— ENGINEER LA FORGE. ARSENAL OF FREEDOM. 41798.2

Sounds a lot like our lives, doesn’t it?

The ride can be bumpy at times. Things happen fast. And the physical sensations can easily distract us from what we’re doing—or what we’re supposed to be doing. We get carried away with the thrills and turn the trip into a pointless joy ride. Or, more likely, all those bumps frighten and disturb us, and getting rid of them becomes more important than getting to where we’re going.

The Inner Voyage helps us, first of all, by preparing us for the fact that the ride is bumpy. And if we expect all those bumps, maybe we’ll be less likely to overreact.

More importantly, the Voyage reassures us that it’s “we” who are going somewhere, not just “me.” “Let’s focus on what we’re doing,” La Forge says, as if to remind us that we’re all on this ride together; that we depend on one another; that if we concentrate on our own assigned duties we may not even notice the bumps anymore.

And the mission—our lives—will be a success.

Today I will be alert, yet calm, focusing on my duties rather than my comfort, and thereby allow others to focus on theirs.

— THE DOCTOR (as "The Warhead"). WARHEAD. Stardate Not Given

Speaking on behalf of the cybernetic entity inhabiting him at the time, The Doctor teaches us a lesson about changing our lives. And allowing others to change theirs.

The lesson begins by recognizing the flaws in the behavioral “programs” we’ve all inherited from our childhood and past experiences. That’s hard enough. But what’s really hard is giving each other permission to re-program ourselves, to break through the current images we have of one another so we can feel free to act differently… to continue evolving.

It’s hard because we so often put people in mental “boxes” based on past disappointments. We label others as untrustworthy or sloppy, lazy or rigid, careless, selfish.

And we assume they place similar labels on us.

Those expectations not only become constricting, but self-fulfilling. We may even reward others, unconsciously, for staying in the little boxes we’ve put them in. Which reduces the chances for change to just about zero.

Instead, let’s agree to give each other permission to change… to see past our doubts. Even if we know it will take many more tries before a change becomes permanent.

After all, we could use a little slack ourselves.

I celebrate the ability of others to transform themselves. I will find a community of spirit where I, too, can feel free to become the person I intend to be.

— CAPTAIN JANEWAY. STATE OF FLUX. 48658.2

As we grow into a relationship with The Universe, as we become more and more aware of our connection to everything around us, the idea of “luck” becomes less meaningful, less operative. We realize that events never truly happen “by chance.”

We find new information and knowledge being given to us at the precise moment we’re ready to absorb it. Events conspire to send us on new voyages of discovery soon after the urge to explore new vistas excites our imagination. And if we get into trouble along the way, help seems to come to us just when we need it.

The Universe, somehow, seems to be shepherding our lives, actively leading us along the paths of our becoming. And it’s not just “events” that play a decisive role in our growth. It’s people.

So it should not surprise us when we are asked to become the agents for growth or assistance in other people’s lives. Whenever we find ourselves in a position to help someone who needs it, we ought to assume that this event, too, is no mere “coincidence.”

In fact, whether or not we accept the opportunity to help becomes part of our own ongoing development. For as we help others grow, we help ourselves grow.

I gratefully accept the help which The Universe continually arranges for me. And I open myself to the opportunities It provides for helping others.

— LIEUTENANT TUVOK. COLD FIRE. Stardate Not Given

Even Vulcans have been known to harbor low opinions of themselves or others. Or to be seized by the idea of doing something contrary to their own high standards.

Actually, negative thoughts are a natural by-product of a healthy imagination. The same mental process which makes us aware of our options does not also censor them for us. In response to the events in our lives, several possibilities for action will inevitably come to mind. It’s not unusual when one or more of these are judged by our conscience as immoral. Or even repulsive.

The fact that we have these thoughts does not require us to act on them. In a sense, by giving us a wide range of choices, including negative ones, our subconscious is affirming its “trust” that we’ll make the right one. In fact, the right choice is often all the more obvious and compelling precisely because we can imagine the negative possibilities. The mind is only doing its job.

