Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Wanted -- But Never Found: A Magic Wand to Heal Our Lives

Recently someone who knows my story of working with and resolving some of my own undesirable childhood memories turned to me for help with hers. She had already spent a lot of time and money on a variety of options, including psychoanalysis, prescription drugs, self-hypnosis and even, she said, a session with Dr. Phil. She’s frustrated, emotionally drained and bored with “staring at her navel,” not to mention financially challenged.  Yet she still yearns to find a quick-fix solution and be free to live the life she desires.

Many of us can relate to my friend and her understandable but unrealistic hope for a magical solution. I remember when overwhelming life events sent me searching for first-person accounts of how others turned their lives around.  I read every book I thought might help. The ones that really spoke to me were about experiences that included instant heightened conscious awareness, which fit my desperately hopeful time frame and sounded great. The authors’ life-changing experiences were as mystical and varied as a black butterfly landing on a man’s forehead; a deceased spiritual sage manifesting in human form and delivering a message to a woman in a museum; a feather appearing miraculously where there was none, and a library book jumping off the shelf and falling open to the exact passage that when read by the individual resulted in an increase in conscious awareness that allowed him to create a better life. 

While those examples may seem fantastical, I believe such experiences are more prevalent than we realize and imminently possible. It doesn’t take a genius to know that at any given time on Earth the level of conscious awareness among human beings ranges anywhere from ground level to cosmic.  For example, in the past it appears there were usually a rare few individuals that came in with fully developed abilities that enabled them to effortlessly – it seems to us – fulfill their purpose and make a dramatic difference in the world. These well-known genius giants include Einstein, da Vinci, Galileo, Jefferson, Jesus, Michelangelo and Mozart.  Then there were the rest of us.

Since my own life experiences included events that directly affected my three children’s lives, such as divorce, an extremely challenging financial situation, and no career, I was desperate to discover how to become a victor instead of a victim. It took me a long time to realize that the path to do this and the solutions would not come easily or quickly.  In my late thirties, I finally was led to the book “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay, and this answered many of my questions and gave me practical information to help create a better life for me and my family.

Naturally, I had hoped that the path to higher consciousness would be easy and simple, and even more important—quick. It wasn’t and still isn’t. But the good that fills my life now echoes the promise made by the courageous souls who have trod this same path and chose to share their experiences.

Now I know that, just like my friend, each individual’s journey is unique for them, and no one else can dictate it or do it for us. So while it is possible to be inspired by the experiences, insights and techniques used by others, myself included—in the final analysis it is an  inside, do-it-yourself job.

This means at some point going within and finding out who we are and what it truly means to be alive.  Meditation is known as the highway to conscious awareness, as it enables us to connect with the sanctuary of unconditional love, peace, wisdom and guidance within us and that is the heart’s desire of every human being.  When an individual goes within and consistently seeks this connection, a spontaneous process is set in motion that knows the path, pace and timing of each human being’s individualized journey to God-Good.

When I asked my friend if she meditated or spent any time reflecting on her life, her eyes rolled back in her head.  It was obvious she was still seeking instant resolution by external means. I wanted to say to her, but didn’t, that increased conscious awareness isn’t something zapped on us from an outside source; it has to happen through us with our full knowledge and agreement. This is where true healing takes place.

I did gently suggest she think about the decades-long pain of unhealed memories from childhood as a message from her inner guidance and that at some point she might want to turn within and ask for help. I also offered some practical techniques on my Web page that might speak to her, including such “How-to Lists” as: Connect with God; Fulfill Your Potential (Clear Now and Create the Life You Desire), and Realize Your Heart’s Desires. 

Now I realize that the plan has always been for every human being, at some point in their evolution, to open to this natural connection with the unconditional Love, Intelligence, Peace, God within us. We are meant to have help on our journey and the challenges in life are to nudge us back to our center, to our source.  When we turn within and ask, this is where our true life journey begins—and we realize the magic really is in us.
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Copyright © 2011 Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” recipient of the 2010 Silver Award for Nonfiction; “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World”; and “The Heart Knows the Way—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as bookstore chains such as Barnes & Noble.