This has been a week of loss for me.One person I love dearly passed away and then we celebrated the life of another and committed his ashes. Although I know their spirits now soar in a beautiful space, I am sad.I miss enjoying them here with skin on! In this age of technology, knowing that I cannot pick up the phone and hear their voice is a constant reminder that they are no longer here.Feeling their absence through their loved ones leaves a profound void in this place where there energy once radiated.
When we experience loss, there are a myriad of feelings. Although the most commonly expressed appears to be sorrow through many tears, there is a joy beneath our sadness. There would not be tears without love, and the more tears and sorrow we feel, the more love was present. Beyond that, we exchange much more love as others who care reach out with comforting words or touch.We gather to share memories with others we love and have not seen in a while, and we even meet new interesting people who also cared for our loved ones while hearing aspects of their lives we didn’t know while they were alive. At the foundation of everything in our awareness for these days is a river of beautiful love.
Often when we feel sad, we’re tempted to push it aside or get busy and not feel it. It’s hard to feel sorrow, yet if we don’t it will simply become stuck energy somewhere in our bodies that make us sick later until we release it. Why not view grief as a testament to the beautiful love we have explored here and express it freely as such?
Feeling emotions is quite possibly our greatest human gift. Think about it: we do not feel unless we care. (The opposite of love is not antipathy but hate, making even hatred a face of love.)Grief is love missed. What could we possibly do that is more beautiful than feeling and expressing love? Could someone please pass me another tissue?
Until a couple of years ago, I believed the widely advertised philosophy that if I simply “eat right, exercise, and see my doctor regularly”, I will live to a healthy old age. While that may be good and well, I simply couldn’t get there from here. The more I tried and fell short of that ideal, the worse I felt about myself. The reality is that for the thousands of us carrying inside us some form of unresolved trauma (verbal/physical/sexual abuse, broken families, absent parent/spouse, divorce, death, impact of war on family, addiction, eating disorders), that is nothing more than a nice ideal we can’t achieve. Then I discovered the power of massage and reiki in tandem with other healing forms.
I know that I carry anger and fear in my stomach. I remember years of stomach aches beginning in childhood whenever I felt angry or scared and it wasn’t ‘safe’ to express it. That reserve just kept growing over the years, and once I began to work through it, I would reached plateaus when progress seemed to slow or stop. Massage, reiki and other ways of moving energy really helped me break through those barriers.
If we look at ancient cultural beliefs and even our own scientific research into how emotions and thoughts impact physical matter (like Dr. Emoto’s work with water), we can see that energy such as that accumulated in my stomach over the years (eventually turning into disease) benefits from help breaking it up and guiding it into other areas of the body. This is true for any chakra area where we have stored unexpressed emotions. Working to move energy in that region helps realign that energy power center and restore flow to support more balanced living and health.
When we restore flow throughout our bodies, what was previously a challenge (eating right, exercising, and regular exams) becomes a core desire in self-love and care. We learn to truly love our bodies again and care for them more automatically. So you can see that this is about more than just managing stress, the most popularly cited reason people seek massages. Consider restoring the flow in your own body today. You and those you love will be delighted.
Last week I had a disagreement which has been nagging at my mind and heart ever since. Someone asked me not to charge for something and I perceived they felt entitled to it, which I resented so I declined. The situation quickly escalated resulting in everyone involved getting upset. Who ‘won’? Does it matter if we both somehow felt we were right? This was all still fresh when I attended White Eagle Lodge this morning and heard what I needed for clarity.
All that happens here on this Earthly plane is merely to build us up as we strive to bring the Christ Light to all of humanity through increasing our own loving kindness. Well, there was definitely nothing kind or loving about what happened. I took the position of ‘being right’, and that only ever serves the ego. Being right didn’t really matter anyway since we’d all lost there. Had I instead taken a deep breath to return to center, and then offered what she asked with love in my heart, it would have worked out beautifully. Sure, I may have lost a few dollars, but in the beautiful way the Universe works, even that would have come back to me tenfold somehow, but we would have all felt good from a more loving exchange.
Our need to be right only helps our ego feel better. It does not build relationships; in fact, it tears them apart. It does not build wealth; relationships ARE true wealth, in addition to being the cornerstone for any material wealth. Most importantly, it does not feed the soul or raise our vibration in love; it keeps us stuck in a lower vibration where discord and fear-based negativity breed.
