childhood trauma
Why Some Souls Depart This Life Early
In over 15 years of doing spiritual readings, I’ve had to deal with some very difficult questions from clients who have suffered extreme loss or trauma.
One of the most heartbreaking, however, is making sense of the death of an infant, child, or young adult, sometimes after a cruel and very unpredictable death.
Grieving the death of a young person can bring up some of the most profound and challenging emotions. While it is never easy to address this kind of loss with grieving parents and relatives, Spirit has been consistent in its guidance over the years.
Although I have been spared the loss of someone so young in my own life, I am no stranger to it. I have supported many families in this regard over the years, both professionally and in my personal life.
The first time I realized how fragile life really is, was when I was only 12 years old. I was looking forward to the summer vacation from school. One of my classmates who lived down the street and her family had relatives visiting for the summer. Two of the visiting cousins were more or less our age, so I had a nice group of girl playmates for the season!
There was also the younger brother of the visiting cousins, who was only six years old. He was an adorable child with blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a freckled face full of mischief. He followed his two sisters, my girlfriend, and me wherever we went during those carefree days. I did not mind having him around and even encouraged the others to let him play hide-and-seek and many other childhood games with us.
Why Do Empaths And Sensitives Often Feel Drained?
Have you ever left a meeting or social gathering feeling completely drained or energetically depleted?
Or maybe you’ve walked out of a store or other public place and noticed that you were short with your loved ones and irritable? Or you come home in the evening feeling sad or depressed for no apparent reason, after starting the day feeling cheerful and happy?
If this happens to you often, it is very likely that you are an empath or a highly sensitive person.
Empaths and highly sensitive people (HSPs) often feel drained by other people, social gatherings, crowds and certain environments due to several key aspects of their inherent nature and the way they interact with the world around them. Here are the major reasons for this phenomenon:
Genetic predisposition: Research suggests that the trait of high sensitivity is influenced by genetic factors that affect how individuals process sensory information and emotional stimuli. A key aspect of this genetic influence is the way the brain processes serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, appetite, sleep, and sensory perception. Variations in genes related to the serotonin transporter have been linked to differences in emotional reactivity and sensitivity to the environment. Studies have shown that individuals with certain variations of these genes may exhibit traits consistent with high sensitivity, such as deeper cognitive processing of sensory information, higher emotional reactivity, and increased empathy.
How To Beat The Holiday Blues This Year!
The holidays can be a very difficult and depressing time for some people. It can trigger unresolved emotions from childhood, unhealed trauma from past relationships, or unfinished grief from lost loved ones.
It can also make you feel more lonely, disconnected, and isolated than usual.
Especially for people struggling with existing mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression, their symptoms may worsen during the holidays due to increased stress, social demands, and cultural triggers.
But there are ways to beat the holiday blues and overcome sadness, depression, or low spirits during “the season to be jolly.” There are ways you can take back your power and improve your mood and overall well-being.
First, it is necessary to determine what is causing you to not feel the holiday cheer that everyone else seems to be experiencing.
Several factors can contribute to negative, gloomy thoughts and feelings during this time of year. A common trigger for many of us is that mainstream holiday traditions tend to emphasize spending time with loved ones and family, which can exacerbate feelings of loneliness for those who are socially isolated or have lost loved ones. This isolation can be particularly acute for those of us who live far from family or have strained relationships with them.
The Miraculous Roll Of Film
I have experienced many miracles and magical events in my life. As you read the following incredible story, you will see why I have chosen this particular one to best illustrate my experiences.
When I was 18 years old, I was working at a pre-school in my home town. One of the pupils was a three-year-old girl with whom I felt a real connection. She was an old soul; a bright and talented young artist.
But she usually came to school with unwashed, unbrushed hair and dirty clothes. She would never bring a packed lunch. When her parents came to collect her from school, they were often late and, unlike the other children, she did not run into their arms. There was clearly a disconnect between parent and child.
Eventually I moved several hours away and stopped working at the school. But I still thought of her often and prayed that she was well. A few years after I left, I made some enquiries, but no one knew what had happened to her. I hope she survived her difficult childhood and continued to create art, which I believed may have been her saving grace.
