I received an email from a fellow spiritual teacher in which she talked about “lessons”.  You’ve probably heard something about lessons all your life–you have to learn your lessons, you came into this life to learn certain lessons and you’ll keep being challenged until you learn the lesson.

Bullshit.

Pardon my profanity, but I never like using the word “lessons”.  The word “lesson” contains implicit reference to your ability to pass or fail.  And that’s just not how it works.

The Universe is logical.  There is no pass or fail, no right or wrong way to live your life.  There is only what you like and what you don’t like.

Yes, you learn, but not because anyone is keeping score and not because you might fail and mess up and fall down and never get it right.  You don’t have to get it right.  Your mission is to live in the way that you like.

Yes, there are consequences to actions, thoughts, and feelings.  What you get to learn is which actions, thoughts, and feelings bring the consequences you like, instead of the ones you don’t like.

Yes, it can be a little tricky.  But you have plenty of cosmic help and support.  Instead of “lessons”, think of “messages”.  Messages come at you all the time.  This is the word I prefer to “lessons”.  If you think of “messages” being provided to you through the consequences you are experiencing, you can figure out which messages lead you to the consequences you like.

Pay attention!  Thoughts that pop into your head, conversations you overhear, something that gets your attention on the radio, experiences that happen to you, and eventually your own body… all of these contain messages that are intended to guide you toward what you like.

Pay attention!