When Things Are Impossibly Difficult How Do We Overcome Feelings of Hopelessness?

by Robert Wilkinson

A lot of people are having a very hard time right now. Beyond the natural and unnatural disasters affecting millions, many individuals are having feelings of hopelessness due to a lack of something or someone, or the darkness of our political situation.

I last gave this to you about 10 years ago, in response to receiving an email from someone who felt their life was hopelessly at a standstill, with no money, no partner, no kids, no job, and nothing was going right. They asked me “Is there any hope in the future? Cause without health and money nothing really comes around... Should I move somewhere else? Will that change my destiny?”

They felt a lack of favorable aspects was oppressing them. As I explained, an absence of trines doesn't mean a lack of understanding or harmonic flow in the chart, since all waxing squares in the natal chart become trines by progression, and waning squares become quintiles and sextiles. There is NO birthchart beyond hope!

ALL birth charts show aptitude, challenges to be overcome, and forms of personal mastery to be practiced. The toughest aspects, when we rise to the challenge of "right action," show us our power to triumph even in the midst of greatest adversity, since the outer form of things is much less important than our reaction to them and how we handle them.

There is no destiny except the one we create. Only two things are fated in this world: 1) To be born where you were when you were to the people you were, and 2) The timing on your life choices. Everything else is free will, or the lack of application of that free will.

These are Saturn lessons usually confronted around 28-29 and 57-59 years of age, as well as points about 7 to 14 years from these points. Of course, Saturn also makes conjunctions, squares, and oppositions to every planet in our chart every 29 years, so there is no part of us that is not severely challenged from time to time. Even when one area goes well, there’s probably a Saturn challenge going on in another sector of our lives.

These points of challenge are when we learn that we control nothing except our ability to respond correctly, in action, thought, and feeling, to whatever presents itself to our 5 senses and our minds. When misapplied, or avoided, that creates the lesser karmas that plague us. Yet that power is awesome when applied to appropriate ends.

Yes there are tragedies, the "big K" Karmas that deal us a major wound that must be healed if we are to find joy and happiness in our time on Earth. Everybody goes through these, so again, it's nothing personal, per se. These teach us how to come out of a sense of separateness into the awareness we share with millions across time.

Dealing with these “big K Karmic wounds” offer us opportunities to bring forth a Divine Understanding whereby we demonstrate our Love, Wisdom, and Intelligence to our world, so that we bring forth good works and heal our less fortunate Brothers and Sisters who suffer the same "Divine afflictions." These are Sacred Wounds that through our healing process, lead us to the heart of compassion where we see our Oneness with all who live here on beautiful Earth.

Lower ego gets confused, panicked, fearful, since it is fundamentally not real and can only reference the mind, feelings, and body. When we get into negative states, it's a clear sign to go immediately to your Higher Self and see what is confused and fearful as that which NEEDS to be dealt with, transmuted, and healed. Everything that has the power to make us feel "nothing has gone right for me" is the foundation of an illusion that must be unlearned if we are to live a fulfilling life.

No one can let go of negative thinking and feeling but us! Simply living with these negative thoughts and feelings merely magnetizes more of the same. They often result from too much attachment to past sorrows, which while real, should not be carried forward, since they impede one's ability to find lasting happiness.

Relevant to these things, if you are having a hard time with Big K karma, little k karma, a wound past or present, or feeling trapped to any degree in a sense of hopelessness or despair, please consider getting a copy of my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. In that work I give practical ways of overcome feelings of despair or hopelessness accompanying any Saturn transit, as well as ways to claim the power over your lower ego and attain an integrated personality that will prove effective in navigating the vicissitudes of life.

When things seem like "nothing has gone right for me," two thoughts come to mind: 1) You're not seeing the bigger picture, and 2) You could be "pushing the river," i.e., doing the "wrong thing," or even the "right thing" but in the "wrong place or time." These are the result of allowing ego, our own or someone else’s, to cloud our ability to see the bigger picture, and do "the right thing in the right place at the right time." So how can we stop these unfortunate patterns and claim our happiness, power, effectiveness, and fulfillment?

