life lessons
My Mother’s Prayers Still Carry Me
I still cry when I hear that beautiful song Mamma by Claudio Villa.
Growing up on a small island in Central Italy, I remember my mother’s daily prayers and all her sacrifices. Those examples have always followed me. They are still my daily support and strength.
I cried today in church as well, while singing the Ave Maria. My lovely mother Margherita passed in the early 90s and although she is not with me physically, she is here in my heart, supporting and guiding me from above. She has been my spiritual guide since my first girl was born and I named her Margherita too.
I always loved my mother’s name, which in Italian is the name of a flower known as “Daisy” in English.
It was during that very difficult pregnancy that my mom came to me for the first time. She spoke to me and I knew her when she walked into my room. I smelled her perfume. She loved the Vele Al Vento fragrance and I that way I knew she was there for me.
Being almost 40 years of age, going into a first pregnancy was scary. I had many medical problems. It was a difficult time and I needed her so much, and she was there for me and always reassured me I was having a beautiful baby girl.
Yes, I did not need the ultrasound to confirm this, she had already told me! When I held my bundle of joy, my first words were: “Grazie Mamma per la mia piccola Margherita,” meaning “Thank you Mom for this lovely flower.”
The Lessons Your Soul Came Here To Learn
There are moments in life when everything familiar begins to feel uncertain or different.
The roles we once identified with no longer fit, the goals we worked toward feel strangely hollow, and an unshakable question begins to surface: What is the deeper meaning of all this?
It is often in these quiet, uncomfortable spaces that we begin to sense there is more to our experiences than meets the eye.
What if your life is not random? What if even your most difficult chapters are not meaningless detours, but part of a deeper unfolding? What if the challenges we face are meant to be and part of something far more intentional? What if your life is unfolding as a kind of soul curriculum, designed for growth, awareness, and transformation?
To see your life as a soul curriculum is not to pretend that pain is pleasant or that every hardship is easy to understand. It is simply to consider that your experiences may be shaping you in ways the mind cannot always immediately grasp. It is to look at your life with greater reverence, greater curiosity, and greater compassion.
This is where a more soul-centered approach can offer support. Rather than looking only at surface problems, it invites you to explore the deeper meaning behind your experiences. It recognises that the mind, body, and spirit are deeply interconnected, and that when one area of life is out of balance, the others are often affected too.
Soulmates, Soul Groups And Soul Contracts
I find that many people in the spiritual and metaphysical communities are looking for their ‘soulmate.’ So what is a soulmate? What does this term mean to you?
A soulmate is often defined as the individual that we can completely resonate with, that we can truly love and that they truly love us back unconditionally. In reality, however, due to our humanness, this may not always be possible and then we may become obsessed with the search for a soulmate. In that search sadly we often miss truly wondrous opportunities to connect with love in the most unusual or unexpected places.
So, why do we fixate on soulmates? The reason is because we crave love. For the majority of people, the pinnacle of human connection is having achieved such a true, ultimate spiritual connection with another individual. It is what we attest to in the ceremony of marriage, the birth of a child, and so forth.
But maybe we should choose to expand our view of a soulmate as being an individual that we have the deepest admiration, respect, love and positive connection with. Then as we look around, with this new definition in mind, we will see that each of us has many, many soulmates.
We should change our paradigm from being one of soulmates having to be our intimate romantic relationship to that of being simply a deep, compassionate heartfelt connection. Then our relationships have the potential of attracting so much more, including the pinnacle connection of true love. Soulmates available to you abound throughout the world. Your universal connection can be instantaneously expanded beyond your wildest belief.
Living With A Sense Of Childlike Wonder
We can be quick to settle into ruts. The day-to-day routines of school, work and family often become repetitive and, dare I say… monotonous at times.
During these mundane periods of discontent, people often focus on themselves, and their lack.
They will complain about being overworked and underpaid. Whether professionally or personally, they often feel under-appreciated and under-acknowledged. Stress and resentment can start to build.
In order to alleviate stress, you already know that there are many options from which to choose. Whether people get into a daily habit of deep breathing, visualization, meditation or various forms of exercise, the body becomes transformed and stress is dissipated for the time being.
Rather than just staving off bubbling-under-the-surface irritation and potential health issues, we recommend taking things a step further.
Most people have heard the phrase, “Stop and smell the flowers!” Well, whether you prefer to cultivate the soil or be an observer, it is vitally important to redevelop a new sense of wonder in the garden of your life.
Make a little time for a detour now and then. Take note of your surroundings. Investigate, photograph, research some of the little things you take for granted in life.
Stop and take notice of everyday things in nature that you have been passing by for years. Even in the concrete jungles of cities, nature abounds if you slow down and take the time to look.
‘Under-Doing’ For You And ‘Overdoing’ for Others?
Are you ‘under-doing’ for yourself, or perhaps ‘overdoing for others’ in order to gain approval and love? Many of us fall into this pattern without even realizing it.
When we are raised to be helpful, agreeable and accommodating, it can become second nature to say yes whenever someone asks something of us.
For some people it can take many years, sometimes even decades, to recognize that constantly putting others first may not always be the healthy or loving choice it appears to be.
Learning to set healthy boundaries is not something most of us are taught when we are young, especially if we have grown accustomed to keeping the peace by going along with what others want.
Many of us know what it feels like to be the person everyone relies on. When something needs to be done, we are the first person people think of. When someone needs help, they call us.
At first this can feel rewarding because we enjoy being supportive and dependable. Yet always being that ‘Yes’ person can quietly create an imbalance over time.
When we continually give our time, energy and attention to others without receiving the same in return, the natural flow of energy becomes disrupted. Healthy relationships usually involve a balanced exchange between people.
I Am Responsible For Me
We all make mistakes. Each one of us has looked back on our life path and thought, if only I could go back and change it.
I wish I would have bought that house while it was still available at a lower price, because I would be on easy street by now.
Or if I could go back and take that amazing job, which I did not realize was so wonderful at the time, due to my youth and inexperience, I could have retired with a huge pension and many benefits by now.
One of the biggest regret that comes up quite often, is wishing to go back and tell relatives and friends that we love them… before they passed away so unexpectedly. I have so much to say to them right now, I wish I would have said it then.
My favorite saying, and yes, I am guilty of this myself: if I could go back to my teens with the knowledge I now have as an adult, I would change the course of my life and do things differently.
Yes, it would be nice if such a magic wand or time machine was available to us, so we could travel back and start over. However, truth be told, in our youth, we probably would have done the same things again.
The knowledge I have now, is because of the life lessons and mistakes that I have made. My errors and poor decisions created who I am today!
Am I perfect? Heck, no. Do I still mess up? Oh, yes. However, do I carry the things I messed up in my backpack of hardships, or do it let them fall to the ground and return to Mother Earth, and not let them move forward with me?
