What is an "issue"? Simply an unresolved bit of business. Issues usually seem to be other-centered ("My father beat me when I was a child!") but are always, at their core, self-centered ("I haven't been able to forgive my father.") They originate in various fields, but, left unresolved, work their way into closer, adjacent fields until, eventually, they affect the innermost "field", the physical body. Thus, our issues ultimately cause our health problems.

Today's issues come from the past...all our pasts. Issues regarding responsibility we've shirked, whether arising from this lifetime or another, need to be dealt with and then released. Once they're released, they don't need to be reconsidered unless one is writing one's autobiography!

Many people cling to their issues and claim they've been released, yet go over them and over them. Often it is with the excuse, "I am just telling you this! I'm over it, now." Yet, why is it being told? If it was truly released, it wouldn't even have been thought of unless a full lifetime narrative had been requested.

In order to truly release an issue, we must

• Identify it ("My spouse cheated on me")
• See it from its self-centered viewpoint ("I don't believe I am worthy of love")
• Resolve it ("I love myself and others")

This is often a circular process, because one issue often extends from another. ("Why don't I believe I am worthy of love?")

Unreleased Issues

Unreleased issues can be identified in each of the twelve fields, starting from the most obvious and becoming more subtle as we work our way outward:

1: Physical effects. When issues have been ignored long enough, they manifest physically, as in obesity, cancers, injuries. The part of the body affected is a direct clue to the cause: See You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. Especially when injuries don't heal, do we know the underlying cause has not been addressed and released. For example, broken bones reflect an issue with authority or structure; feet relate to an essential understanding of our place in the world. (A recurring foot problem could refer to a feeling that we don't belong, or that we have been rejected by parents or society.)

2: Ownership effects. Before issues effect us physically, they often hit us in the pocketbook...or the treasure chest. For example, losing a job (or not having one) reflects foundation issues, the same ones represented by feet. Losing keys, or glasses, or a book one is reading, especially when this happens repeatedly, are all hints that particular issues need resolving. (Keys: What in your life have you refused to unlock, or have you locked away from others? Glasses: What are you refusing to see? Books: What is the book about, and how does that topic apply to your life?)

3. Emotional effects. Anxiety attacks, crying jags, fits of unexplained giggling, all indicate that such an issue has entered one's emotional field. Pay attention to what thought triggered the emotion for clues to the source of the issue. For example, if one hates the landlord even though the landlord is generally thought by others to be likeable, the landlord could be bringing up issues of survival or one's place in the universe. If one finds oneself frequently fighting with waiters and waitresses, there may be issues regarding nurturing that haven't been addressed.

4. Mental effects. An inability to focus, distractions, odd thoughts popping into one's head: these are mental effects that indicate outstanding issues. To identify the issues, note what it is you can't focus on. Or, what are you trying to think about, that you are being distracted from? The answer is usually right in front of you. If, for example, you trying to read a book on weight loss but can't seem to read a whole page without your mind's wandering, the issues associated with obesity (lack of foundation, feeling of not belonging, insecurity) may be the ones to address.

5. Purpose effects. Does the Universe seem to block you in what you are trying to do? Then you may have issues manifesting in this energy field. These effects are often in the form of rescheduling. (Where you hadn't been informed of a schedule change; if you did know and missed it anyway, that's a mental effect.) Rescheduled trains and planes imply an issue with your destination or reason for the trip; rescheduled TV shows suggest an issue with the subject matter of the show. For example, suppose you planned to watch a program on the history of India, but when you sat down to watch it, found it had been shown earlier or pre-empted for something else. It is possible you have an issue originating in a past life in India. Alternatively, the issue may involve the show that pre-empted the other, so you'll need to examine both.

This is the first effect that does not involve your active participation, beyond a desire to go somewhere or do something. The Universe appears to be the manipulator. As the affected fields move farther from the body, the connection with the Universe and away from your consciousness becomes stronger.

6. Intuition effects. Do you try to win the numbers in the lottery, but don't? Do you get psychic hunches that the phone will ring, but it doesn't? Your issues may be affecting your field of Intuition. For example, if you find yourself expecting the telephone to ring (and it doesn't), ask yourself, if someone were to call, who would it be? That may be a person with whom you have an unresolved issue. If you never get even one lottery number match, perhaps you have a foundation issue (security, joblessness, and so on).

By the way, not actually winning the lottery does not mean you have an issue! There are millions of psychic people out there, all competing with you! However, basing one's financial future on an expected lottery win is an indication of an under-energized foundation.

7. Relationship issues. Relationships, of course, can cause  many of our issues! But, just as often, they reflect issues already in place. Literally, what we see in others are the things we do not wish to see in ourselves. If one finds that people just can't be trusted, one may not, in fact, be trustworthy. If one complains that one's associates are careless with our things, one may, in fact, be careless with the things or even the feelings of others. "To have a friend, be a friend," the catch-phrase goes; and this truth extends in every direction. We will perceive in others what we are, and there are no exceptions. The correct way, then, to deal with troublesome associates, is to determine what aspect of their behavior troubles us, and to make an effort to not behave that way, ourselves. In time, that particular behavior will simply cease to trouble us.

As we continue outward, issues become ever more subtle. And more important!

8. Transformative issues. These are identified when something turns out to be something else, entirely--for example, when a vacation turns out to be a life-threatening accident and injury. These mostly occur to people who are quite spiritually developed; the experience would be wasted on others. If an injury is the result, the form the injury takes suggests the issues that are to be addressed. If not (a vacation that turns into a job interview), pay attention to the transformations and use them as clues to spot the issues being addressed. These tend to be higher-level issues, for example, time for a career change, or a new mate, or a reconsideration of one's whole life.

9. Perceptive issues. If you thought that red car was blue, or that the phone was ringing, or that the road was clear, these errors in perception suggest issues. Pay attention to the misperception; those are clues to what you wanted to see that wasn't. Is there something blue in your life that you've been ignoring (or have you ignored that fact you are "blue", pretending to be cheerful)? Have you been ignoring a communication issue? Have you been pretending there are no problems for you to work on ("clear road") when that wasn't truly the case?

10. Self-understanding issues. These are very common. The most common is the belief that we do, in fact, understand ourselves perfectly--often expressed to others as, "How can you say that? You don't understand me!" Suppose someone offers an observation of us that we don't like. How can we tell whether the observation is accurate, versus that individual being confused by his or her own relationship or transformative issues? Simple: If we don't like what we hear, an issue is being engaged. If there is no issue, we will have a neutral reaction ("Really? If you say so...")

11. Service issues. If there's something you just wouldn't do for others, that suggests an issue. More subtly, if there are things you will not do for yourself--especially if you are doing the same for others--that also suggests an issue. For example, suppose you are a regular volunteer at a soup kitchen, but often skip meals, yourself: This suggests a deep-seated nurturing or self-esteem issue. If you love your baby but are disgusted by changing its diapers, you may have an issue regarding rejection.

12. Integration issues. There are actually very few issues that manifest themselves at this level, other than the one the level represents: Wholeness. Our issues keep us from achieving this state, but they also aid us in reaching it. That's because issues, by their nature, are not really hard to spot or to identify. Once we acknowledge that we have issues, and are willing to hunt them down and deal with them, with each success we become more Whole...which is, after all, what this life experience is all about.