When difficult or traumatic experiences occur in our lives, we naturally wonder, “Why did this happen? What does it mean?” Often, such experiences may appear not to have any particular meaning; they may seem to be nothing more than purposeless suffering. Yet, in my years as a spiritual author and teacher, I have found that not only are our greatest challenges rich with meaning and purpose, but also that very often we ourselves planned those experiences before we were born. I explored this premise in detail in my first book, Your Soul’s Plan, and I do so again in my new book, Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born. In this article I would like to share with you some of the healing and empowering insights in my new book.

     First, a word about my methodology. In both books I interviewed people who had experienced common life challenges like physical illness, the death of a loved one, addiction, or mental illness. Those individuals then had sessions with gifted mediums and channels in which I asked Spirit, “Was this experience planned before birth, and if so, why?” In my books I present all the wisdom that then came forward. My intentions are to help people see the deeper meaning of their life challenges and, in so doing, heal from them. It’s important to understand here that painful experiences can catalyze profound healing for our souls if we, the incarnate personalities, respond to those challenges with love (including self-love) and an open heart, and if we learn the lessons offered by these experiences.

     Let’s take an example. In the Suicide chapter in Your Soul’s Gift, I share the story of Carolyn, whose only child Cameron suicided shortly after he graduated from high school. Carolyn and I had a channeling session in which we spoke with Jeshua (Jesus). Jeshua began by telling us that suicide is never planned prior to birth as a certainty, but it is often planned as a possibility and sometimes as a high probability, as was the case with Cameron. In other words, Cameron knew that he was taking on so much in this lifetime that a suicide was likely.

     Since Carolyn has no memory of her pre-birth plan (just as most of us don’t), she quite naturally felt that she had failed Cameron. She was filled with guilt and self-blame, wondering what she could have done. It was then that Jeshua shared with us one of the most important, startling, and powerful pieces of information I’ve come across in my research. He told us, “Every suicide preventable by outside forces was indeed prevented.” What he meant is that if the suicidal person has the slightest openness to changing their mind, the Universe will stage an intervention. It could be something as simple as a bird flying by and distracting the person, or something as dramatic as an angel assuming human form and physically interceding. If you have lost a loved one to suicide, know this: There was literally nothing you could or should have done to save them. You are not to blame. You are not at fault. You did not fail them.

     In another chapter I explore the pre-birth planning of miscarriage and abortion. Here, I share the story of Rebecca, who was devastated by a miscarriage. Rebecca felt she had killed her unborn child, Calvin, by doing some heavy lifting that led to the miscarriage. In a channeling session, Rebecca spoke with Calvin. We learned that in their last past life together, Rebecca had been male and the commanding officer of an army fort in the old West. Calvin was a subordinate officer and also a close friend. When the fort was attacked, Rebecca (as the commanding officer) sent all the soldiers, including Calvin, out to defend it. The soldiers were massacred. Rebecca blamed herself for her friend’s death and was never able to forgive herself.

     After that lifetime was over, Rebecca decided she wanted to work on the lesson of self-forgiveness. She therefore planned before she was born to experience a miscarriage, knowing that she would blame herself and thus have the opportunity to do what she could not do before – forgive herself. Having set that plan, she then asked Calvin if he would be the soul whose energy was associated with her unborn child. In service to and out of love for her, he agreed.

     For a very long time, Rebecca was unable to heal from the miscarriage. She was sad and defeated, filled with doubt and self-loathing. Yet, when she learned that she had planned the miscarriage, that realization “changed my life,” she said. “It brought me home to myself. That’s a journey I could not have made on my own.” Such deep healing often occurs when someone comes into an understanding of their pre-birth plan.

     Your Soul’s Gift also looks at the pre-birth planning we do with our beloved animal companions. In the Pets chapter, I share the poignant story of Marcia, who plans before she’s born to be a dwarf. Today, as a grown woman, she stands four feet six inches tall. Marcia knew that dwarfism would be a tremendous challenge, particularly during childhood, when her peers at school would tease and ostracize her. With that in mind, she planned to have many unconditionally loving animals in her childhood and throughout her life – dogs, cats, horses, even a rooster named Crooked Beak. She also planned to have the ability to communicate with them telepathically.

     As a child, when she came home from school in tears, Marcia’s dog Dusty would say to her, “It’s okay. To me you’re perfect.” And her palomino, Cheetah, would tell her, “It doesn’t matter what they [kids at school] say. Look what you and I can do together!  Come on! Let’s go!” Choosing to receive unconditional love from animals was a wise decision in Marci’s pre-birth planning session.

     Too, I explore some of the most traumatic experiences a person can have while in body. There are chapters specifically about the planning of both incest and rape. I agonized for a long time about whether to include such subjects in my book, as I most certainly did not want to re-traumatize anyone or cause those who have had experienced incest or rape to feel that they are to blame. No one who has had such experiences is to blame for them. Ultimately, I felt that the wisdom in these chapters would offer healing, and I decided to share what I had found.

     Why would anyone plan before birth to experience incest or rape? A fundamental spiritual truth is that there is no unexpressed consciousness. In other words, whatever is within you, whether at the conscious or subconscious level, will be expressed in the outer world. The outer mirrors the inner. Almost all of us have had past lives in which we came to believe things about ourselves that our souls know to be untrue. Two of the most common false beliefs are that we are worthless and that we are powerless. If you are someone who has one or both of these false beliefs within your consciousness, they will outpicture in the world around you, sometimes in the form of traumatic experiences like incest or rape.

     The purpose of this outpicturing is not to punish you. On the contrary, the purpose is to bring your false beliefs to the light of conscious awareness, where they may then be healed. This is a particularly difficult type of life plan, but within it is the potential for profound healing.

     We can, if we like, deny that the Earth is round, but that will not make it flat. It will still be round. Similarly, we can deny that souls sometimes (though certainly not always) plan before birth to experience trauma like incest and rape, but that will not mean that such planning doesn’t occur. It does. For millennia humanity has learned through suffering. If we want to move beyond the learning-through-suffering paradigm, then we need to take a courageous, unflinching look at what lays within our consciousness.

     And then heal.

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Robert Schwartz is a counselor and certified hypnotherapist who helps people heal by understanding what they planned before they were born and why. He offers Spiritual Guidance Sessions (usually focused on the life plan), Past Life Soul Regressions, and Between Lives Soul Regressions. He is the author of two best-selling books, Your Soul’s Plan: Discovering the Real Meaning of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born and Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born. Your Soul’s Plan explores the pre-birth planning of physical illness, having handicapped children, deafness, blindness, drug addiction, alcoholism, the death of a loved one, and accidents. Your Soul’s Gift discusses the pre-birth planning of spiritual awakening, miscarriage, abortion, caregiving, having pets, abusive relationships, sexuality, incest, adoption, poverty, suicide, rape, and mental illness. For more information please visit Robert online at www.yoursoulsplan.com.