We're all Unique

Before we embark on this journey I feel it is important to to mention a few very critical points.

We are all different!  

That's right just as every grain of sand on a beach or every leaf on a tree is different and individual from every other, so are we. I am not so much referring to our physical looks here. Obviously we all look different from each other. What I mean is that our inner makeup or nature is individual. Let me explain what I mean by an example.

Without going into great esoteric detail, our life journey on earth is all about experiencing the certain things and learning the particular lessons that are needed for our personal growth. It's very similar and can be likened to enrolling for a particular course or seminar that we're interested in pursuing. 

So let's draw a bit of a parallel  Imagine a group of people booking in to study say a yoga course where upon completion a certificate of merit is presented. Remember we're just drawing an analogy here but the points made are very relevant to our life.

If we look at this situation what are some of the observations we can make about this?

Well firstly there are no guarantees that everyone is going to finish the course and get the certificate at the end. Even though the course is available to all there may be an endless number of reasons why this is so. We don't need to explore them in depth.

 But for the sake of illustration imagine that half way through the course one person lands a windfall in a lottery and then decides to go to the Pacific Islands for a tropical holiday the next day.  Or imagine another person simply has a change of interest and decides to drop out of the yoga course a few days after they start and pursue golf instead or something else. So the conclusions we can  draw from this are:  

Everyone is given equal opportunity to do the course

however

There are no guarantees that everyone will finish

Yes even though we are all given equal opportunity we may at any time change out minds and pursue something completely different. So there are no guarantees of results in life because we all can change our minds at any time.

Now take it a little further. Once again because we're all different, every  person doing the yoga course will have come from a totally different background. For example one student may have already done many yoga courses before and be very experienced and flexible in the body. For another person this may be the first yoga training they have ever done and it will be all quite new. Well most likely it will be a bit of a harder slog for the new person than the experienced.  

From this it can be seen that:

Everyone will find the degree of difficulty in doing the course very different

Of course this does not mean that the novice will not finish the course because it is harder for him than the seasoned yogi. In fact he may surpass the experienced student entirely and eventually get the certificate while the more advanced student may even drop out.

And then again even if both the students finish the yoga course. What happens after they get their certificates? Well both may embark on completely different life paths from there. No one knows what they'll chose except themselves. One may continue to further pursue yoga immediately. Another may chose to have a break and take it up at a later date. Another may never pursue it again and chose to go on a completely different path altogether.

The point being made here is that:

Our life's lessons are different from anybody else's and even if they happen to be similar then we don't necessarily learn them at the same time or in the same order

To summarize this section it can be said that in the experience of life:

1. We are all individual.

2. Everyone has equal opportunity.

3. There are no guarantees that everyone will learn the lessons they started out to learn.

4. Everyone will have different degrees of difficulty in learning their lessons.

5. Our life's lessons are different from anybody else's and even if they happen to be similar then we don't necessarily learn them at the same time or in the same order.

If we're all individual and there are no guarantees of results in life as explained above then there are no guarantees as to the results of applying the principles in this book. I'm just like the yoga teacher who's offering a course. It's available to all. But I cannot guarantee that all will finish it. 

You see I believe in being very realistic in life. To say that if you do so and so then you will achieve so and so is a gross oversimplification and very unrealistic. I therefore cannot make these claims. Things do change in life and sometimes very quickly and radically. Please always keep this in mind as you go through the book.

By the way I'm  not trying to put you off in any by way mentioning these things. Just  be aware of the many other influences that effect us continually. You never know what's around the corner.  So go for it then. Give it your totality. Enjoy it. You'll be guaranteed an illuminating journey  beyond your wildest dreams.