The Merry Go Round

Recently I was on a shamanic journey into the nonphysical realm. I found myself with my client on a merry go round. She was a child and was going round and round and up and down. At first I thought I had found her there because of her love of horses, but after a couple of minutes I realized that she did not really want to be there. She was looking at the other rides at the carnival and wanted to be on the roller coaster or even the farris wheel, but found herself unable to get off the merry go round. Any time she would attempt to stop the merry go round and get off, there would be a stern voice behind her, urging her to stay on, that this is where she belonged. So in order to compensate for her distaste for the merry go round, she would tune in to the feelings of the children on the other rides. She could almost feel how they felt riding the other rides, and by doing so, found herself in a small way able to enjoy the other rides as well.

My client, when I had related this story to her, admitted that she had spent a lot of time daydreaming, while in school and other necessary activities. The adults in her life were always bringing her back to reality. As children it is quite normal to daydream, and probably even healthy. When we are children we are closer to our higher selves than when we become adults. Children are very in tune with themselves and their surroundings, and when something is unpleasant or maybe just not fun, are quite able to "check out", in a way, go to a place that is in a different reality.
I remember as a child I did this quite frequently myself.

My message to this person was that it is okay to get off the merry go round and experience different realities. I guess the message that I get is that so many times our lives unfold in a particular way. We are taught that this way is the right way and that all other ways are wrong. I remember being taught in Sunday School that the way of Christianity was the straight and narrow path that led to life and that the way to destruction was to follow the wide path, the path that most of the world followed. Only by following Jesus could we be assured of salvation. I believed that for many years, and never wondered what the other religions taught or believed, for they must all surely be wrong. But one day it occurred to me, what if I am wrong? How would I know who is really right if I have no idea what the other religions believe? Now my belief system has evolved even more than that. What if everyone is right? What if everyone is wrong?

This parable of the merry go round can reach even farther than our chosen belief system. What if it has to do with our chosen lifestyle. Just because we have grown up on the merry go round doesn't mean that those who have chosen the farris wheel are wrong. They have just chosen to experience life in a different way.

At this point in my life, I have to believe that love prevails. If someone believes that the tree in his backyard is God, and that someone loves that tree, and decides to go about the world saving all the trees, then that person is right. Love is the deciding factor. I think that what we believe about God or life is not as important as what we do about it. If no harm comes from someone's belief system, then it is okay. I think God is okay with that too. The deciding factor is "do no harm." Let all you do be done in love. I have found messages from God in all sorts of places. At a certain point I had to get off the merry go round of my belief system that told me that God only speaks to certain people and in certain ways. This opened me up to a whole world of messages that come to me in a myriad of ways. I have heard messages from God come to me as I am sitting out in my garden and watching the squirrels play and the way in which they play gives me a message about how my day is going to unfold.

What does the merry go round represent to you? Have you been feeling like you are going around the same circle you have been going around for years, unable to get off and experience the other rides in the carnival of life? I am here to tell you, it is okay to get off the merry go round. Try something different. See the world through someone else's eyes. Look at life through a different viewpoint. You may decide you like the merry go round and decide to get back on. But at least you will know.