs. Share with me your thoughts on this perspective.