The spiritual teacher Michael Beckwith says that there are four ways that our life can appear to us. I love these distinctions because they parallel lots of technical scholarship on adult development, but they use terms that my clients (and I!) more easily understand.
We all vacillate among each of these four ways, in a given day, even within the span of a few moments.
The four ways are as follows—
Life happens to me.
Life happens by me.
Life happens through me.
Life happens as me.
When we are in “To Me,” life looks like it is out there, determined by our circumstances. We are victims of whatever is happening to us.
When we are in “By Me,” we see that we have options and control. We are no longer victims, and we realize our own power.
When we are in “Through Me,” we begin to connect to something larger than us, such as a greater sense of purpose.
When we have fleeting glimpses of “As Me,” we are in awe and wonder, and realize we are connected to and in everything.
Each of these perspectives has advantages and limits, and I will spend my next few posts writing about them.
Does this resonate with you? How has each one shown up for you, and what have you realized because of it?