REPOST: "SOUL AGES"

One of the conundrums I faced as a therapist for several years was why some people in therapy greatly improved their lot and rose to higher levels of self-actualization and some people did not. Even if they had similar backgrounds and similar problems, and even if an equal amount of effort and dedication was involved on the part of the patient and therapist, some would go much further than others.
Why?
If all things were equal, including my input and talents as a therapist, why couldn't all of my patients within a certain range make similar improvements in their conditions? It's kind of comparable to the age-old question of why two siblings of the same sex and fairly close in age with the same parents can so often turn out to be so dramatically different.
I really puzzled over this for a long time, especially after I began my training program for new therapists. I knew that they, too, would eventually come up against this dilemma, and would be inclined to assume that it was simply more resistance on the part of the patient, even though so much resistance had already been broken through.
As with all insights, the answer began to make itself clearer and clearer in my mind as I progressed on my own inner journey and self-work, and as I worked with more and more people in treatment. But it also required a "spiritual perspective" to finally arrive at an understanding that we human beings were more than just our bodies and brains, more than our genes and experiences; we were also "energetic beings," imbued with a "soul force" that was unique in both quality and quantity in each person. I became aware that people had different "amounts" of spiritual energy or "chi," and therefore, what each person could achieve in a particular lifetime had specific parameters.
Wow! With that lightbulb, things began clicking into place, and as a result, I became more patient with my patients, seeking to discover what each individual's innate potential was rather than pushing them to attain what I thought they should be aspiring to.
This evolution in awareness for me became further refined when I came upon the concept of "soul ages," in a book by Joya Pope, called "Upcoming Changes." (Joya's website on soul ages is a must read at: http://www.michaelteachings.com/soul_ages.html). The dominoes fell over in perfect harmony as I read about the characteristics of "Infant Souls," "Baby Souls," "Young Souls," "Mature Souls" and "Old Souls." I suddenly could see everyone I knew, including myself, in a brilliant new way. And of course it made complete sense: if human life parallels spiritual life, then why couldn't souls be at various stages of development (ages) in certain planes, too, as they are here on Planet Earth? The Soul Age material channeled by Pope even perfectly described the various countries and cultures according to soul ages, how certain like souls will generally congregate together to work on similar issues of development. (I often thought that if our leaders had been aware of this reality, we would have taken a very different approach to the conflicts in the Middle East, but that's a different discussion.)
The potential in this understanding for eliminating judgement, including of ourselves, is great. I have read and reread the description of an Old Soul so many times because it always helps remind me of why I'm struggling with what I struggle with and why I'm thought of as an eccentric by some people, when I'm just being what I consider to be normal... for me! And likewise, if someone is a Young Soul, and therefore all about ambition and getting things done in the outer world, or a Baby Soul, mainly satisfied to attain the gratification of their survival needs, why would I judge them for being themselves?

Check it out at the website: http://www.michaelteachings.com/soul_ages.html