self-empowerment
Learning To Accept Yourself (Warts And All)
A consistent trend I have noticed doing psychic readings and metaphysical counseling for many years. This trend relates to rejection, and our reaction to being rejected by our human family. It is not natural to abandon or reject loved ones, but in my experience as a pastoral counselor and psychic healer, I have noticed that it is a challenge that many have faced in this life.
Recently, as I was doing a channeling session with one of my clients, this came up and we both had a revelation about our own experiences of rejection. The discussion we had was not only about rejection and how we as humans experience it, but also about how we perceive acceptance. Our experience of rejection comes from only one source, namely our expectation, and also how we resonate with the acceptance we receive from others.
When we are children it is natural for us to allow our parents to be our source. They were the picture of God in our lives, and in ideal situations they were our source of acceptance, providing nurture and stability. Many times, when you see a religious group adopting a vengeful and cruel depiction of the Divine, it stems from a refusal to remove the archetypal depiction from God they experienced with their parents.
Many times, the search for source extends itself outward, and the responsibility of our fulfillment is put on other people or organizations. In some cases, fulfillment is found in substances and can also lead to addictive behaviors. We look to these external ‘sources’ to provide us comfort and satisfaction.
It is natural for us to live in community and relationships, so our endeavors toward fulfillment are often projected outward in our relationships. Unfortunately, since we all have an intrinsic need to identify with and live from Source, we find ourselves continually reaching for fulfillment that we rarely find. This leads to heartache, loss, and broken relationships within the human family.
Quick Ways To Pick Yourself Up
We all have bad days. We get disappointing news or have an unpleasant interaction with someone. We all encounter setbacks and dark moments from time to time, as we journey through physical life. It’s part of the human experience.
These negative events may seem unfortunate, or even unnecessary when they occur, but they actually serve to create balance in our life. Without these contrasts we would never appreciate all the good things.
The important thing, however, is to not dwell on the negativity or misery, but to bounce back into alignment with our truth and the abundance and healing power of Spirit as soon as possible.
Some of my favorite ways to quickly pick myself up when I am feeling down include:
Inspirational Words
I love Unity Church’s Daily Word for this. I carry it around with me in my purse for just such occasions. You can also get it as an app for a smartphone. The short, daily reminders feature uplifting affirmations and a brief paragraph or two of inspirational writing on the theme for the day. I always find that they contain just what I needed to hear at that moment to help me gain a new, more positive outlook.
Only You Can Achieve Your Goals
The indigenous peoples of Canada traditionally believe that those born under the Budding Trees Moon (which occurs in the spring months of mid-March to mid-April) have incredible potential to excel in whatever goals they choose for their life. However, it is also said that some of these blessed individuals may be unwise in their expectations of their own abilities, which may slow their progress, or even prevent them from moving forward at all.
It is further believed that this may also happen if they tell a friend or family member what they are hoping to achieve in life, and them not being supportive. Instead of encouraging them, and expressing their faith in their abilities, they might instead call them an unrealistic dreamer or sceptically say they will believe it when they see it. Yes, sadly, it is usually those who are supposed to be our primary support system in life who tend to not believe in us, and least support our dreams.
There is much wisdom in the teachings of the ancient aboriginal peoples. Yes, we can achieve whatever we set our mind to, and anything is indeed possible, but we must also be mindful of our expectations. It does not matter what the goal itself is; what matters most is our own expectations of being able to achieve it.
If we do not believe in our own abilities to achieve even our most modest goals, we will continuously suffer from self-doubt, feel overwhelmed, and never feel worthy enough.
No matter what we choose to aim for in life, it is simply that: a choice. Your choice. No one can stop you, except yourself, and nobody else can get into your head to put you down, unless you let them. No matter what choice you are making, you must also stand behind it every step of the way.
The True Power Of Words
What if a change as simple as the words you use could vastly improve your relationships with loved ones? And not just your choice of words, but also the tone and delivery. Healthy, successful relationships require constructive communication and often our relationships fail on our words alone.
Many people fall in love over time purely through conversations they have with each other. Relationships are usually ended with words alone, especially these days when getting unceremoniously dumped via text message is becoming increasingly common. Our choice of words and how we communicate them can evoke waves of joy and happiness, or they can cut like a knife.
We tend to take for granted the people in our lives. We become lazy and complacent and forget to express our gratitude and appreciation for the relationships we have with loved ones. It is vitally important that we adopt better, more spiritual ways to communicate with people who matter to us.
Have you ever stopped to think about the words you use with your loved ones? You most likely speak somewhat differently to total strangers. Or your choice of words is no longer what they used to when you were in love and the relationship was brand new. And how about the words we use when we talk to our children; are we uplifting and encouraging them, or causing them lifelong trauma?
Too often we say things we later wish we can take back. But if we always aim to think before we speak, and seek to choose the very best words, tone, and delivery, then we are much more likely to build the kind of relationships we desire and deserve.
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.
The Powerful Magic Inside
Every human being has powerful magic inside, and part of my job is to teach people how to use that magical energy. I understand the term ‘magic’ is somewhat of a loaded word, so let me re-frame it. Jesus called if faith and told us that with a small amount of faith we can move mountains. Buddha called it thought manifestation and explained that our conscious thought produces our reality.
How we focus our energy will eventually manifest in one way or another in our lives. For some people this implies ‘darkness’ or ‘evil.’ Darkness does exist, but I believe that it exists only as a catalyst to increase our vibrational frequency if we are ready to do so.
My personal belief is that darkness cannot ‘stick’ if there is nothing for it to stick to. This is why, when discussing lower vibrational frequencies, the best action is to increase your vibration. In my view there is really no war of light versus dark, or good versus evil. We can turn on the lights and then if there is something that needs to be cleaned up, we can clean it up. The darkness does not struggle when the lights come on. It just goes away.
For nearly all problematic circumstances our primary goal should be to change our consciousness and increase our vibrational frequency. It is quite rare that we are we taught to use this magic in everyday life.
There have been many spiritual teachers that have talked about it in the past, as I stated above. Jesus had enough magic (faith) to walk on water and Buddha could exert his magic (consciousness) to tame a wild elephant.
Your Life Reflects Your Inner Being
Sometimes people have many issues with others in their life while they neglect to acknowledge that many of these problems are merely a mirror reflection of their inner being. This denial of personal responsibility is often the main cause of conflicts and drama in many people’s lives.
Everyone faces challenges in life. It is how these challenges are managed and released that gives one inner strength and peace. The answers are always within. But when we refuse to go within and face our inner truths, while instead venting our frustration, anger, envy, fear, and other pent-up negative emotions, it just brings so much more of the same crashing down on us.
That person you see with a huge smile on her face…her life is not necessarily all ‘sunshine and roses.’ Maybe she has just chosen to live with joy and gratitude in the present moment, instead of dwelling in the past or obsessing over the future. Maybe she has chosen to release that person or circumstance that had caused her pain or grief, and have chosen to move forward in her life with a knowing that bigger, better blessings are awaiting her on the other side of the pain.
The concept is simple, but the work is difficult. I am just as guilty of this human shortcoming as the next person. In my own life, I have also held onto things for so long that it stunted my spiritual, emotional, romantic, and financial growth. I held on to the resentment, bitterness, and vengeful thoughts, and it stunted me to the point that I found myself stuck in a very dark state of mind for a long, long time.
However, once I realized that both my psychic reading work and energy healing practice are absolutely dependent on clarity, love, compassion, and positive energy, I became determined to find ways to release the past and move forward, without any ill will towards another. Was it easy to find my way back to my inner truth and higher self? No, it was not. Was it worth the effort? Definitely!