Can we find the lesson or meaning in the tough times?

Think back to the last time you had your heart set on something — a job that’s perfect for you, a new apartment in the building you’ve had your eye on, the Caribbean cruise you’ve been planning for months — only to see it evaporate in front of your eyes. Someone else (with less experience) gets the job. The apartment sells before you can even make a phone call. Your trip gets canceled because of bad weather. 

No matter how “zen” you might consider yourself, it can be hard to not feel disappointed and let down when your dream bubble is burst into one big cloud of “WTF?!”

But have you ever then found out later that your sidetrack actually led you to something better — or at least helped you avoid a nasty situation? The new company ends up going bankrupt… you found a better apartment a month later at a lower price… the refund for your canceled trip gave you a cushion in your bank account that you ended up needing for car repairs. 

How To Stop Wasting Time Fearing Your Purpose

It is not uncommon for people to be scared of their purpose. They think about the problems that would come their way. They believe they would not be able to overcome the challenges. This overthinking leads to wasting a lot of time and demotivation. Quite often, people waste their time trying to find a purpose that would seem good enough. They are terrified of the idea they would spend their lives feeling useless, not achieving anything significant.

It is common to experience such fears. When you find a purpose in life, you are weighed down with expectations that can leave you crippled. So what should you do when you have a goal but don't have the courage to work towards it? How should you ensure that you don't waste any more time and get down to business?

Fighting the sense of panic and fear

The first thing you need to realize is that overthinking is your worst enemy. You keep judging your abilities and pulling yourself down, and this increases the fear in you. Therefore, if you want to stop wasting time and not feel scared of your purpose, you need to gain control of your thoughts.

“Who wants to live forever?
Who dares to love forever?”
—Brian May

In the Western world, time tells us when we are born and when we die. Based on calculated averages, we know approximately how long we’ll live. We go through our lives with a clock ticking away in the background, measuring out the years we have lived and those we have left. This “knowledge” influences everything we say or do, every decision we make. In fact, it permeates our entire culture: education, employment, medicine, insurance, religion, marriage, law, property. Our lives are shaped by time’s constraints. Yet physicists tell us that time and space are human inventions, a way to quantify something that is unquantifiable.

Creating a Legacy of Peace

Just when it looked like life might hold some semblance of normalcy, news of murder and powerful protests are being flashed around. Anger and grief have given us an opportunity to reconsider our life choices. We could say this is a time like no other, but that is not completely true. We have been living with pandemics, racism, sexism, wars, and other assaults to our wellness. What is different this time around?

Earth is at a perfect angle or a tipping point that allows light to reach our deepest wounds.  Most of us have had a devastating awareness of our world’s pain. Trauma from all the past years is being relived. Our heartbreak is real.

In the past several years, we have witnessed a growing number of voices calling our attention to the causalities of indifference, fear, and ignorance. We have groups that speak out for the rights of animals. Others stand up against racism and sexism. People have been stepping up and taking action for the collective all over the world. At the same time, we have groups desperately holding onto a world that lives in a state of crisis. They want to control the water, breath, and lives of others. This has created a knot of tension and anger on earth. Outrage and violence have reached capacity.

We are being guided to dismantle the untruths and free ourselves from the affliction of fearful thoughts. Our lesson is to learn; compassion has no boundaries.

Love and Order

“To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try." – Rosa Parks

I've Been Thinking...

It was just a few short weeks ago that I wrote that I didn’t think we were going back to “normal.

At the time, it had dawned on me that the pandemic had uprooted us in ways big and small and that those yearning to go back to the way things used to be were in for a surprise. I had no idea how uprooted we were about to get.

This past week, millions watched as America’s streets and cities erupted across the nation. Huge peaceful protests called for an end to police brutality and for overdue systemic change. For a moment, the message seemed to get drowned out by images of violence and looting, which left people deeply shocked and shaken. Elected officials called in the National Guard and imposed mandatory curfews. Meanwhile, citizens in these cities stepped in to clean up the mess. More importantly, though, citizens stepped up to show us the opportunity and the importance of this historic moment.

The Divine is Here Now so Let us ‘Serve Life First’

I hope and trust that you and your family are safe and feeling comfortable. All of us in Humanity’s Team are here for you and with you during this challenging time. 

As we enter the third month of the global pandemic, people have many questions on their minds about health, finances, safety, and, in general, what the re-opening of the world will look like.

None of us have answers to those kinds of questions. But as the old saying goes, time will tell.

This question, though—the one I’m hearing being asked with both sincerity and anger—is one I believe I do have an answer to… “Where is God in all of this?”  

Some are saying that since we don’t want anything to do with God in our schools, at work, and in public discourse, God has retreated.

I heard one version of that sentiment that goes like this (and please forgive the overuse of the male pronoun)…  

He, being a gentleman, has deserted us and left us to our own devices. If we don’t want anything to do with God, He says “fine” and departs our life. We are now left alone to fend for ourselves during the pandemic. 

How does that sit with you?

I believe the idea that God has left us is the furthest thing from the truth. 

I believe the Divine is very present now and is speaking to each of us who are willing to hear.  

I believe the Divine actually has always been present sharing messages of love, hope, and possibility but we’ve mostly been too busy to really hear Her/His messages.  

Now, as many of us find ourselves less busy and more available, there is an opening where we can take time for silence and really listen for and hear the Divine speaking to us.  

What's Really Essential?

The other day, I found myself thinking and reflecting on life as I took an evening walk through my neighborhood.

“When this is all over, what will I remember?” I pondered to myself. “What thoughts and images will be seared into my brain? Who will I be when I am no longer told to stay at home?”

