It had already been a few weeks of significant change and major life events for me as a boarded another flight out of Ft. Lauderdale ten days ago. I was headed for Boston’s Logan International; my youngest son David, was getting married to a beautiful young woman named Hannah. They had fallen in love seven years prior while they were both in college. Now they were marking the beginning of yet another cycle in their relationship; a vow to each other and commitment to their future together.
Weeks before, I had celebrated my Mother’s 85th birthday with my siblings and their families on the cool Pacific Ocean in the picturesque town of Cannon Beach, Oregon. Thirteen days later my Mother would pass unexpectedly in her sleep; a surprise to all. She, on the soul level, was complete. The end of another cycle; her transition was proof as shocking and surreal as it seemed to us, upon receiving the heartbreaking phone call. We were all together again. This time at her memorial service appropriately held in the First Hill neighborhood at the historic Trinity Episcopal Parish in Seattle. This was a place of memories; she had been married there—so had my brother. She had held a similar service where we sat upon her own Mother’s passing—my grandmother and my namesake; I remember that, so many years ago. History on many levels as I learned that her Father had helped to found the still beautiful old English Gothic Revival landmark; milestones. . . .
At my son’s wedding, I would be seeing my ex-husband and his new wife. He was a reminder of another milestone: my painful divorce in 2006. I would be saying hello to my aging ex-mother-in-law, seeing my happy, energetic red-headed two-year old grandson, my oldest son Joshua and his wife Jessica, and meeting Hannah’s parents and sisters for the first time.
I had vowed to myself to show up powerful, balanced, peaceful and loving. I felt, I had fulfilled that promise—to myself: for me that was another milestone and cycle that was complete. I had been working towards that resolution for the last ten years. It was the mastery inside that I strove for daily, and my compassion and evenness was proof that day. These events, coming like hard packed snowballs, one after another, certainly acted as good barometers for not only myself—but can be markers, for all of us—on how far we’ve come, or how much work on ourselves we have left to do. No denial or illusion would mask any remaining sorrow, grief, anger or emotional hurt which remained.
Milestones— those major events in our lives are happening all the time to everyone. They are defined as a “significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or life of a person, or of a nation.” We often think of birth, death, divorce, and marriage as the biggest and I believe they serve as our greatest teachers in life.
Each and every one of those events could have been a traumatic emotional sand trap; life’s hazards of sorts; “Watch Out!” However, in the center of any storm, you can stand as the unmoved mover and reside at the place of stillness within. What comes to mind as I write this blog, is the merry-go-rounds they had in parks when I grew up. You could more easily stand the ride if you could get to the middle of the quickly moving circular metal platform—a brightly painted spinning disc with welded grab bars called fun! On the outer edges the ride was definitely more dizzying and much harder to hang on. Isn’t life like that too? How easy or difficult is it to get to the center of ourselves—our eternal core of strength when there is so much change happening so quickly? This can be dizzying too. The core of internal strength, please remember, is that which we carry inside ourselves. It is in everyone. It is that piece of the divine that so many dismiss as separate, and external from our very being. But, acknowledging this I AM strength is a gift we can access at any time; it’s there for the asking.
And then I wonder and ask, do we need to be more like the leaf on the river, always being guided around the rocks and undercurrents? When we are able to trust this always spinning revolution and know that our lives are co-created by our complete and whole beingness including that God-part within; we are like the leaf. Or are we barely hanging on for dear life, dizzy, shaken, and too weak and unable to stand upright?
I have come to believe the Wheel of Fortune—represents the wheel of life. It is a powerful metaphor for our lives; our milestones. It continually moves—up and down. It is our job to stand in the center. At the highest level, writes Pamela Eakins, the wheel is seen as “the wheel of consciousness and a wheel of evolving destiny.” She continues, “The Wheel of Fortune is seen as a path that brings individuality into alignment with the movement of the Cosmos.”
When necessary these past weeks, I felt strong. I felt compassion. I have allowed myself to be vulnerable. I have been loving. I am at peace. I felt like I have stood at the center of the wheel. I feel like I am in alignment with the Universe. I have pulled on this strength within and I invite you to do the same.
“As the world turns,
so do I.
When I change for the good,
I can touch the sky.”
Wings of Change
Inspired Wellness Within
Cathrine Silver, HC, AADP
Filed under: 2016, Celebrations, Choices, choice point, COMMUNICATION, Compassion, Death, Death of family member, Divorce, Food for Thought, Healthy Living, Living our truth, Love and Life, Love and purpose, Love and Relationships, Milestones, Relationships, Self-love, Transformation and empowerment, Wedding and marriage, Well-being, Wholeness | Tagged: compassion, David, Energies of Healing, Hannah, happiness within, Health & Wellness, healthy living, Honoring Yourself, Mom, new paradigm, positive energy | Leave a comment »
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