Riding the Spiral

Blog post By Nicolle Aleman

Years ago, a wise woman told me that our lives are traveling on a spiral pattern. We don’t really come full circle, she said, but patterns do repeat often in our lives. Because we are on this spiral, we are able to look across the circling lines of our past, access our memories and use that hard-won wisdom to make better decisions.

I considered this and then cracked “Is it a downwards spiral or an upwards spiral?” Without blinking, she replied kindly, “That would depend entirely upon you!”

I see this spiral pattern emerging a lot in my own life and when that happens, her words always return to me. Sometimes positive patterns arise, like how I always feel like taking care of my body in the spring and I seem to quietly dive into hibernation during the colder months without even realizing it. Knowing this, I’m able to recognize my old pattern and make sure that I make appropriate adjustments to my diet and exercise routines so my health doesn’t suffer when the clouds come in. I know that when the light returns, my desire to be social returns with it and I get to laugh and play with my community with renewed vigor. It’s something to look forward to while I am recharging my batteries under piles of blankets!

And of course, there are those pesky patterns we’d rather not see return to our lives. For instance, I sometimes notice that old conflicts repeat themselves with completely different, unrelated people in my life. It occurred to me recently while reading the email of a person who was upset with me that she was using almost the exact same hurtful words of a former friend with whom I’d argued eight years prior. They don’t know each other – what could this mean?

When I’m able to remove myself from the heated emotion of a situation like that, it’s easy to recognize the pattern. “Oh it’s you again,” I’ll sigh internally. The key, of course, is sidestepping the path of least resistance – that familiar, steady slide into Victimville – “Why does this always happen to me?” and realizing that the common denominator in every single negative conflict in my life is me. What lesson do I need to learn this time that I didn’t fully get the last time around? How can I choose to react differently now that will be in alignment with my highest self? When I look back on this conflict and how I responded to it, what will I be proud of and what will make me cringe?

The Spiral is not a new symbol, of course. It represents growth and evolution and is said to be the path that we walk on our way back to the Creator. This sacred pathway is often cluttered with obstacles that may look annoyingly familiar as we ascend in our consciousness. When we run into these obstacles, it’s an opportunity for us to ask ourselves where we can heal that we weren’t fully healed before. What more is there to learn? If we consider that the Spiral is a path specifically tailored to each of us to help us grow where we need to grow during our time in Classroom Earth, the obstacles might not look so threatening anymore. Suddenly, every interaction becomes sacred. We are able to recognize what helps us grow out of our own imaginary prisons of limiting beliefs. Consider it the Universe’s make-up exam that we get to take as many times as we need to until we pass. Maybe these lessons even traverse lifetimes. It isn’t that we’re slow learners…some of us just like to be thorough.

Do I react perfectly every time I hit these old stumbling blocks? Absolutely not! I’d like to think that I get a little more graceful every time, and sometimes, I might even be right. The more I learn, though, the more grateful I am to be alive and the more determined I am to dance up and around this Spiral of life.