spiritual journey
A Time For Mindful Reflection
As the leaves begin to fall and the weather changes, I am reminded that change is a natural part of life. As the seasons change, it is natural for us to also shift and adapt, as our ancestors did for millennia.
Many years ago, a martial artist reminded me that when facing a difficult challenge in life that we are not able to avoid or change, we can still alter our view of the situation and find new meaning and resolution. What seems like the harshest challenges in our lives are often blessings in disguise. It often gifts us the opportunity to move forward and grow by changing that which no longer serves our true purpose and highest good.
We are living in an extraordinary time where natural forces are increasingly reminding us to become more responsible custodians of the environment that hosts our species. We must also become better stewards of the glorious physical temples that house our souls. The key to this is mindfulness. By adopting a mindful lifestyle, greater planetary care and self-care becomes second nature to us, and both our own lives and the world we live in will benefit exponentially.
Mindfulness allows us to be present in each moment, appreciating the beauty of constant change and the natural cycles of life even as it happens. When we become still and centered, we connect more deeply with ourselves and the world around us.
An endless array of spiritual practices and self-care endeavours, such as prayer, meditation, gratitude journaling and charitable volunteering can help us find peace despite any great change or challenge that may be confronting us. Make the effort to find your own desired outlet for connecting to your inner peace, as this undertaking will lead to a lasting fulfilment and joy that you can hold on to at any time throughout your lifetime. Continue reading
Make It Happen Every Day
We have the ultimate ability to forge our own spiritual path in this lifetime, regardless of perceived limitations. As life is lived, important karmic lessons are learned and it is always your free will choice as to how fully you embrace your surroundings and opportunities.
Your experiences will depend on the lessons you choose to learn, the people with whom you interact and the ultimate goals you envision achieving.
To make the most of this incredible journey, spirit invites us to implement the following strategies:
Learn from all your experiences. Rejoice in the ability to create your reality and celebrate your successes, but do not judge your mistakes, nor your supposed failings. Reframe it instead into lessons.
Rejoice in all accomplishments. Even the smallest achievements lead to much greater opportunities. Never criticize your lack of visible success.
Lead by example. Be your best self today and encourage others to do the same for themselves.
Be kind to yourself. Aim for personal balance so that you can give more freely to others.
Be of service. Give so that your heart becomes truly free. Take giant strides in life and make your mark with love and integrity. Don’t let life pass you by.
Evaluate carefully. Think and make wise choices. Step back from the precipice of judgment long enough to gain solid insight before making a definitive move. You are much stronger than you realize. When confusion reigns, ask spirit for support and guidance.
Less Is More When They ‘Know It All’
Some people just don’t like to hear the truth. Do you also know people who seem to avoid you, because they know you’re potentially going to say it like it is? They recognize you as a person who speaks the truth based on plain common sense.
I have known people who have very little common sense and really do not want help, advice, guidance or direction from anyone. They know it all. That is just the way it is with them. The ego can make us not want to take honest advice, and thus we do not have the advantage of learning and growing with help from others who may have more experience or wisdom. I have learned the fine art of silence when I am around these people. I feel awkward, because those who know what I do for a living realize that they are pretty much transparent in my eyes, when they are around me.
I especially have a very hard time when I am around certain people, because you see the damage they are doing to themselves and others. You want to share a better way with them, but you have to let them follow their own path. It may seem like an unnecessary struggle for them, but maybe they are supposed to go through all that pain and heartache. It may be a part of their unique spiritual journey towards soul growth.
Protect your energy by knowing when to practice the art of silence with people who ‘know it all.’ You can’t resonate with everyone, and it is especially pointless if they don’t appreciate it. Why use up all that precious energy if they are only going to be disrespectful?
Karmic Fate Versus Free Will Manifestation
We often say things are ‘meant to be,’ or it was ‘fated’ and therefore out of our hands entirely. But is this really true? How much of what happens in our life is pure luck, chance, or predestined fate? How much of our destiny do we actually control?
Many people also believe that we are able to manifest whatever we want. But how is this even possible if there is such a thing as fate? If predestination or divine will rules part, or even most of our life, then surely there must be limitations or restrictions to what we can manifest?
Well, not exactly. There is fate, but there is also free will.
It is my understanding that fate is related to our karmic life lessons, while free will is our capacity to make choices and manifest aspects of our life as we desire. Many people do this unconsciously most of the time. However, as much as we have free will, the karmic lessons we have to learn are still woven into our life choices and integrated with our manifestations.
So, some aspects of our lives are indeed fated certainties. For example, experiencing certain major life events or traumas. These immutable, unchangeable events or outcomes are related to the karmic lessons we have selected to work through in this lifetime.
