self-belief
The Empowered Empath
People are naturally drawn to empaths. They tend to open up and pour their souls out to the empath, instinctively knowing that their secrets are safe and that there will be no judgment or condemnation. This is great, unless you are the empath who is constantly feeling burned out and exhausted from the burden of keeping everyone around you happy, with no one to talk to yourself.
I’ve been doing readings on PsychicAccess.com for more than a decade now, and in that time I’ve had the privilege of reading for many people who are born empaths but were unaware of their innate gifts and abilities. They have since grown exponentially in their awareness and have learned to trust what is at the core of their being.
Not only have they become aware of what makes them so different, they realize that they are not ‘crazy’ or ‘too sensitive’ or ‘imagining it.’ They have been told such things all their lives, but now they can trust their very keen intuition and know that they are usually right on the money.
The moment empaths embrace their true, gifted nature, the gut-wrenching anxiety, tension headaches, and other health problems begin to subside. Their confidence soars. It is wonderful to observe this newfound self-empowerment.
But the openness and courage required to do this kind of soul searching is not easy. It takes determination, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Not to mention the difficulty of cultivating the patience required to learn where and when to say what you feel and know. Sensing the outcome of events or relationships, or more importantly, knowing that something is going on with someone before they know it, can be very challenging.
Friends For A Reason, A Season, Or A Lifetime
I recently reconnected with a family friend with whom I had a very close relationship about three decades ago. She was like a mother figure in some ways, even though she was only about 12 years older than me at the time.
She is a very caring and nurturing person and was always there for me when my own mother was physically or emotionally unable. Her door was always open and she always had many people around her. After working in retail for many years, she changed careers to become a full-time caregiver, which she loved. After she retired and her husband passed away, she continued to be very active and had a very vibrant social life.
But during the Covid-19 pandemic, like many people her age, she experienced intense isolation and trauma. We spoke frequently on the phone during this time, and she was very much looking forward to the restrictions finally being lifted.
However, when the worst was over and most restrictions were lifted, her group of friends remained afraid to go out. Some of them even developed agoraphobia, a type of anxiety disorder that causes people to experience extreme, irrational fear of public places and unpredictable situations that they imagine could cause them harm, panic, or helplessness.
My dear friend was deeply affected by this. Seeing all her friends again was one of the things that kept her strong and hopeful through the chaos of the pandemic. But now she felt she had lost her tribe (beyond her family, who all have busy, demanding lives of their own and live several hours away). Fortunately, she is a determined soul who will not easily accept defeat and apparently she is gradually getting more of the old gang together for their usual fun meet-ups!
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.
The Dealbreakers And Dealmakers Of Dating
Dating has changed a lot in recent years, especially with the advent of social media and dating apps. But one thing that has not changed is that most people still want to meet someone special to share their lives with.
I had to venture back into the dating scene myself after my husband passed away several years ago. At first, I had absolutely no interest in meeting someone new, but after a long period of grieving, healing, and self-reflection, I finally realized that I did not want or need to be alone for the rest of my life.
I remember so many people giving me dating and relationship advice after I became a widow. They particularly advised me not to remarry, especially at my age. “Trust me, you don’t need the headaches and drama,” they all said. “You’ll never find someone as good as him,” one predicted. “It’s a toxic war zone out there,” lamented another. Relatives, friends, and even neighbors all had something negative or skeptical to say.
While I appreciated everyone’s concern and well-meant intentions at the time, I decided to stay true to myself and trust my inner guidance. You see, I already knew something they did not.
Spirit revealed to me toward the end of my grieving period that I would eventually meet someone new, but that I would have to take the necessary steps to make it happen. My future partner was not going to miraculously show up at my door. I had to put myself out there to meet him.