Our job is to take the energy of our negative thoughts—the anger, the desire to lash out, the thrill of a secret fantasy—and transform it. Having had the negative thought, we are now empowered to be even more positive.

My negative thoughts arise from the same source as my positive ones. They are necessary building blocks that support my positive goals and actions.

— LIEUTENANT WORF. THE WOUNDED. 44429.6

Relationships, we know, are particularly susceptible to the self-fulfilling prophecy. If we treat someone with kindness and respect, that individual is more likely to become kind and respectful. If we forgive others, they in turn become more forgiving.

Likewise, if we regard others with suspicion when we first meet, we may not only poison any future relationship, we can end up encouraging the very behavior that fuels our suspicion. In short, we literally create the attitudes and actions in others that we expect of them.

And yet it would be foolish to simply assume that other individuals possess certain qualities until we have sufficient reason to believe that they do, in fact, possess them. Trustworthiness is one such quality. Learning whether we can rely on someone else’s abilities, or their level-headedness during a crisis, or their loyalty to a cause, requires repeated demonstrations.

Neither can we expect to be fully trusted until we repeatedly prove our own trustworthiness. We shouldn’t regard this as an affront to our integrity. Rather, we can look upon it as a “refresher course,” as another opportunity to polish our skills—if not to reassure others, then to reaffirm Who We Are to ourselves.

It is as important for me to know I am trustworthy—and to learn to trust myself—as it is for others. I welcome opportunities to demonstrate it.

— COMMANDER UHURA. THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK. 8210.3

Long before it became a proverb on Terra, the truth behind Uhura’s words was already well known. Centuries earlier, in fact, visitors’ wishes were being routinely transformed into reality on the so-called “Amusement Park Planet.” Frequently with less-than-desireable results.

Even under ordinary conditions, our consciousness has numerous mechanisms for bringing about the fulfillment of our dreams. Unfortunately, we often block these mechanisms with feelings of unworthiness or negativity. And because we therefore assume that our wishes will “never come true,” we tend to let them run wild. We don’t consider what consequences they might have if they ever did become real. Why not wish for unlimited power and pleasure if it’ll never happen anyway?

And then suddenly it happens: A dream comes true. Perhaps it’s because we finally throw off the shackles of self-doubt. Or because we finally accept the miraculous power of our own minds. The problem is, if our dream is a holdover from that earlier stage when we couldn’t care less about “consequences,” we may be in for a shock.

Which is simply to say that we must “be careful” even with our fantasies. Could we really live with them? Would they truly add meaning and purpose to our existence?

Let my dreams be in harmony with the longings of my highest Self. I wish for no more... and no less.

— ALIXUS. PARADISE. 47573.1

Such creatures of habit we are! Our bodies and nerves are literally imprinted with the patterns we’ve established over the years; and it becomes harder and harder to affect them, even when we’re convinced change is needed.

The conflict often deteriorates into a battle between body and soul. All our “bad habits” or “primitive desires” are seen as products of an evil force which we personify as demons, The Devil, or our own “sinful natures.” After all, something else—not us—must be holding us back.

Feeling this conflict is actually part of the growth process. It’s the price we pay for being conscious—for realizing that we are more than our physical bodies, that we can transcend our previous limitations if we’d only work at it.

And fortunately, it’s not as much work as we might think. We can see it as a battle if we insist. But we can also simply envision the kind of person we want to be, doing the things that type of person would be doing. As if by magic our transformation begins to unfold. And as long as we keep this “model” in our awareness, we inevitably become more and more like it. A new person emerges.

Not really “by itself,” but because that’s how transformation works. That’s how The Universe works in us.

I will meditate daily on the stronger, more blissful, more spiritual person I have decided to be, thereby allowing The Universe to change me from within.

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The above meditations were taken from Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage © 1999-2016, IF Books.

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