family
Seeing The Spiritual Essence In Others
My world was turned upside down when my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For seven agonizing months in 2005, I became his caregiver, managing the extreme emotional and physical toll of his illness.
Even the hospice staff, experienced in end-of-life care, commented at the time that my father was not an easy patient to care for. Their observation confirmed my own feelings on the matter and highlighted the unique challenges of the difficult karmic relationship I had with my father.
Throughout this stressful time, I held out hope for a miracle. I felt compelled to seek guidance, but unfortunately Spirit revealed a timeline of six to twelve months. This devastated me at the time, but I’ve since come to accept that arrivals and departures are part of every soul’s journey. Spirit was simply confirming a poignant truth: at some point we are all called home to the spirit realm.
Despite his resistance to any form of treatment, my father allowed a trusted colleague of mine, a master in his healing modality, to visit our home weekly for body alignment sessions. These sessions became a turning point — not only for my father, but for me as well.
During their second session, my healer friend shared an observation that struck a deep chord. He sensed an immense amount of bitterness and resentment in my father, energies he had perceived without any prior knowledge of my father’s emotional state or life history. He then offered me a piece of wisdom that changed the way I viewed not only my father, but all of my relationships: “Try to see only the true spiritual essence that is your father.”
Embracing The Spirit Of Thanksgiving
The spirit of thanksgiving invites us today to pause, reflect, and embrace the blessings in our lives — both the visible and the invisible. It calls us to appreciate not only life’s big moments, but also its simple, everyday miracles.
Gratitude is much more than a fleeting emotion or a polite “thank you.” It is a transformative energy, a wondrous frequency that opens pathways to abundance, prosperity, well-being, and fulfillment.
Thanksgiving offers us the perfect opportunity to align with this sacred vibration, blessing our daily lives and deepening our spiritual journey.
In today’s world, even the smallest gestures — a smile, a kind word, or the warmth of a loved one’s embrace — can lift our spirits and shift our perspective. Shifting our focus to appreciate life’s simplest gifts enriches us spiritually and helps us face life’s challenges with grace and resilience.
It is natural to celebrate life’s great achievements and monumental blessings, yet the most profound moments are often found in the ordinary: a breathtaking sunrise, a shared laugh, or the quiet comfort of companionship. How often do we stop to truly savor these moments? Thanksgiving reminds us to appreciate the beauty, joy, and abundance that surround us every day.
When we live with gratitude, we connect more deeply with Spirit and the divine flow of the universe. Gratitude becomes a bridge to positivity, aligning us with higher frequencies that revitalize our energy and attract harmonious connections. A grateful heart radiates light, transforming our aura into an inviting beacon for blessings and manifestations.
Ask Spirit For Patience This Holiday Season
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration. But for some of us, it can also be a time of tension, distress, and intense emotions.
Instead of being a time of gratitude, love, and connection, for some of us the holidays mark the resurfacing of old family conflicts, unresolved tensions, and the weight of others’ overwhelming expectations or criticisms.
These challenges often lead to frustration, sadness, anger, or feelings of being overwhelmed, turning what should be a time of love and belonging into one that underscores where our relationships with loved ones are most strained.
At this point, asking spirit or your higher power to help you cultivate the virtue of patience becomes a powerful way to stay grounded and centered.
Patience isn’t just about enduring difficult moments; it’s about being aware of those moments and choosing to respond with grace and dignity rather than impulsively. When tensions rise — perhaps during a family dinner where conversations may become heated or awkward — it is easy to fall back on old patterns and habitual responses. Asking for spiritual support and protection in these moments, however, can provide a higher perspective and an empowered response.
Whether it’s through a silent prayer, a few deep breaths, whispering your favorite mantra, or simply making a conscious call for help in your mind, spiritual presence can help you pause, step back, ground and center, and approach the situation calmly and with more compassion — for yourself and others.
Not Everyone Chooses The Path Of Healing
You’ve probably heard the phrase “what they don’t know can’t hurt them.” Sometimes this is true, but there are also times when what people choose to ignore or disregard can cause real harm – not only to themselves, but also to those around them.
For those of us with psychic or spiritual gifts, there’s an added complexity: the ability to sense the struggles of others, which leads to the question of when and how to help.
Intuitives, channelers and healers are very aware of the energy of others, even when we’re just going about our daily routines. Whether it’s a stranger in the grocery store or a friend across the room, we tend to sense when someone is struggling with grief, trauma or stress.