Follow Your Passion And Truth
In Native American tradition, human existence and well-being is based on the Medicine Wheel, also known as the Sacred Hoop, that consists of the Four Directions, Father Sky, Mother Earth, and the Spirit Tree. Together these ‘spokes’ of the wheel honor all aspects of human existence, growth, balance, and well-being: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
In each lifetime, we are destined to achieve progress in one or more of these areas until, finally, after many incarnations, all the ‘spokes’ of our wheel are complete – all the way from the inner hub to the outer rim. At that point, we have completed our various missions through many incarnations in a myriad of schoolrooms, and we finally achieve ascended mastery.
When all our spokes are complete, we leave this dense, earthly dimension and arrive at the highest plane of existence, the realm of the Great Spirit, traditionally known as the ‘Hunting Grounds of the Ancestors,’ and since the arrival of Christianity, as ‘Heaven.’
In this state we never need to descend again, and will remain infinitely in the higher dimension. We are liberated from the endless cycle of rebirth and reach a new level of consciousness and enlightened existence, known as nirvana in Buddhism, moksha in Hindusim, and eternal life in Christianity.
As a result, from a spiritual stand-point, we are offered a smorgasbord of options and choices that we may need for our particular journey in this lifetime. The enthusiasm and passion we feel when we are guided to a particular path is spirit directing us toward the ‘curriculum’ we need to complete in order to achieve our ultimate goal of transcendence in one or more spokes of our wheel.
Manifesting A New Reality
It is never too late for a fresh start or a new life adventure. An attitude of optimism is key in a spiritually aware life. Within the realm of universal possibilities there is always the opportunity to evaluate your current standing compared with your desired end result, and to make some changes if necessary to manifest a new reality.
Visualizing the sought-after outcome is paramount in creating your new reality. Whatever you focus on intently will manifest consistently. Remember, what you think about, you bring about!
Continue to focus on the positive outcome, not the intricate steps necessary to attain success. Believe that the environment you have visualized continues to manifest in the background.
If you continue to give energy to negative scenarios, you will create more of the same. Stay stuck in the mire of discontent and you will remain frozen in that spot. It is impossible to take flight when slogging through the quicksand of doubt day-to-day.
Visualize for a few minutes each day as you drift off to sleep at night, and again each morning as you start to awaken.
Create in your mind’s eye the most magnificent vision of your new reality or desired outcome, with vibrant color, exquisite sound, penetrating scent, palpable touch and delicious taste. See, hear, smell, touch and taste all the components of your eventual success.
But you are not merely an observer. You must be a wholehearted participant in the creation of your new reality, so see yourself in the picture.
The Ghosts Of Regret
As part of my training as a spiritual life coach, our class was asked to do a profound exercise. Our task was to imagine ourselves on our deathbed someday, being visited by a gathering of ghosts. We had to imagine these ‘ghosts’ from our past as being very bitter and angry, because they represented all the things we never achieved or succeeded in, coming back to haunt us. They were the ghosts of our unfulfilled goals and dreams returning to die along with us.
We were asked to then review our life and imagine what we would say to ourselves and our ‘ghosts,’ now that our life is over. What would we advise ourselves to do if we could go back in time, get a second chance, and somehow live our life anew?
For me, this was a very thought-provoking process. The first thought for me was my personal ‘bucket list’ of things I still want to experience in this lifetime. For example, I still want to travel on the Orient Express train with my family; see the view from The Shard (a 72-storey skyscraper in London); fly down The Grand Canyon; and witness the splendor of Niagara Falls.
There are many things I still hope to also do. But why have I not done at least some of it yet? Too busy earning a living? Yes, we all get busy, and most of us need to work. However, does this mean we cannot also lead a fuller life?
The next thought the deathbed exercise brought up for me was a sad memory from a few years ago, when my late brother was receiving rehabilitation treatment at a local hospital. We were very close as siblings. He confided in me one day, while we sat looking out the hospital window and saw a young family walking by, that he often feels intense regret and sadness when he sees people with their kids and grandkids, while he had no offspring of his own.