Our free will means the unexpected is constantly happening

Soul Reasons for Life Challenges

Without the meaning that flows from a higher view, we remain stuck in our human experience, believing (understandably) that these things should never happen. For trauma survivors on a healing journey, we need to consider the broader vision to find purpose in our suffering, and step into our soul warrior authority.

Reason 7: Free Will

Events take place that were not in the soul’s plan

Spiritual regressionist Linda Backman explained another reason for traumatic events; our free will means that the unexpected is constantly happening. Trauma can result from choices made down here that were never planned up there. Major challenges can arise simply from being amidst the chaotic mix of energies we call life on earth. Destructive behaviors, circumstances, weather…all make for an exciting, dangerous mess. Once here on earth, it is a free for all. Things can get anarchic at times.

The cosmos always allows for our free will, because we are sovereign in our own right, created with the same free will of our Creator. Spirit therefore never overrides our freedom, meaning we have the right to make mistakes–we often do. We get to choose, and sometimes we choose poorly. A lack of spiritual connection, which is part of the contrast we explored before as purposeful for growth, is also the cause for people doing destructive things.

Linda shared that, “There are times when family members are the perpetrator of the trauma… there is free will choice that could not have been predicted”. She has found in her regression work that sometimes the abuse and degree of resulting trauma in the current life was not planned, “it was someone in their life using human free will to make very, very unhealthy choices.” Spirit cannot guarantee what goes on in a life.

Fortunately, the system supports error as a learning tool. Remember, all experiences are ultimately good for the soul–nothing is wrong or wasted. We are free to choose, make mistakes, experience consequences, and slowly learn what works best. We, and everyone else, are bound to make poor choices at times; in fact our learning depends on it. No error, no growth.

Free will is a powerful and profound reason for trauma which we must include in our spiritual enquiry. On a human level, it is tempting to blame God for all the terrible things that happen down here. Even as we embrace soul reasons for life challenges, it can be a trap to see everything as preordained by spirit. Such thoughts test our belief in a loving universe, and rightly so. My understanding is that Source wants us to evolve into perfection—to ultimately become co-creators with the Divine. A soul who has not mastered the power of their will could not take up that role.

By including the joker card of chance in the game of life, we allow for the rogue hand, the element of surprise, and the random chaos that occur with predictably unpredictable regularity. We are required to take responsibility for our active role in the events that take place on earth, acts of both kindness and cruelty. To see ourselves only as powerless marionettes of an excessively harsh puppet master denies the reality of our creative input. We would be misusing spirituality to place ourselves back in victimhood.

By owning this very human reason for some of the painful things that happen, we allow our spiritual perspective as soul warriors to step into full maturity. We are not passive players on the cosmic chess board, but active agents co-creating our reality.

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Trauma Survivor to Soul Warrior: Reconnect With Your True Self (due to be published in September 2025 by Manuscripts Press LLC).

I am looking forward to sharing it with you.