The Way of Knowingness. Kim O'Neill

what issues we still have to contend with and to resolve them as quickly as possible in order to move on to a future that is happier and more secure than the present. To that end, I strongly recommend that if you’ve been attempting to work through an issue for some time and have been continually unsuccessful, you might want to consider visiting a good therapist who will help to speed up your progress.

       Principle Three: Spiritual Contracts

      A spiritual contract is an agreement, or commitment, reached on the heavenly plane between two or more souls who plan to interact with each other during an upcoming earthly lifetime.

      Have you ever wondered about the purpose behind all your important relationships? Have you considered that each family member, friend, colleague, and acquaintance has entered your life for a very specific reason? All of the significant people in your life have a commitment to fulfill with you, as you do with them. You may even have a spiritual contract with someone who is meant to pass through your life in mere minutes, hours, days, or weeks!

      There are basically two different types of human interactions that exist on the earthly plane. First, there is the learning-experience kind of relationship in which two people come together to learn from one another through adversity and hardship. Second, there is the soul-mate type of relationship in which two people come together to provide one another unconditional support and encouragement.

      In a learning-experience relationship, you will connect with another person to address a particular issue, or group of issues, until the issue is explored—or in the best-case scenario, completely resolved. Learning-experience relationships may emerge quite pleasantly but in time always erupt into various levels of confusion, miscommunication, loneliness, and frustration. In some cases, these spiritually important relationships begin with immediate turmoil and continue to boil explosively.

      There are other instances in which your learning experiences are much less dramatic. The relationship is not abusive or hurtful but instead has become unmistakably stale and sour. At this stage, you may feel bored to tears and quite anxious to move on so that you may start “living” again. Toward the end of a learning experience, at the time when you have spiritually accomplished everything you were supposed to learn from the relationship, you are likely to lament, “My husband (or sister/mother/best friend/business colleague, etc.) is never going to grow or try to work through our issues. Things will never change, and I realize now that I’m not being true to myself if I remain in this relationship.”

      The relevance of your learning-experience relationships is that they are intended to provide a sense of balance for your lessons. The people with whom you interact in these types of relationships are either working through your same issues, or they are working through issues that represent the opposite end of the spectrum. Remember that the whole purpose of an earthly lifetime is for you to accomplish the dynamics of your particular destiny and return to the heavenly plane a much more mature and enlightened being.

      For example, perhaps when you were mapping out this current incarnation, the soul who agreed to be your sister promised to help you develop the ability to set boundaries because she needed your help with her issue of control.

      Maybe the soul who agreed to be your best friend promised to help you address your issues of insecurity and denial by having sex with your husband because she needed your assistance with her issues of honesty and betrayal.

      Possibly, the soul who agreed to be your spouse promised to help you resolve your issues of independence and self-esteem because he needed your support with his issues of anger and abuse.

      Likewise, the soul who agreed to be your daughter promised to help you work through your issue of procrastination because she needed your guidance with her issue of impatience.