We surely are being pushed and pulled in many directions in addition to the seesaw emotional landscape that greets us upon waking every day. How on earth do we keep our sanity, our peace, our hopefulness, or our love for others and even ourselves? Life is a challenge and a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, pitfalls and successful climbs. Life is hard and there’s no sense in pretending it isn’t fraught with challenges, sometimes daily. Of course, running out of toilet paper isn’t as egregious as having your identity stolen… but it could be because the recovery from any setback does depend on the person who is suffering. And while I like to say, “It could be worse!,” I know that someone shouldn’t be judged constantly on their responses to setbacks and catastrophes. Who am I to judge how an individual is supposed to react when I am unaware of their circumstances, experiences, and emotional mindset? Alas, I used to be judged which taught me to judge.

Many years ago, I worked at a university as a SG-5Stenographer (back in the day when we indeed took dictation via shorthand. Yes, the time before word processing programs.) Anyway, I often fell into an emotional rip current when something, perhaps anything, big or small, rendered me helpless and yearning for attention. One day, a graduate student who I had befriended called me out on my poor attitude. I suppose I was mopey and dopey and feeling sorry for myself. She asked me what was wrong and I mentioned the minor inconvenience I was suffering. I don’t remember now what it was, but I sure do remember her response, “Oh! I thought your bird died or something!” Wow. Her message came through loud and clear; I instantly realized my weakness and sorry efforts at gaining attention from others. I felt foolish but the epiphany was vital to my growth and my future approach to failures or setbacks. I listened to my inner voice that scolded, “Snap out of it! You have a job and independent life that you love. Try appreciating what you have instead of focusing on what went wrong today.” So, I did and quickly noticed the friends and acquaintances who perhaps I was influenced by. One particular friend used to have a miserable day when her hair didn’t do what she wanted it to do. We often rode to work together and her almost daily frustration, tension, and anger wasn’t a healthy way to start my day. So, I stopped riding with her.

Oftentimes, we need to make these tough decisions to pull away from someone or a group of people because we’ve shifted toward different perspectives and direction. Oftentimes, these breaks aren’t easy because we want to be open to others’ hardships and to be tolerant of others. However, in some instances like this one of many I’ve experienced, the stark differences that cause unease and tension to rise up within us must be addressed. I have thought that perhaps I’m too idealistic–a definite Sagittarius trait–and should be more tolerant and understanding of others. I did speak to this friend about her constant grumbling and expressed ways in which she could lighten her mood. I told her that listening to the complaining was shifting my mood downward first thing in the morning. She couldn’t make the shift, so I did. Suffice it to say, this person is miserable still–47 years later–and I made the right choice for me at the time. We did keep in touch sporadically over the years but that ended when she became hostile toward my personal ideals and beliefs and our friendship fell into the vat of a nation and world divided. In the end, I trusted my gut intuition and closed the door.

I’m fairly certain that a multitude of people have been shifted and shocked by the ending of relationships lately. And while I’ve grappled with guilt or regret, I also could not deny my intuition and psychic knowing that these decisions were right for me. The best gift I reaped from these experiences was to rely less on others who I, admittedly, would bore to tears with my chronic obsession about “what to do?!” Now, I turn inward and ask myself the important questions: What do I want? Why do I want it? Does it serve just me or others? Do I need to worry about others right now? Should I be getting my house in order first? How will this decision make me stronger and more resilient? What do I know within my psychic and intuitive knowing that best serves my greater good? Because when I continued to ask others their opinions, I was ignoring my intuitive sense and psychic knowing. I was looking for self-validation and self-worth from others and denying my inner ability and power to protect and enrich myself and to be guided by Divine sources who only want the best for my greater good.

It flows off my tongue easily now. But only 6 years ago I was puzzled by the whole idea of psychic self-actualization and living with peace of mind at last. I had no idea how to relieve myself of the self-doubt that plagued me. Once I realized my psychic abilities and knew that I am protected by ancestors and guides, my life shifted. I didn’t require constant validation from others. I didn’t rely on repeating the same stories of feigned helplessness to garner sympathy from others. I learned the value of empathy over sympathy. I began to trust myself to be guided and protected. I know I am worthy of rising above the fray and zero in on mindfulness, self-actualization, and acceptance.

Acceptance is necessary because not everything goes our way all of the time. In these frustrating instances, I learned to accept that I’m being guided to a betterment that perhaps I cannot see right away. I learned to have faith in myself and the basic fact that I am a good person who is deserving of good things. Surely, turmoil and conflict happen, and we suffer. But along with suffering come gifts of grace, fortitude, strength, humility, patience, forgiveness, and self-love. The darkest days and mornings, the endings of friendships and relationships, and the unexpected turmoil seemingly at every turn test us to the extreme. On these dark days, we realize our strength, our purpose, our commitment to ourselves as good people, our commitment to helping those who welcome help, and the knowledge that life is a rollercoaster of thrills and chills. On the darkest days, we hold on and find ways to lighten our load, take time to care for ourselves, ask for help from truly helpful sources, face the ugly truths, celebrate every small daily joy, and recognize that we, indeed, have the power to shift our mindset toward one of love and acceptance.

I believe and find that meditation is key to mindfulness and peacefulness. This week–and through August 12– I’ve been utilizing Lion’s Gate meditations to access the current Lion’s Gate portal of August 8. These meditations are beneficial during this cosmic shift toward the light of manifesting our dreams and wishes. It happens to be a dark morning of clouds and rain—a nice reprieve from the intense sun and humidity. I feel badly for the people who are losing lives and homes w the latest tropical storm and hurricane. We can be thankful, however, for the good citizens who help the suffering during climate tragedies. Life without suffering is non-existent and we cannot live without help. Ask for help. Offer help to others. The rewards are prevalent and your emotional and psychic growth will benefit greatly when we acknowledge our greatness in giving and receiving. Peace to you today and every day. Thank you for stopping by.