During this time that I have spent working on a show I am performing in a couple of weeks called “How I Came to Me…n,” I have been exploring the turning points in my life. What is a turning point? The dictionary definition is “a point at which a significant change occurs.”

In general, turning points would be times like when we decided to get married, when we got divorced, or when we had our first child. I remember the day I went into labor. In that exact moment, I realized my life would never be the same again. If you think about your own life, you can probably come up with dozens of turning points, or maybe more.

There are conscious turning points where we make a definite decision, and then there are those that seem forced upon us. The latter might be something like  our husband coming home and saying he wants a divorce or an accident that severely affects our health.

As I look back on my life, I can see both types of turning points, but I can also see that even though I might have felt, at the time, that I didn’t have a choice in that turning point, I always had a choice. The choice is my reaction to the turning point, which allows me to create my own turning point that is not relegated by some outside force.

The more conscious we are and the more we stay in a state of decision and in the drivers seat of our life, the more we can direct our turning points. I remember a particular turning point in my life when I gave into the responsibility of making money in a career as a teacher instead of following my love of theater and acting. It was a conscious turning point, but it was based in someone else’s opinion of what I should do. I was married. It made sense logically to help support my family.

It all turned out just as it should have for me because there is that Spirit within that drives my path toward wholeness even if I take an indirect path in the world of form. I believe we always end up exactly where we need to be. I ended up back in theater later through a conscious choice, which led me to meeting my soul mate, which led me to the Science of Mind and Spirit. My life now includes everything.

The more conscious and responsible I became for my decisions that led to my turning points, the more I realized that there is a price to pay for conscious living. Sometimes, we have to make tough choices that we know are right, but that leave others wondering what happened and maybe blaming us for ruining their lives with those choices. That becomes a turning point for them. Can you see how we are all connected and responsible for our reactions to those turning points that seem beyond our control?

In my 66 years, here’s what I’ve learned about turning points. I believe turning points need to be conscious turning points. The way to do this is to begin to learn who you are and what you truly want in life. What you want might change and that’s okay, but who you are never changes. We are Infinite Intelligence, Unlimited Power, and Divine Love. When we bring our mind and heart together, we can make powerful decisions and create turning points that lead us to our next expansion and our next.  This is a time in our history as a species that I think this is more important than ever.

Ernest Holmes, Founder of Science of Mind and Spirit, taught me that we start where we are. We can’t start anywhere else. I had to start where I was that day I decided to be a teacher, and I created some amazing times in my life and touched many lives in that turning point. If I gone the other direction, I see now, that I was not ready for that life. We must start where we are and choose what feels the best to us in that moment. We’ll know.

I am grateful for all the turning points in my life, conscious and unconscious. What I realize is that Spirit always had my back, even when I didn’t know it. I also realize that as I become more and more conscious of my Identity as Divine, forgive my past and move into the sweet spot of the present moment, the more I become the creator of my turning points. The Universe is ready to give us everything, but we have to be ready to receive it.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita