Assessing your soul progress on your journey on earth is most obvious when you are facing difficult dilemmas. Although we don’t like conflict, it does present opportunities for assessing our behaviour. 

At the time of writing, The Russian/Ukraine war is in progress which can be unsettling, especially when we hear some war stories. How can we shift our perspective and, instead, look for the positives offered by war and conflict?

We all have beliefs about who we are and how we might react in stressful situations. War presents extreme and copious opportunities to be tested.

Tested during war

On March 9th 2022, a Russian man called Sasha Pistun, who lives with family members in Berestyankan, near Bucha in Ukraine, hears a knock on his door. Later, his mother-in-law, Valentina, explains what happens. Two Russian soldiers demand to take away two women from the house. Sasha refuses, saying “take me instead.” The soldiers shoot him, then grab the two women and rape them.

On March 4th 2022, in Zabuchchya, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, a Russian soldier is about to shoot an old man and his son. Just before, the soldier had found a hunting rifle and some gasoline in their backyard. Quickly, another Russian soldier intervenes and prevents the execution. 

What do the actions of these men tell us?

In the first instance, Sasha risked his life for his family. That he died doing so, only confirms who he really is—a man connected to higher vibrational energy. By attempting to protect his family, he demonstrates the best of humanity. His soul will find peace.

In the second case, the intervening Russian soldier is also taking a risk by siding with the Ukrainian men. Obviously, he contains a measure of compassion. 

Disconnected from the feelings of others, the brutal Russian soldiers are also disconnected from their true self. Although these soldiers have physical power, they misuse it. One day, they will face what they have done and sense a deep inner disturbance.  Eventually, this inner conflict will help them reconnect with their true self.

At any time, each of us is either connected and listening to our higher-self or we are not. Disconnecting from our higher-self and Source is part of our soul journey, and we learn a lot from that experience. But being out of alignment with our higher self is not ultimately satisfying. 

No real mistakes and no real failure

I like this quote from Jeb Corliss. “Dying while doing something important is not a failure.” 

Jeb Corliss is a professional wingsuit flyer who risks his life regularly in his profession which, so far, has lasted over thirty years. I have been a fan of his for over a decade. Here is a link to his podcast kNOw FEAR, episode 7, which discusses the power of risks and “failure.” Also the first episode is worthwhile. Jeb has learned a lot about the nature of fear,

Sasha died doing something that was extremely important to him, protecting his woman folk. In each case, both men are tested. Their courage and inner strength prevailed, regardless of the outcome. 

Assessing your soul progress

Many forget that at a fundamental level we are all one. In that sense, what we do to others, we are also doing to ourselves.

Our inner “accountant” continues to calculate the impact of our actions, whether we are fully aware of that or not. The quality of our self-love and self-respect is a product of this reckoning and will be either enhanced or diminished by our behaviour. Our internal “ledger” reflects our vibrational level. Although we might try to hide this from ourselves and others, in the spiritual dimension, we are transparent.

We are all tested in life. We think we know who we are, but it’s our actions that reflect our true nature. The old saying is correct. “What we do speaks louder than words.” 

On a journey of self-discovery, we can closely examine our actions to see if they are in sync with our pure intentions. If not, we need to face our darker truth. Now, we accept any pain and disappointment so we can release it. Then, we make changes to re-align with our true self.

Sometime, during our many lives, we become caught up in the life and death struggle of war. Through war, we have extraordinary opportunities to learn where we are on our journey. However, we have similar opportunities in our ordinary lives when struggling with conflicts. Eventually, we are all tested, and we all learn. Of course, this is how we grow when on this challenging place, called Planet Earth.

For more information on our soul’s journey through disconnection and re-connection, please read my latest book, Lost Soul, Wise Soul: How Challenging Past Lives Shape Our Future. It explains why we struggle and suffer and how we turn back to love and light.