The path to happiness, as White Eagle taught, is a walk of love, compassion, and kindness. Making another smile feels so good. Bringing joy to a distressed person is immensely rewarding. Knowing we are right and conceding to another anyway feels loving and rewarding!
So, although I have apologized for the other day, it still felt like no one came away from that any better for it. That is, until now. Really feeling how much better it is to be loving than to be right is quite a beautiful lesson, and I doubt I’d have gotten it any other way.
It’s time to tell on myself in the hope that maybe it’ll save you some time and embarrassment! I have a way of finding an exciting new opportunity, going after it until I hit a wall, trying a few times unsuccessfully to move forward, and then interpreting my stall-out as a sign that it must not be the right time. I continue to be involved while waiting for help to arrive, whether it be for hours, weeks, months, whatever, and grow increasingly frustrated by the delay. Soon enough, I’ll be venting about this to a friend and describing a hypothetically ideal person to fix things, when I suddenly realize the person I’m describing is me! I am in fact perfectly qualified to handle this, but something about it (usually that I don’t want to deal with) kept me from seeing that.
Are you being held back in your own life this way? Is there a situation in work/business, with someone you love or a friend, or with a project/hobby in which things seem to be stuck or at a stand-still? Are you waiting for the right person to help you resolve this? If so, state exactly what he/she would need to know to resolve this. Then, ask yourself, “in what way might I be the one I’m waiting for here? ” Do I have skills or knowledge to work this out that I’ve been unwilling to use or express for some reason? How could I shift the way I am looking at this to open myself to express those?
It’s a beautiful, powerful thing to realize that we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for. Take a few minutes to savor the hilarity of that discovery. After you’ve enjoyed a good hearty laugh at that, approach that stale situation with fresh perspective and you’ll be amazed at what you can do!
What? If someone is rude to me I’m not supposed to take it personally? When my mother or daughter, father or son hurts me, I’m not supposed to get upset? The boss blows up in my face and it’s his problem? Oh, and here’s my favorite – when my boyfriend/husband or girlfriend/wife says something to me in anger that really feels like it cuts me in half, that’s ok? It’s MY problem?
I’d heard this before and thought it absurd. My family had its share of alcoholics and codependency, so this whole concept felt outrageous to me. We hurt each other all the time with words, and I know that pain was very real!
Years ago I was in a serious relationship that was falling apart despite all my best efforts. Then, a friend suggested I read Women Who Love Too Much. A couple of years later I read Codependent No More, and later down my path the powerful book The Four Agreements. All of these helped me understand that other people do the best they can with what they know. They love us in their way. The behave according to their experiences and interpretations. No matter how much something they do hurts us, they would do the same thing to anyone else in that situation because it’s what they know. Often, they are treating us as good as they possibly know to given their understanding of what’s happening and how to handle it.
So, where does that leave us? On our own healing path of understanding that nothing anyone else says or does is personal. Whether they think we’re wonderful or horrible, brilliant or stupid, beautiful or ugly, all of that is just their opinion! We didn’t create it and we can’t fix it.
Only we can choose the people we fill our daily lives with and the reality that creates for us. Only we can decide then that nothing anyone says or does is personal. Their judgment of us is not reality. It is quite simply THEIR OPINION. It also has nothing to do with how THEY FEEL about us.
Replacing our foundation with this and beginning the journey to align ourselves and our thoughts and feelings to this is nothing short of life-changing. It is, in my humble opinion, a transformational journey that is well worth taking!
You who know me personally can attest I’m quite a high-energy woman! When I set my sights on a purpose and back it with all my passion, knowledge, and energy, heaven help anyone who isn’t on board the Sheryl train! Many people have no idea how to handle me when I get that way, and throughout my youth I believed that was just their problem. A couple of decades into ‘adulthood’, I’ve changed my mind on that one. If you too are someone wishing to make a difference in this world, I invite you to humor me for a moment on this one…
I have really grown to understand that the kind of lasting, powerful change many of us wish to affect on whatever cause is passionate in our heart can only occur slowly. Quick change can feel so good for us who enjoy immediate gratification, but what a huge disappointment to discover the following week / month / year that it is gone.
