How to get yourself out of a Pickle

John Vincent Shrader
4 min readAug 22, 2022

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What to do when it feels like there is nowhere else to turn.

Photo by Dan Asaki on Unsplash

You’re more confused than you’ve ever been in your life.

Your mind is spinning and you feel like everything is falling apart.

Thousands of thoughts race through your head and you feel like you’re the worst human being on the planet.

Your heart wants to save the world but you mired in your own cloud of ignorance. You’ve made terrible decisions and your reality reflects just how fucked you are. Everywhere you turn there is darkness. Poverty surrounds you and you want to help but are left paralyzed. Your ex-girlfriend is telling you that you’re a piece of shit and curses you that you’ll never be happy. You’ve met a beautiful woman who wants to marry you but you feel she is coming from a place of delusion. Your mind tells you you’ve been running from love your whole life and now its time to surrender. In the meantime you have no money and are traveling in debt. Your hotel bills are racking up and you feel like you have really lost your way.

Trust in Your Inner Knowing

Deep in your soul though, you see.

You know there is an unwavering truth running through the background of your life.

Despite the external circumstances you know who you are deep down.

You know that life is guiding you to a higher plane of existence and you’re deeply familiar with ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’. Deep down, you know the eternal nature of your being. You know the background of all life is a supreme intelligence. Your external reality is scary, wrapping its dark tentacles all around you, reaching deep into your deepest fears and you a part of you is convinced you are lost.

Feeling Everything is a Superpower

Sit with it.

Dig into it.

Life is contradiction.

Everything in life is a profound teacher. We magnetize experiences for our growth. We magnetize darkness into our life so that we can discover an unshakeable light. The light is there. Always. In the background. It is the essence of all of life. The primordial background upon which every single situation in your life emerges. But you still have to act. The woman you are with is convinced you will marry her. She is convinced that she loves you. She is beautiful, she is pure, her intention is strong. You tell her that marriage has to come from a place of shared purpose in the world. She rejoins with ‘Love is the highest purpose’. It feels like God has you in checkmate. She says that God sent you to me to save me. Fucking epic proposal. She has no money either. You have no money. She says love will suffice. Her eyes are glowing. She says no one will ever love you as much as me. Somehow you feel it. But you’re stuck in this hotel room with hardly any money.

Surrender to a Higher Power

Whenever I have been stuck before in difficult situation my mantra is always to surrender.

What does surrender mean?

Surrender means letting go of the need to know and trusting that a higher force is guiding you. Where do decisions come from not from the depth of the heart? If God is in the depth of the heart then God’s infinite intelligence will help us make a decision. Even though I feel a profound love for her, I have to leave. Even though it means she will be hurt, I have to leave. My choice is based on the fact that I am not spiritually where I want to be. Where I know I need to be. It is said that when we make an effort towards spiritual practice everything in our life will change. Even though the allure of love is powerful, for me, the allure of spiritual freedom and higher levels of clarity are more alluring. Why? Because everything I have to offer to the world will come through my spiritual understanding. Self-Realization and Spiritual Lucidity are the highest form of service we can render the world. Even if it means sacrificing love, our love for God will strengthen and from this union our service to the world will be higher. The next time you find yourself in a pickle, choose God. Choose Truth. Choose your higher destiny. It might not seem logical. It might not bring you emotional comfort. It might not feel good. But the freedom that will come later will be worth it.

Choose Freedom.

Choose Peace.

Choose Light.

Everything else will fall into place.

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John Vincent Shrader

John is a yogi, visionary and author residing in India. He has dedicated his life to the eternal search for truth .