Potentials: The Complex Dance Between the Soul’s Plan and Free-Will Choices
Are life’s challenges part of our pre-birth plan?
Comfort your grief and nourish your soul on Bob Olson Connect. Bob is the host of Afterlife TV, the author of Answers About The Afterlife, Insight from Hindsight, and The Magic Mala, and the founder of BestPsychicDirectory.com.
Many people question the spiritual significance of life's challenges. Initially, we may be tempted to attribute our struggles to external factors, such as our parents, the government, the pharmaceutical industry, or even Mother Nature. However, I prefer to explore further beneath the surface.
Thinking about whether our physical or mental health issues are predetermined by our souls or influenced by our surroundings is a straightforward example. But what about a person’s tendency to cheat on their partner, squander their savings on gambling, or lead a life of crime? Are we genetically predisposed to disease, disorder, and delinquency, or are we shaped by our environment?
Ultimately, we must consider how much of our personality is shaped by parents, friends, and teachers and how much of our character is predetermined before birth.
In today’s article, I’ll explore a topic I’ve touched upon only briefly in previous writings: what I refer to as “potentials.” This concept revolves around our pre-birth plan, which is shaped by our higher self—what I like to call our soul. If you haven’t yet read my article exploring the distinction between spirit and soul, I recommend starting there.
What Are “Potentials?”
“Potentials” refer to the aspects of our lives that represent possibilities for our human experience. I’ve called these potentials because free will means that nothing shaped by choice can be absolute.
Over the past twenty-seven years of exploring the afterlife, I’ve discovered that using extreme examples can simplify the explanation of such concepts. Therefore, to enhance your understanding of potentials, I will illustrate my point with the example of suicide.
I’m exploring the reasons some individuals experience suicidal thoughts while others follow through with them. Many have never considered ending their lives, so what occurs at a soul level that makes this possibility exist?
By grasping this profound and unimaginable scenario, we may be able to apply the insights gained to more common behaviors that are harmful to ourselves, yet we do them anyway. This may include choosing abusive partners, gambling away our savings, running away from responsibility, and even addiction.
In discussing suicide, we might lean towards attributing it to mental illness and psychiatric disorders as the underlying causes of such thoughts. However, not everyone who takes their life fits into these categories. We need to explore further. The question then becomes whether we can trace this potential back to our pre-birth plans.