I’ll admit it is challenging to wait patiently when we see any form of life suffering or dying, yet patience is exactly what is needed. We did not create these situations, and the only hope for any of them is patient, diligent progress toward resolution. We must transcend that feeling that we are the savior riding in to save whatever, and instead see ourselves as a part of a much larger community of like-minded, like-spirited individuals. The real impact comes from collective unification. Connect with fellow souls on your journey and together see a much deeper, stronger impact. Meditate regularly and hold a strong vision of your mission achieved, so that you attract all the resources and people that will help you manifest that. Patient, loving, committed, deep faith brings about real change…both in ourselves and in this world.
One way we can build our patience is by understanding that nothing is really wrong here. We entered a place that is as it is, an earth school with lessons of all shapes and sizes for everyone. If a cause is near and dear to our heart, perhaps that is a clue to the kind of karma we brought into this lifetime. The real key to this place is to take what you like and leave the rest, and to love everyone through it. All of us experience suffering, confusion, misguided actions, and the like. The ones we love through these experiences with compassion and empathy transcend them to become better souls for it all, while the others get lost in the lessons.
Have a patient, persistent, and loving day, week, and life. How? Moment by moment, my friend, connected with others who choose a similar path. No one is an island.
FAQ: how do we freely share Love & Light without being physically and/or emotionally beaten up? We MUST remember and remind one another that only One is capable of unconditional Love without jealousy, disappointment, anger, resentment, etc. Stand firm in that space and expect nothing in this world beyond seeing the Divinity in everyone…even when they can’t see it in themselves. Channel God’s Love to all while standing in Original Light, not man’s. Seek acceptance and Love where it truly is, at the Source. God will reveal when and where we may find safety in another person here, and ultimately when and if that connection is ending. IN God we trust, WITH (wo)man we Journey. Shine brightly and safely wrapped in God’s love and angel wings! Namaste. <3 Sheryl
This week, I have been consciously seeking to be in a place where I see all that is possible for myself personally and professionally. In that light, I had the privilege of spending an evening with a very spiritual and gifted healer whom I’m blessed to know. One of the messages that I received loud and clear during our meditative, prayerful, openhearted time together was to use my innate gifts from a place of vulnerability and humility. Only then, with love and focusing on others, will I find my most rewarding Path and blessings. I spoke of this to another wise spiritual woman later during the week, and she pondered a moment before correcting me. “Vulnerability is a state of weakness. Don’t be vulnerable. Surrender.”
That sentence has sat in my mind and heart for a few days now and come into my awareness at different moments and conversations (like my radio interview). I have prayed and meditated to feel the difference and be conscious of that in my actions.
I have seen and experienced that being vulnerable while we have an open mind and heart can place us in dangerous positions with other people that actually do more harm than good. If we are being vulnerable, we allow others to hurt us with their words and actions and diminish the Light that we shine in this life. We give away our Divinely gifted Power and endanger ourselves physically, psychologically, emotionally, and economically.
Conversely, when we surrender to God, we walk in Divine protection and healing, and we have the greatest love and protection possible. We give up trying to understand and control, and we allow ourselves to be guided by our heart to our brightest and most rewarding Life. We stop holding on to what we THINK we need, or THINK will protect us or provide for us or love us, and we allow ourselves to FEEL that we are safe, loved, and protected. We feel forgiveness and forgiven, safety and protection, and above all, LOVE. Our feelings are a Divine voice when we allow ourselves to hear them.
May you find your way to the next step in your life and through whatever is frustrating, hurting, or worrying you by living in a state of surrender to the Divine orchestration of the Universe…God as you know and understand God.
How EXCITING; I FINALLY found it! There I was, waiting patiently for God to answer my prayers, and the answer was already right there in the place I was least willing to look! Ah yes, isn’t that how it usually works? That which we refuse to let go of blocks us from our own joy and success. Here’s my story…
While Journey of Possibilities will always have an inspirational Facebook page here to help us all renew, there is more to it. Ten years ago as I finished my BA in family communication, I had my first vision of Journey of Possibilities. I sat with families and individuals in beautiful nature while we worked together through many of the same challenges I’ve faced. More visions through time reached a pinnacle last year as I met exciting new people to help me expand it, and found I’d been laid off from work. However, the WHERE remained a mystery. I trusted God to deliver, but wondered when. I also dreaded the idea of buying, building, and managing a place.