First, see that you are at a potential beginning, even if you don't know what it is going to look like. Try to stay focused that it's not the past, and not yet the future! Live in the Now, since this is truly the only time we can do or not do something.

If you knew what to do, you'd be doing it. So accept that even if you don't seem to know what to do, you can be willing to learn whatever actions, thoughts, and feelings you can to experience a positive movement. An empty glass can be filled. A full glass must be emptied before it can receive new contents. A lot of life is about unlearning unproductive reactions to what life deals us.

Judging the process too quickly is an unhelpful delusion of the lower ego. You are just beginning a journey out of darkness into light, ignorance into understanding, frustration into potential fulfillment. When we choose to move our lives in a different direction, it’s like planting seeds which begin to sprout instantly. Tugging on them to grow faster, or feeling hopeless because they aren't fully realized in a day or a week is useless, and may even impede the process, since impatience, judgments based on illusions, and vain imaginings are counterproductive.

Do not overidentify with what you've been given or denied, since everyone has the same experience of being given some things and denied others. Here it’s useless to compare ourselves to others, or some abstract standard we learned from others when we didn't know better. Life is never at a standstill unless we're not exchanging energy and refuse to give and receive forms of love. Each has their Way to walk, and chooses how happy or unhappy they will be as they walk the Way.

There is no such thing as standstill, except temporarily. These are moments to reflect on how you want to fill the time than to be trapped by too much going on that isn't good. And all of us from time to time need to take moments of pause to correct our course, rest and regenerate, or simply enjoy the sweetness of Life in the Now.

We all can remember that life is always here and now. That’s why it’s useless to get preoccupied with lesser concerns. Open to the new, rather than get stuck in despair over the past, and what is or is not. Even if things are impossibly tough, finding a new view often opens the door to undreamt of possibilities.

Accept the uniqueness of your path to Truth, and remember life on Earth is impermanent, as are all other forms. Money, jobs, friends, and all relationships are like air. We breathe in the air, and then must release it.

When lungs are empty, we can fill them with air. When they are filled with stagnant air, there's nothing to do but empty them. Life's like that.

Same with everything else on Earth. That which is true for us sticks to us. That which is not true for us, or has become not true for us, vanishes into the mists of time. It is our job to understand what comes and what goes, without being thrown into attachment, aversion, delusions, or needless suffering.

We all need fertile ground in which to thrive. If we find ourselves on barren ground, sometimes we must move, whether we want to or not. If we don't know where to go, Spirit always sends us signals, but it is WE who must learn to pay attention and not get lost in gloomy or hopeless states of mind, since these feed a delusion that unfortunate mental and emotional states can bring us health, wealth, love, or perfect self-expression.

Ultimately, we must honor the goodness, truth, and beauty we ARE rather than focus on unhelpful things. This involves remembering we are Eternals who are having human experiences.

We all have a body that has issues we must deal with. We all have feelings that need to be transmuted. We all have minds that need opening and a productive self-discipline.

And yet, regardless of the ups and downs and how we feel in the moment, we ALL are always the Eternal Self that has the power to help the lower self come into harmony with the Higher Self, the Soul, and the Spirit. Welcome to being a human on Earth, which can be an incredibly beautiful place if you think about it. Everything depends on our point of view.

May Peace Be With You. Namaste.

© Copyright 2007, 2017 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Nic]

It is always good (and nice) to be in touch with the "Robert wisdom" or way or expressing the Wisdom. Your book on Saturn is a good place to find perspective and insights.
In this post there are many sentences I found interesting, for example:
"When we get into negative states, it's a clear sign to go immediately to your Higher Self and see what is confused and fearful as that which NEEDS to be dealt with, transmuted, and healed."

Yes, this are times when a lot has been brought forward, there is confusion and insecurity. Much is being destroyed and there is a need to build the new. As individuals as Humanity we need to be in touch with our Higher Self to heal, transmute and build.

Blessings be to all.

[barbara]

dear Master and Brother
This also should be translated amd made available to a wider audience, hope i'll come around to it. Many thanks for your insights and enlightments always, you make it so simple and plain.
namaste
Barbara

[Julie Banks]

Thank you so much for this. It was presented to me in a very dark hour. I am reminded that
I have the tools, I have power over every situation that presents itself to me.