Many people on the journey to self-awareness often get frustrated that things repeat, which makes them think that they’re not making progress or that they are stuck.
It’s not that things repeat, that you’re not learning, that you’re not doing the work. It’s that you get into deeper levels of the subconscious, of memory (soul) and reality. It might look the same to an extent so you can recognize it but you’re actually healing the hurt, gaining wisdom, moving on to wholeness, with each clearing and opening. Besides, everything is spiral.
Another misconception is what many people think of as awakening. Like it’s a place of arrival; “oh, I’ve awakened!” Much like our biological sleep and awake states, where we’re either asleep or awake. But it’s not the same at all when we enter the world the consciousness, the psyche, individuated life.
You begin to realize, through experience, that there is no such thing as “either/or” but rather there are more and more “ands”. There are some things that you’re become aware of; you’ve unpuzzled them, you’ve detached from them, they don’t intimidate you and they help in wisening your perception, easing your existential footstep in this life. Then there are also many, many things that you’re asleep to, haven’t encountered yet, don’t even realize their existence yet, which form the gaps and dark patches in your perception.
After being on this journey for some time, these gaps and dark patches don’t scare you anymore, they can’t chain you anymore or throw you off your center. Still, they are unknown, there is lots to see and learn, there are many dark areas, which is also the beauty of human existence. If you knew it all you wouldn’t be here.
So, nothing actually repeats and there’s no place of arrival. We are on a magnificent journey of living and learning and we should appreciate it for what it is; with all its clearnings, dark patches, a-ha moments and difficulties too. With the difficulties we will be facing ahead, these are some useful points to remember.