What is a What If…?
We tend to use What If…? to think about all the different things that might happen when we are confronted with a problem or a situation. We’re all familiar with the What if…? that leads down a road of fear to catastrophic possibilities, or just something that we don’t want to happen to us.
What if…? can also open the door to new, higher consciousness possibilities and solutions, to new sprouts. This simple phrase can help you expand into something different for you, a new path you haven’t considered before. Now that we have a deeper and more present connection with our Soul, we can begin to ask What If…?, knowing the divine is present in our choice to expand, to explore, to welcome something new and different.
A What If…? moment opens your mind to More, to a bigger picture than what you knew before. The key here is opening your mind or, at least, letting it go loose. We know that the mind is only aware of the past, what has gone before. Its attempts to solve or fix a situation are generated from this information. It might just be a sorting through of all the possibilities you already know about. What if I turn right instead of left? What if I look at this from another perspective? What if I move somewhere else?
However, if your focus is based in anxiety or fear, a What If…? moment begins to list all the potential awful things that could happen because you’ve experienced or heard about them already. If your focus is based in love and peace, then consciously inviting the presence of your Soul into the process helps you slip past the old thinking. It allows you to begin to receive information and perspectives from the divine that are new to you and, at times, to our world.
How to What If…?
You can shift your usual cycle of worry. You can stop the old flood of confusing thoughts and emotions, find a different way to answer ‘How do I fix problem?’, or ‘What do I do?’ or even ‘Please help me’. This shift begins with your awareness of the old pattern, the old way of trying to figure things out, of trying to cope with a problem.
Once you are aware that you are in that cycle of fear, you have choices. You can choose to continue down that path or you can choose to consciously invite the divine into the moment and discover more of who you really are. Remember that your Soul is always with you. It is your connection with higher states of consciousness, to the answers you seek and to your highest destiny. It is that aspect of the divine within you that holds you in its presence, hears your cries, feels your fear and lifts these old emotional entanglements from you. It holds the answers in your What if…? moments.
As you let go of the old (unconscious) patterns and begin to create new ones, your awareness of the presence of the divine becomes your safe place, your prayer garden. No matter where you are or what you are doing, as you consciously begin to acknowledge the presence of your Soul, you can relax into that new safe place with the divine. The more you choose to let your mind go loose, to allow your breath to open your heart space, the more room there is for your Soul to guide you. It’s no longer an anxious question of What if something bad happens to me? or What if I make the wrong choice? It becomes a loving conversation of Show me that which brings me joy, guides me to my heart’s desire, brings me closer to to my Soul’s purpose in this lifetime.
What If’s…? in My Journey
Although changes in my life came from a variety of different ways my Soul chooses to guide my thoughts and choices, two stand out as What If…? moments.
After I received my Ph.D. and was licensed as a psychologist, I settled into growing a small private practice. This was my passion, to sit with/be with people in emotional pain and offer support and guidance. However, the school loans loomed large, necessitating an infusion of funds more quickly. I began working for an organization that provided psychological testing for foster children in Los Angeles County (my introduction to the foster care system). As I became more familiar with how this testing fit into the system, I realized that no matter how often my recommendations included psychotherapy for the child and family, the mental health system at that time could not provide what was needed. There was not enough funding, the paperwork was horrific, the pay scale was extremely low. Not surprisingly, there were not enough therapists to fill this need.
I clearly remember lying on my couch at home one day, letting my mind wander after sifting through my frustration with this. I heard myself (my Soul?) say ‘What if I gathered therapists, helped them with the paperwork, and did their billing?’ I could feel the energy behind this new possibility, started learning about and creating new ways in which this could be done. From that moment, Counseling4Kids was born. Sprouting and growing through various iterations over the years, C4K became a $4 million mental health agency. With a staff of 25 and 75 therapists, we offered innovative ways to provide therapeutic services to foster kids and their families. And it continues today, 15 years after my departure.
