One theme that comes up again and again in the 'new age'/self-help genre is that life is primarily about growth, and that life gives us 'lessons' or (even worse) 'tests', in the form of negative experiences, and that the path to success (as we define it) is littered with this kind of experience. And I've always thought that idea was a load of BS, even before discovering Abraham's joy-centered perspective. It's true that we can learn from any experience, and if we experience something not to our liking, it's certainly a good idea to figure out how to avoid repeating it, and create something better. But the idea that life/the universe/our 'higher self'/whatever is somehow making us endure this unpleasant stuff, just so we can grow into 'better' people, or as a price for reaching our goals, is just misguided, IMO.
We are in control
For one thing, we attract/create all of our own experiences. There's no higher power authority figure deciding what we 'need' to experience. All of it, positive and negative, is our own creation, and we can choose to direct our thoughts and feelings in such a way as to manifest only those experiences we desire. Of course, this may be easier said than done - it takes practice for most people (myself included) to be able to consistently focus on what they desire, and keep a positive orientation. If negative stuff manifests in the meantime, some find it easier or more comforting to believe that it's a necessary learning experience mandated by some higher power, which they have little control over.
Life is about joy
And secondly, this idea is misguided because our primary purpose is to enjoy life. Growth is inevitable, just as a result of experiencing life and forming new preferences, but we don't need to suffer in order to grow. Growth comes from joyful experiences too, and suffering may be counterproductive; as Abraham says, there can be no happy ending to an unhappy journey. Yet the idea is rather ingrained in western culture (and many others) that life is somehow fundamentally difficult and unpleasant, that we are inherently flawed and need to improve ourselves, and that suffering is necessary and inevitable. From such a mindset, it's unsurprising that people tend to make a virtue out of what they see as an unpleasant necessity, and it's certainly a good thing to look for the value in any experience. But suffering in order to succeed and to grow as a person is never necessary in any absolute sense.
There are no enforced 'lessons'
Many will disagree with what has been said here, and no attempt is being made to convince those who genuinely enjoy seeing their earthly life as some kind of cosmic school in which they are compelled to endure unpleasant lessons 'for their own greater good', and in order to find success, that life may be otherwise. But personally, I'm glad never to have fully bought into that mindset, and to have now left it behind completely. As Abraham says in The Law of Attraction:
"It is not that you are being offered "lessons". We do not like that word very much, for that sounds as if there is some order of that which you should, or must, learn, and there is none of that. It is that your life experience brings you knowing, and you become wiser and broader through that knowing." (p.143, © www.abraham-hicks.com
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and: "...if you will let your standard of success be your achievement of joy, everything else will fall easily into place. For in the finding of joy, you are finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the universe." (p. 71, © www.abraham-hicks.com
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and in a 2002 seminar: "Everything exists for joy. There is not one other reason for life than joy. We've got nothing to prove to anyone, because nobody other than All-That-Is is watching. In other words, we're not trying to get brownie points from some other galaxy. We're not trying to get someplace else; we're not trying to get it done, because there is no ending--we cannot get it done. Everything exists for the purpose of joy in the moment." (Silver Spring, MD, 11/5/02, © www.abraham-hicks.com)
The universe is joy, fun, well-being, freedom, success etc - why should we, as aspects of the universe, need to create anything different?! I think it's more fun to grow up, leave school, take back our power from external 'authorities', recognise our potential as mature genius creators, and fully accept complete responsibility for the creation of our own joyful lives.