Two decades later, I was visiting the area around my hometown to go hiking with friends in a nearby national park. One day, one of my friends climbed a big rock and I followed him. Then he jumped down and I noticed what looked like something he had accidentally left behind.
“Hey, you dropped your roll of film up here,” I shouted, holding up the roll I’d found on the rock. But it turned out not to be his film and that someone else must have left it there. Maybe that person had the same idea of climbing the rock to take some pictures of the magnificent view.
Rebuild Your Trust In A Benevolent Universe
Have you ever watched a child learn to ride a bicycle? There is a certain excitement associated with this rite of passage as youngsters wholeheartedly embrace the possibility of being able to soon ride down the street without help.
The first time they get on a bike, they have no prior knowledge or experience to compare it to. Nevertheless, it is usually easy for most children to accept that they will be able to accomplish this task.
Most kids, in their innocence, focus on the joy, freedom and fulfillment of riding a bike rather than worrying about not being able to do it, let alone falling and getting hurt. They also don’t think in terms of good or bad ‘luck’ determining their ultimate success, nor do they imagine that riding a bike is a special gift, talent or privilege reserved only for certain people.
Perhaps this self-belief stems in part from an encouraging parent who has confidently assured the young person that they will indeed be able to achieve this skill. Perhaps the child has seen other children learn to do it and therefore trusts that they can do it, too.
The thing about children is not so much that they blindly or foolishly trust, but simply that, unlike most adults, they have not yet learned to distrust. Being able to trust as an adult is therefore not so much a matter of learning to trust, but of regaining the ability to trust that we once had, until we lost some or all of it through trauma, disappointment, betrayal, or hardship.
Raising An Old Soul
We have more people on the planet now than ever before. That means we have more old souls, and more new ones. Many parents are raising old souls and are struggling with how different it is from the information in all of the parenting books and blogs out there.
If your child is an old soul, which is one who has lived many past lives, they probably were your parent at one time. On some level they know and remember this and may challenge your authority, and change in roles. Thus, the power struggle so many parents go through.
I have been working with children for decades and have had many of them tell me their past life stories. I’ve heard, “I used to be a princess” and “I used to have a sister” or “My mom says we’re not having another baby, but I know I have a little brother coming!”
I’ve also had children tell me how they died in another life or how their mom isn’t their “real” mom. One boy told me he remembered being born. He remembered leaving the light and coming through a tunnel. It was a difficult decision to come back to Earth.
Another gifted child I worked with was able to find lost items, when his parents asked him where something was that had been misplaced. Just the faith that they had in him and the unquestioning belief that he could find these items helped him open up an invaluable gift that will serve him and others in life. Old souls also tend to have unusual or extraordinary gifts, talents and interests which should be nurtured for the greater good.
Learning To Trust Your Intuition
How often have you said, “If only I had gone with my gut?” This is a question that many of us have asked ourselves at one time or another about a matter, or even about the sincerity of a person who turned out to be untrustworthy, and we gave them the benefit of the doubt, only to feel heartbroken when they betrayed us.
We don’t have to throw reason out the window when we tune into our inner wisdom called intuition. But while it’s good to have as many facts and information available as possible before making a choice or decision, there are certain times when we don’t have the luxury of first weighing all the pros and cons. Tapping into our intuition is a powerful tool for making difficult decisions and important life choices by spontaneously ‘knowing’ or ‘sensing’ what’s best for us in our work, business, relationship, or lifestyle.
For example, as a manager you may be hiring someone for a job who ticks all the boxes in terms of qualifications and experience, but that little inner voice is screaming, “Don’t hire this person!” If you then do hire them, you may find out later that they have deep-seated issues that will upset the rest of the staff and antagonize your customers.
So many clients have told me over the years that they had an overwhelming feeling that they were making a huge mistake, but they decided to marry someone because they wanted to make everyone else happy, or because so much effort and expense had gone into the wedding arrangements. Just the other day a client told me that he should have listened to his inner guidance, not to mention the guidance he received in a psychic reading that warned him that he would end up separating within a few months of the wedding. If only he had trusted his intuition.