Living my everyday, ordinary life, I’m often guided by the great question, “What does it all mean?” On one level, I see myself amidst a larger human story—with family, friends, health, work, money, creativity, and scores of other components. Underneath the obvious unfolding narrative of human development lies another, deeper, story, a spiritual quest driven by incessant questions of my soul: “What’s this all about? Why is this part so easy? Why is this so difficult? Where are we going? Who are these people? Why am I with these folks and not others?” And so on. Through the Akashic Records, using the Pathway Prayer Process©, I’ve glimpsed some sane and useful insights. Perhaps they can be helpful to you as well.

Everyone has a unique life experience, and it is framed as a story. This incarnation is one of many, many stories; it is like a page in the book of all your lifetimes. I used to think that reincarnation was the way to reconcile the books of my life, so that I would one day arrive at neutral, or a zero balance. But, lo and behold, I began to recognize that the progression of lifetimes is an opportunity to awaken and accept the immutable perfection of my soul, even though my human self has been far less than perfect. Over time, it has become apparent that each incarnation is an opportunity to relinquish negative self-perceptions, so as to grow into unconditional self-love.

This lovely spiritual idea turns out to be more radical than I initially expected. It is pretty easy to love myself when I meet my standards of generosity, kindness, and respect. Yes, I certainly have had many lifetimes where I was a philanthropist or an enlightened leader. But, then, I have had some incarnations, not to be overlooked, when my challenges for self-acceptance have been Herculean. “Can I love myself even when I was a pirate? A scoundrel? Or fearful, a victim, a slave?”

Now, we’re entering the realm of unconditional love, which means no matter what. And this is the most riveting idea I have ever encountered in the Akashic Records: the purpose of living all of these lifetimes is to discover the immutable goodness of my soul, and to recognize the same about everyone else, and, even, to experience the exceptional goodness of Life itself. This was certainly not what I expected to discover!

It takes ages to grow into the awareness of our own goodness. Whether it is the year 2015 in the United States of America, or the ninth century AD in Western Europe, or the third century BC in China, we human beings have been moving away from archaic ideas that we are no good—rotten to the core—that we can’t be trusted with our own lives. Thank goodness our collective self-perception is shifting as we have come to realize that this is simply not true!

Upon further exploration, it turns out that knowing our own perfection is so much easier without bodies, mortgages, teenagers, or in-laws! This is why the earthly experience is so critical. We face the challenge of knowing this truth in a realm where the evidence is hidden, where it appears that we are hopeless, or worse. And, this is the topic of my third and favorite book, Discover Your Soul’s Purpose Through the Akashic Records.

So we see that, as humans, our inspired opportunity is to be fully aware of our spiritual essence as we live in the world and as we explore great spiritual questions in an arena that is totally physical and material. Paradoxical? Absolutely! Hence, the richness of the journey.

Consider the possibility that this life is your chance of lifetimes to seek and find your own goodness, that of others and all of Life. What if this incarnation is the one in which you come to love yourself unconditionally—no matter what? The most spiritual practice on the planet is self-love. Of course! Try it. No matter what you do or don’t, say or don’t, respond to yourself with infinite kindness and respect. Simply say, “Of course! No wonder! It’s ok!” And watch what happens. This may be the lifetime in which the very best of you surfaces, and you have a wonderful time! And, it turns out, all those imposing spiritual questions . . . well, they answer themselves in the midst of the love fest.