We may choose to quietly send them comforting or healing energy, hoping it will ease their pain, even if only for a moment, yet the urge to help can be very strong in these situations. And while reaching out and offering help can be very uplifting or rewarding for everyone involved, there are times when our attempts to help are met with resistance, or worse, denial.
It’s especially challenging to see someone we care about turn a blind eye to their own needs or pain, and even more so when our support is disregarded or unappreciated.
One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in both my personal and professional life is that I can only help those who are willing to help themselves. The sad truth is that sometimes people choose not to act on information that could improve their lives or change their destiny. Instead, their negativity, anger, or fear allows the problem to fester or the behavior to grow, affecting not only themselves but also their loved ones. Over time, this denial creates a cycle of suffering that affects physical, mental and karmic health and well-being, sometimes for generations.
Always Stay True To Your Soul Path And Purpose
Visiting a nursing home or retirement community and interacting with the residents can be a life-changing experience!
I recently had the opportunity to interact with a group of seniors and one of the things I asked them was, “If you could go back in time and start over, what would you do differently?”
To my surprise, the biggest regret most of them have is that they wish they had been more true to themselves and lived their lives their own way instead of pleasing others. One lady says she realizes she should have followed the original path her soul intended for her, instead of trying to live up to the expectations of others.
Another lady recalls how her life was shattered when a man she loved dearly and had devoted her life to unexpectedly left her to be with someone else. She said that was the day she realized she had wasted so much time putting her own dreams and goals on hold to make someone else the focus of her life. If she could go back in time, she would have handled this relationship very differently. In fact, she would probably never have gotten involved with him in the first place! “Never live for someone else, that is what I have learned,” she said.
Some of the regrets seemed heavy and intense. Some realize that too much time has passed and they cannot undo the choices they have made. There are potential joys and opportunities for personal and spiritual fulfillment that are now forever out of reach. One gentleman added that while there is much wisdom and truth in the saying “it’s never too late,” there are also the practical realities of aging and “missed deadlines” for some things in life.
How To Deal With Toxic Drama Royalty
These days, there is drama, crazy-making and toxic behavior everywhere you turn. And it’s not just on social media and public transportation…many of us have to deal with people in our personal and professional lives who are overly demanding, entitled, melodramatic, mean-spirited, always in victim mode, or just plain unhinged.
Sadly, many of these spiritually handicapped souls are people close to us, people we care deeply about. It can be daunting to deal with their toxic actions and volatile behaviors, and trying to ignore them is exhausting and even impossible in the long run.
But other people’s dysfunction and drama doesn’t have to weigh down your spirit, and it doesn’t always have to be so difficult to deal with, especially with some spiritual support and backup.
The first rule to remember is that love works better than anything else. So, the first step should also be to offer the “drama royal” plenty of compassion.
Chances are the drama king or queen in your life is wounded in some way. Dysfunctional behavior and toxicity often stem from unresolved hurt or deep trauma.
Many people who exhibit dramatic or demanding tendencies often aren’t aware of how their behavior affects others. They may be caught in a cycle of emotional turmoil and, as a result, seek external validation through attention and theatricality. Rather than focusing on the label “drama,” it’s helpful to think of these behaviors as expressions of unresolved pain or unmet emotional or spiritual needs.
The Mystery Of Soul Groups And Soul Contracts
In my work as a spiritual counselor to many people around the world, I have learned that we all belong to soul groups or families, and that each of us chooses to participate in our current lifetime in a certain way based on a pre-birth soul agreement or contract that we commit to before we come into this world.
I like to think of it as “auditioning for a play.’ Before we incarnate, we can choose to be in a comedy, a drama, an action, a horror, an epic adventure, or even a combination of all of these. We can also choose to take a central leading role, or just be a supporting cast member, or perhaps even a cameo or extra taking a background position.
What position are we willing and ready to take? This in itself can be a great karmic challenge as well as a profound learning experience. For example, if we have chosen a role that has caused grief or harm in a previous life, we will return in this life to try to resolve these latent karmic issues. If we are successful, it is wonderful because we can then pursue a completely different role or existence, or move on to something completely different in a future role.
Soul groups consist of a circle of souls with whom we have shared previous lives and are likely to meet in future lives. These groups are our spiritual families, and the members play different roles in each other’s lives through the process of soul evolution. We continually change roles in different lifetimes with other members of our soul group to facilitate learning and growth.
By interacting with these familiar souls from lifetime to lifetime, we create ongoing scenarios that karmically challenge us, assist us in our soul growth and evolution, and ultimately lead us to a state of spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment where our soul has transcended material limitations and reached its highest potential.