Aims Part 3
January5, 2026
Aims Part 3: The Aim to Stay With the Experience
Our aims are the intentions to stay spiritually awake throughout the day. They remind us to return, again and again, to the clarity of consciousness rather than drifting into automatic reactions. One vital aim is transformative but straightforward: stay with the experience.
When we encounter an unpleasant or uncomfortable moment, the instinct is to escape, either physically, mentally, or emotionally. But the overarching will to become conscious invites us to do the opposite. We aim to stay in the experience until its truths can reveal themselves. This applies not only to outward events but also to our inner thoughts and reactions.
A typical example happens in nearly every household: we misplace our phone, wallet, or keys. Without these, life feels as if it comes to a standstill. In our frustration, we may scold ourselves, slip into self-disgust, or imagine worst-case scenarios. As the search intensifies, so does the anxiety. We may even become irritated with others, assuming they moved or misplaced our belongings.
But when we remember that we aim to stay with the experience, the whole atmosphere shifts. We pause, breathe, and center ourselves. Instead of demanding an immediate fix, we take the following simple step. In this calmer inner space, we listen. We make room for the truths that want to arise in the quiet between the loss and the resolution.
This “in-between” is a liminal space, a threshold between what was and what will be. In the case of misplaced items, it is the time between losing them and finding them. If the unhealthy ego takes charge here, it can pull us into anxiety, blame, discouragement, and unhelpful reactions. But when we stay conscious, we discover that the liminal space is not a place of punishment, but a place of revelation.
Negative or unresolved moments often attract the ego’s strategies. Daily life brings countless challenges that test our patience. For example, we may find ourselves in a difficult conversation. The unconscious impulse is to follow the ego’s strategies of withdrawal, attack, or shutting down. But our aim to stay with the experience invites us to remain in the conversation, speak our truth, and let the outcome unfold naturally. We trust the experience because we are attuned to the soul, not to the ego’s need to control, win, or prove.
When we commit to it, we find that we do stay. And in that staying, we discover truths and insights that remain hidden when everything is smooth and easy. Instead of being dragged through the ego’s wild reactions, we receive the quiet gifts the moment has been waiting to offer. Without our aim to stay with the experience, we would easily drift into the abyss of our ego’s making. The conscious aim to stay with the experience grants us a gift of being tuned into a higher vibration and a higher source of truth and comfort. It is an opportunity to practice our faith in the universe that supports us.
Spiritual practice: Plan to go to a labyrinth and walk its circles. To set your aim and embody it, repeat it throughout the amazing circles of spiritual centeredness.
Self-inquiry: What are the chances you will remember to set your aim and then follow it when uncomfortable situations arise?
Prayer:
Dear God, in liminal spaces, I have had to come to terms with many things you have shown me. But if not for these sacred thresholds, I would have stayed in the room of anxiety and confusion. Thank you for the gift of awareness and our aim to stay aware. Amen