Will I go back to the same schedule I had before? Will my work and voice in The Sunday Paper be needed now more than ever, or not at all? Will my work at NBC News be the same, or will it change now that every show has been cut back? Will I go back to being on a plane all the time, rushing from coast to coast?

Will my work at The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement survive in a post-pandemic world? Will people still want to fund research into women’s brains when millions of Americans are struggling to eat and pay their rents or mortgages? Will people want to be educated about brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention when one of their most pressing concerns is protecting themselves from the coronavirus? I wonder. 

Triggered by News and Social Media? Try Mindfulness

We live in the age of the 24-hour news cycle. It even leeches into our social media feeds if we’re not careful; we may crave peace-loving memes and photos of our friends’ four-legged companions, but every time we take the bait and click through to read a heartbreaking news story or the latest political fodder, the algorithm gods take note and feed us more of the same. Being tapped into the digital world can become downright overwhelming for many of us — but we don’t have to just brace ourselves and take it.

Take a moment to answer these questions for yourself:

•  How are your physical, mental, and emotional states faring when you are constantly tethered to news and social media feeds?

•  Do you notice yourself feeling tense or angry — not just when you see or read an upsetting news story or social media thread, but throughout the day as you’re thinking about it?

It really is tempting to stay connected to the world’s ever-evolving storylines and dramas, but if they are compromising your sense of wellness and inner peace (and they really are for many of us), it may be time to consider a change.

Relax, You’ve Arrived

Are we there yet?

The Practice
Relax, you’ve arrived.

Why?

We spend so much of our time trying to get somewhere.

Part of this comes from our biological nature. To survive, animals – including us – have to be goal-directed, leaning into the future.

It’s certainly healthy to pursue wholesome aims, like paying the rent on time, raising children well, healing old pain, or improving education.

But it’s also important to see how this focus on the future – on endless striving, on getting the next task done, on climbing the next mountain – can get confused and stressful.

It’s confused because the brain:

• Overestimates both the pleasure of future gains and the pain of future losses. (This evolved to motivate our ancient ancestors to chase carrots hard and really dodge sticks.)
• Makes the future seem like a real thing when in fact it doesn’t actually exist and never will. There is only now, forever and always.
• Overlooks or minimizes the alrightness of this moment – including the many things already resolved or accomplished – in order to keep you looking for the next threat or opportunity. (For more on how the brain makes us stressed and fearful, see Buddha’s Brain.)

One of My Most Emotional Cases

Today, I want to talk to you about place memory. It’s the ability to pick up vibrations and detailed information, whether it’s seen, felt or heard, of a past event. The more traumatic the event—the stronger the impression.

The easiest way to describe it, it's is as if someone took a snapshot in time, and etched it in the atmosphere of the actual environment or the fabric of the building where the event took place.

Fortunately, most people don’t have such finely tuned psychic antennae to be able to tap into such memories. Otherwise, we’d all be walking around looking shocked and miserable every time we go near a disaster site. On a lesser scale, many people may walk into a room and feel an argument that just took place, or pick up on the atmosphere in a room that doesn’t feel right. We’ve all experienced this sometime in our lives.

In my case, I have the ability to go way beyond this feeling. My ability can literally be stretched over the canvas of time. It really doesn’t matter if it was yesterday, last week, or even hundreds of years ago. Scenes play out in my mind as I slip back in time, and often the clarity and detail is like an old movie that’s been digitally restored. I feel as if I’m actually there.

Tips to Embrace Mercury Retrograde

Yup, it is that time again! By now, you have probably heard someone say … “Oh, It’s Mercury retrograde”.

Mercury Retrograde is about to begin and many people are beginning to “feel” the energy shifts … possibly without even knowing it … as it moves in. Now, I’m not an expert in Mercury Retrograde … nor am I an astrologer. I’m a psychic medium and someone who is sensitive to energy … just like you. I notice when the energy shifts … especially the strong shifts. As I tune into the energy (and look at the calendar) I usually discover that Mercury is retrograde … and I take a breath, look up how long it will be in retrograde … and then plan to move forward at a slower pace … knowing that it always has something to teach me. Not that I always love this … but, I can either hit my head against the wall, pushing and forcing OR go with the flow of Mercury in retrograde … and embrace its teachings. Which do you choose?

Relax, You Are Already There

We spend so much of our time trying to get somewhere.

Are we there yet?

The Practice:
Relax, you are already there..

Why?

We spend so much of our time trying to get somewhere.

Part of this comes from our biological nature. To survive, animals – including us – have to be goal-directed, leaning into the future.

It’s certainly healthy to pursue wholesome aims, like paying the rent on time, raising children well, healing old pain, or improving education.

But it’s also important to see how this focus on the future – on endless striving, on getting the next task done, on climbing the next mountain – can get confused and stressful.

How Do You Say Goodbye to a Loved One

Goodbyes are never easy. Saying farewell to a loved one who’s dying can be one of the toughest things you’ll experience in this lifetime. No matter how ready you think you are, it’s never easy when the time actually comes. If you’re dealing with this at the moment, my heart goes out to you.

When my mom went into long-term palliative care, I received a small booklet by Hank Dunn called Hard Choices for Loving People. It prepared me to cope with one of the most emotional and arduous times in my life! I share the following excerpt in the hope that you’ll find some comfort in the words now or in the future:

There are two ways to hold on. We can grasp tightly as we would a coin in our fist. We fear we will lose it, so we hold it tight. Indeed, if we open our hand palm down the coin falls from our possession, and we feel cheated. The other way to hold on is by opening our hand palm up. The coin may sit there, or it could be blown away or shaken out of our possession. But while it is there, we are privileged to have it. We hold on with an open hand. Our hand is relaxed and we experience freedom.