When I sold the home I’d hoped to grow old in during my divorce, my broken heart was not into searching for a new one. My spirit navigated, and I kept returning to this quiet rural subdivision I’d seen before. One day, continuing further down a dead-end than we’d done previously in an attempt to turn around and leave again empty-handed, we passed a grove of trees and stumbled upon my house. I knew God had led me home.
I have really found peace here. There is only one neighbor who has been a challenge, and it salted a very old wound when they glossed over their negative behavior by blessing others and displaying crosses like immunity badges. Needless to say, I have avoided these people and their aggressive pets to the best of my ability, and deliberately do not look down at their end of the road anymore.
Back to Journey (trust me, it all ties together amazingly), I’ve resigned myself to renting facilities for events until we can find and fund our own place. I scheduled yet another visit to a retreat center nearby (White Eagle Lodge), and discovered this one is very close indeed. Arriving, I fell in love. I had found a place so perfect I knew I was again home. We laughed that if my street punched through where it is now a dead-end, I lived less than a mile away. We tried to get bearings on my house from there, but I only had a general idea. As I left, I basked in how we equally wanted to work together. Divinely perfect!
Two days later, I returned from my morning walk. As I topped the hill to my house, I reluctantly looked toward ‘that’ end of my street, three lots down from my home. There shining clearly just above my neighbor’s cross archway I could now clearly see the center…
It is always my hope that something of my journey may be of help to you in yours. My lesson: trust God and look past the negativity.
“Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you.” Wally ‘Famous’ Amos
“For life is the mirror of king and slave. ‘Tis just what you are and do; Then give to the world the best you have, And the best will come back to you.” Madeline Bridges
So often we desire change in our lives and set forth madly to bring it about. Then as we fail to find the people, money, ideas, or means to do so, we either become even more desperate, or we simply give up. Desperation attracts desperation in all its ugly forms: fear, greed, anger, resentment, insecurity, etc. Surrender may appear as addiction, codependency, abuse, or depression. This certainly does not paint a pretty picture, and it begs the question: HOW can we make POSITIVE CHANGE from where we are RIGHT NOW?
We humans are indeed funny creatures. We try everything to avoid dealing (healing). We let our brains carry us away in work, school, fantasy, or fiction. We check out emotionally so we don’t have to face things. Eventually, when we’re tired of running or hiding, we find ourselves squarely facing that which we’ve avoided. How long this takes is entirely up to us, but the road always leads back to that unattended, still unhealed wound.
How we choose to heal our wounds is a personal journey. Some seek professional help. Some seek spiritual guidance. Some opt for self-help. Many combine methods. Whatever our Journey, it is not until we walk that walk that we finally see the amazing beauty of our healed, transformed self. We are not who we were before that wound. We are not who we were as we avoided it. We are forever changed, and in all cases this is in a BRIGHTER, more BEAUTIFUL way!
As we heal the broken parts of ourselves, we discover to our surprise that we are becoming someone beyond who we ever could have imagined we could be. We are stronger than we dreamed possible. We shine inconceivably Brighter. We even catch ourselves helping those stuck where we were to Trust and Let Go. Yes, it is then we who shine Light in dark places, and no words can capture our deep gratitude or how we are moved as we begin attracting others who are also operating at this higher frequency, and together we grow exponentially.
This is not my truth. This is Truth. You and I and everyone can and should experience this. There is a price. We have to heal to grow. We all deserve to take this Journey to our highest Self; that is why we are here. That is our Journey of Possibilities! Namaste.
Sheryl Sitts, Founder and Chief Inspirational Officer
This has been a week of loss for me. One person I love dearly passed away and then we celebrated the life of another and committed his ashes. Although I know their spirits now soar in a beautiful space, I am sad. I miss enjoying them here with skin on! In this age of technology, knowing that I cannot pick up the phone and hear their voice is a constant reminder that they are no longer here. Feeling their absence through their loved ones leaves a profound void in this place where there energy once radiated.
