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Back! Things got a bit much, and writing here had to be put on hold. But things have simmered down and so I’m able to share here again.

Needing to comfort myself and build some sort of motivation to keep things going so as to be somewhat adroit in dodging the many grasping hands of depression, I stumbled into the thought: what if our world is as it is by our choosing? What if before we dive down or up into this life, we got to decide the kinds of traps we want to set for ourselves, and what we encounter here is what we chose.

Say, we compared several choices and believed what we are facing now as what we would love to overcome in this life? However, an integral part of the adventure is that we are unable to remember the reasons when we are here.

Of course, this is pure speculation (somewhat influenced by St. Augustine’s thoughts on memory* as read and discussed in my mysticism class from last semester). However, if this is so, then whatever issues come our way we can believe them solvable, for they are then issues of our own choosing.

The challenge then would be to not give up and to keep thinking: why would I put myself in this mess? then step outside the situation and look at it from various angles, and see how best to settle it. In a weird way, this transforms that which is often an annoyance to be a little bit less so. It also helps to decrease the frustration that often accompany such unwanted situations. It encourages positive thinking in that you believe it is going to be solved; the question though is how are you going to solve it? And will you give yourself the chance to solve it, or experience it as you ought to? In my attempts to tackle situations in this manner, I’ve come to realized that a good dose of patience, and humor is necessary to endure the trials and errors.

Happy Monday!
—
Jane
* St. Augustine Confession, Book X