What's so special about living on earth?

I realize that this may be a strange question to some of you but this is what I asked myself this morning as I started to take a long walk towards the ocean.  I woke up to a beautiful sunny blue sky, the air was crisp and the feeling of being alive brought me delight. As I started on my long walk, feeling the enchantment of the day I began to reflect on life.  My energy was awake and happy and I had no special agenda except to relax and enjoy the moment when this thought surfaced in my head and made me wonder why do we choose to come to earth at all.  I mean we come from a heavenly realm where everything is beautiful and complete 24/7 so why would I willingly give it up to come to earth where there is pain and suffering? 

Then as I continued my walk, I started to answer my own question.  I believe I came here for several reasons.  One is that I needed to appreciate the beauty that surrounds me daily.  I must admit I often take it for granted and assume that I will always have it to enjoy.  But that is really not true.  There are places in the world where people are deprived of the beauty that I take for granted.  It has allowed me to realize that I am privileged to have this beauty all the time, therefore, it would serve me more if I would express greater gratitude for all the blessings that I have in front of me.  You see, on the other realm we really do not have the duality that allows us to make a comparison. 

My second reason for coming to earth was to heal from many of my self-imposed doubts and fears but most of all I have grown to realize that my greatest shortcoming is my inability to trust.  Where did this lack of confidence or acceptance come from—is it a past life experience that causes me to distrust so strongly or is it a present life trait that must be dealt with?  I guess it really doesn’t matter—what does matter is my realization that I must stop my resistance and instead release my worry and fear because I also know that those emotions only cause me stress and great havoc to my emotional wellbeing.  I am always holding a conversation with God on this topic and I end up most of the time saying ‘But”.  [If you do not know what I am speaking about, you will need to read my previous blog article posted on 7-9-12 entitled: “ When the Universe speaks to you, there are no buts”…].

All I can say is, I hope God has a good sense of humor because He/She/It definitely needs it with me. I want to listen, I want to believe but then---my humanity kicks in and I question and move into my ‘But’ scenario where worry and fear reside.   Have you ever felt that way? 

One thought that came to me as I was writing this article is I am here to grow optimally, that is to my fullest potential.  This leads me to the expression that I often say to my grandchildren: “What are you doing today to be the best that you can be?”  It most certainly takes a lot of effort, improved knowledge and wisdom to peel away the layers of our illusions that stop us from living and being at our best. 

I want to free myself from my self-imposed delusional state of mind where I often try to manipulate the wisdom of the Creator to satisfy my emotional state.  This mental experience of asking myself the question:  What is so special about living on Earth has helped me shift my beliefs and inner conflicts so that now I can move into a higher state of awareness where I am more tolerate with my humanness and at the same time open and receptive to improving my relationship with the world in which I live. I probably will have many other reasons to share as I continue to think about this question but for the time being this is it for now.

This subject will definitely be one that will fill my mind for a long time to come but one thing is certain—I will be more mindful of my presence here and my reason for coming in the hopes that I can make a difference while I am here. 

Joan Marie Ambrose

Author, Creative Writer, Motivational Speaker