If a chosen karmic lesson is, for example, is tied to the experience of infertility it may be ‘fated’ that the person who chose this path will not be able to have children of their own in this lifetime, or will at least struggle to do so. This is an example of how a karmic lesson can limit or restrict manifestation. But, while it may preclude the experience of parenthood in this lifetime, it does not block the potential manifestation of parenting experiences – there are other options open to becoming a parent, such as adoption, fostering, or a blended family.
Spiritual Enlightenment Is Not A Fireworks Display
Many seekers desire spiritual fulfillment, or yearn for enlightenment, assuming it would instantly bring them wisdom, inner peace, and serenity. But instead, true spiritual growth is often delivered in challenging ways we never expected.
Increased spiritual growth often begins with life-altering events, unsettling discoveries, or distressing insights – such as realizing what has really been holding you back from attaining spiritual fulfilment. These learning curves can show up in many ways. For example, as an unexpected ending of a relationship, a health crisis, or the loss of a loved one.
Often, it shows up in the form of disruptive events that expose dysfunctional thought or behavior patterns that have been stifling your mental freedom, or a toxic mindset that has been hindering your ability to see clearly to break free from limiting beliefs and self-sabotage.
The term ‘spiritual enlightenment’ is used very loosely these days and has become a confusing concept to many people. The truth is that authentic spiritual enlightenment is actually not a very big deal. It is seldom the ‘fireworks display’ that our egos might want it to be.
Spiritual accomplishment is nothing to be prideful or boastful about. It is actually a very quiet process; inward and intimate. People who go through this process in an authentic way, report the experience as being a modest, intuitive alignment, rather than a dramatic breakthrough of profound elation.
Only once we have improved our intuitive alignment, are we subtly encouraged by spirit to not to stop there, but to muster up the courage to take further steps in our spiritual growth and evolution. We become increasingly self-aware and are able to assess what we may have done to contribute to the disappointments in our life, and how these dysfunctional patterns may have started.
Honor Your Past Life Memories
Sometimes we experience unusual memories accompanied by intense emotions, when nothing unusual has happened to trigger it and there is no apparent reason for us to feel this way. These memory flashbacks may be due to past life experiences that had a profound impact on our soul evolution.
Past life memories tend to come out of nowhere. For example, I love traditional parades, but whenever the marching band passes by I always get the shakes and even begin to cry.
I am also deathly afraid of covered bridges, to the point that feel traumatized whenever I must cross one. I also have a claustrophobic phobia to be trapped in confined spaces, or climbing up to a high place and being unable to come down. And last but not least being tickled freaks me out completely!
I believe these fears are all due to energy imprints from traumatic previous life experiences. As constantly evolving souls we all journey through many lifetimes on the path to spiritual transcendence. It’s not simple or easy to shape a fully enlightened spiritual being.
So, why do we sometimes ‘remember’ these former traumas and why do we let it affect our current life? There is always a reason we carry things over from lifetime to lifetime. Some are things we still need to heal or overcome, while others are protective warnings of past life dangers that are meant to shield us from repeating the same mistakes.
In my work as a professional psychic and healer, I have also found that many people carry a fear of what caused their deaths in previous lives.
Sometimes these cellular memories from former incarnations are also beneficial and positive, even amazing. For example, I have heard of people who mysteriously just know how to sew, speak a foreign language, or handle a gun with confidence. Some people are inexplicably gifted to play musical instruments with no training, or paint, or dance. Some are naturally born healers or inventors with no formal education. Their abilities and skills just seem to come naturally.
The Courage To Rescue Your Inner Child
Many people wish they had better memories of their childhood. For some the traumatic experiences of their youth is something they would much rather forget. But spirit has shown me that each piece of our life happens for a reason.
Learning to overcome and rise above the negative events in our life enables us to grow and expand. We do not get to pick and choose the parts we like, and discard the rest in the deepest closet of our mind. We become an empowered, improved version of ourselves when we find healing and forgiveness by redeeming even the worst parts of our life experience.
We all matter. We all bring unique gifts to this world. No matter what has happened to us, we must rescue every lost or damaged moment of our life journey. Those tragic events and awful experiences are what molds us into who we are today and who we are meant to become.
Nobody chooses some the things that might happen to them: family dysfunction, separation, divorce, rivalry, abuse, loss, death. As children we often blame ourselves for the things that happen around us, or we block it out, never wanting to remember it again. But this only means that you have left a part of yourself behind in the darkness of the past. But now that you are older and wiser, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could go back and save that part of you?
As a little girl I loved horses and dogs, but we could not afford to keep any. I made up for it by drawing them. My parents could also not afford to buy me expensive drawing paper, so I had to wait until my mom returned from the grocery store, because I would then get the used brown paper bags to draw on. It may seem somewhat silly, but to this day I still buy lots of paper whenever I get the chance! One would think there was going to be a shortage on paper, based on how I tend to stock up.