What happens if something is out of alignment? It either doesn’t look right or it doesn’t feel right. If your back is out of alignment then you’re in pain until you either take something for the pain to cover it up or see a chiropractor for a realignment. If your car’s tires are out of alignment then they wobble, yet sometimes it doesn’t happen until we increase the speed.
So if alignment is so important for material things to run efficiently, why don’t we align ourselves with what our true strengths and values are?
If our strengths are not aligned with our job, how efficient can we really be? Will we ever be more than average?
If our purpose isn’t aligned with our daily activities, do we get frustrated with life because we feel like we’re “missing something?”
If our values are not aligned with someone else, how long do we spend time, or enjoy spending time with them?
If our priorities are not aligned with our responsibilities, how long will we be able to keep the job, or relationship?
In order to have full alignment within your life, you really need to do some work. Here are a couple of thoughts to get your wheels to stop wobbling;
- Find out what your strengths are. You can use a number of different assessments depending on what you’re looking for, or better yet do a number of self-assessments to discover who you really are.
- Examine the environment you’re in. Does your job frustrate you? If so why?
- Are the people you spend time with growth oriented or content with average?
- Do your actions consistently reflect what your values are?
When I was doing the research on the word alignment there was a number of websites that referred to the game Dungeons and Dragons. Having never played the game I wasn’t sure why the game focused on this aspect.
It seems that when you play you represent a certain character and you try to actually align your own personality to specific creatures in the game. A creature’s general moral and personal attitudes are represented by its alignment: lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil. You can use a number of assessments online for developing your character’s identity. Each alignment represents a broad range of personality types or personal philosophies, so two characters of the same alignment can still be quite different from each other. In addition, few people are completely consistent.
Doing the alignment test my character would be considered a lawful good character, a stereotypical “crusader” who is fair but firm, one who brings good to the most people while doing a minimum amount of harm.
That’s a great assessment if you want to start role playing games, but what about in the game of life? It can basically start the same way, but without the assessment. It requires reflection, meditation and honesty.
An alignment method that morally competent people generally do is to first write out what your principles, values and beliefs are. When you feel comfortable with those answers discover what your purpose is, what goals you want to achieve and your other wants.
Now comes the hard part, you need to align your thoughts, emotions and actions to get what you want in order to achieve your goals while living your purpose. You do this all while maintaining your principles, values and beliefs.
Basically, if you want something and you get it by violating your values, your wheels will be wobbling like crazy.
The ultimate alignment is with your higher self, one that most people never strive to reach. It takes patience, knowing who you really are and believing that the answers you seek are within yourself. It’s realizing that when you are emotionally distraught or your body is in pain is a signal that you are out of alignment with your higher self. The article “Aligning with your Higher Self” explains the concept better than I can, so please check it out.
Are your wheels wobbling, are you emotionally distraught and under extreme stress? You may be out of alignment with your purpose, violating your values or just know that you’re on this planet for something more important then what you’re currently doing.
Take some time this month to give yourself a realignment.