The second What If…? moment was more like a long, drawn-out period of thinking about that first personal channelled reading I had in 2000. When my friend suggested I do this, my first response was ‘I don’t think so!’. That gradually morphed into ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m kinda lost anyway’ and I made the appointment. I spent the months after that experience thinking about what it all meant. It was foreign territory…and yet the message was compelling and my mind was curious about ‘What if…any of this is true for me?’ And, again, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m kinda lost anyway’ won the tug of war between the fear of something unfamiliar and the curiosity. I scheduled another personal reading 6 months later and here I am today inviting you to feel your way into What if…any of this is true for me?
Why What If…?
Our mind keeps us trapped in our old programming. Our Soul can and does intervene without our conscious awareness at times. As we realize that we are limited in our 3D thinking and choose to find ways to open to More, we can expand our connection with our Soul, feeling its presence with just a thought.
The way in which we approach What if…? moments has a strong impact on each of us. I allowed myself (quite timidly, at first) to explore ‘What if…I am lesbian?’ and ‘What if…the Bible really says it’s OK?’ I chose to feel through all the fear-based thinking, the black and white of my mind, release the fear, and then continue to choose the More no matter what. I opened the door to new relationships, deeper understanding and more peace and joy than I had hoped and prayed for. It was the beginning of the next chapter of my life.
By following my Soul’s guidance and my heart’s desire more recently, I wondered ‘What’s next?’ and then ‘What if I start a new nonprofit as a platform for sharing my experiences, my journey Home’. And here you are exploring new possibilities with me as I continue to bring more What if…? questions into our conversation.
Meanwhile, use your What if…? moments, in the presence of your Soul, to discover new possibilities. To bring more love, compassion, peace, and joy into your life, those around you and the world. To expand into Unity Consciousness. To create heaven here on earth. It can be that simple…
From my heart to yours,
Eloecea
2 Comments
Steven
Another really interesting “ question “ we are asked and encouraged to answer, or at least to BE OPEN to seeking and learning the solution to a puzzle in our mind. I have a very close friend who struggles with some past emotional trauma and cannot get out of the box of anxiety and negative outcomes she believes follow every turn, new path, or unexpected change in her life. This anxiety has morphed into a deep seated fear of virtually all unknown outcomes where she encounters new paths or options in her current world. The emotional and deeply personal trauma was experienced long ago, but it burdens her with fear even to this day. So impactful is this past pain that despite years of therapy and having found a supportive spouse and fulfilling work life she forecasts negative outcomes about far in the future events, and this negativity has impacted her ability to to see new paths and experiences as anything other than threats.
I would love to see her enter into the What If state of mind….. how do friends and family encourage and support my close friend to adopt this willingness to explore alternatives that are not fearful or do not have presumed negative outcomes ?
She long ago abandoned her Catholic faith, and has tried both pharmaceuticals and various therapy methods.
her anxiety has become paralyzing and is now impacting her intimate relationships due to a combination of fear, anger and innate pessimism. I have tried forwarding some of your previous material (😀 ) but the articles go unread.
I fear for an outcome that is becoming predictable in its arrrival.
I remain supportive , open to new ideas on this matter, and for now I ‘sit’ with my friend in this mindframe to simply BE with her , hoping a living presence will prevent a further negative slide
Any and all suggestions welcome from all who are on this blog site with us….
Thanks ✌️
Eloecea
I can feel your frustration and hopelessness as you have tried often and continue to look for ways to help your friend, Steven. You’re not alone in this…I suspect most of those reading this have been in similar situations. What if…you choose to shift your own feelings of frustration and helplessness? What would that feel like, look like for you? Your compassion for her will remain and yet your ability to love her as she is will be a change for her. One of the most potent ways to reach another is to do our own inner work and let others experience the difference…they might even notice a change and ask about how that happened. As you sit with her, deepen your compassion for yourself and her with your breath, find your safe place of love and joy, and then just let go and allow the divine to do its work.
There are other higher perspectives available that might assist you and your friend. Rather than go into them here in Comments, I suggest I meet with her or the three of us meet together to consider these and other ways you might help her. You can schedule that here. Thank you for sharing this, Steven – there is a path to More, always.