LIFE, DEATH and HOPE

I believe there is hope, even when we face death and loss.
I believe we’ve chosen this path to walk.
I believe we are not our bodies, I believe we are souls having a human experience.
I believe we've chosen to experience being human here and now which means death and loss of any kind is an inevitable part of that experience.
I believe we can experience the seasons in our lives much like we experience a rainbow after it rains or a leaf die where a bud appeared at one time.
I believe when we experience a person, animal or any living thing die, we are being shown that eventually something new will takes it’s place.
I believe that life moves in cycles.  A baby is born, a new opportunity appears.
One soul transitions to the next stage, making room for another.

I believe our souls choose to leave the earth plane when they do. I believe they never really 'die' they simply transition out of their human form.  I believe they remain beside us after they transition and they always leave lessons for us to learn by.  I believe we need to allow ourselves to cry, grieve, and miss them, all the while knowing they are near and we will heal.  I believe we can talk to them and they can hear us. I believe they talk to us all the time through dreams, songs, and other signs.  I believe death exists to wake us up so we live our lives fully. I believe it gives us the opportunity to stop and ask ourselves why we are here and what is it that we’ve come to do?

We experience death and loss continuously throughout our lives.  It comes in many forms.  We lose or change jobs.  We break up with a partner or spouse.  Our children grow up and leave home.  We move to a new house, or a new town.  Our friends move away or drift from our lives.

Change, transition, death is inevitable.  It hurts for awhile that's for sure but it doesn't have to hurt forever. I think the feelings make us feel uncomfortable which gives us  the opportunity to soften, become more loving, and grow spiritually if we allow it.  

Each time we experience change we experience a death of something old, a loss, an old way of being, much like a snake sheds another layer of skin.  We must then allow ourselves a time of adjustment and to grieve what 'was'.  When we experience change and loss in the form of a 'tragedy' we can choose one of two roads.  We can grieve for the rest of our lives and assume the victim role OR we can take the time we need to grieve (as is a natural part of the death process), eventually accept it as it is, and honor those who've passed by living and using our lives to the fullest.  We can be open to receive the love offered to us by others as we move through our difficult time.  We can learn to begin to question and find what fills us up.  To find what truly brings us joy in our hearts, or we can cry for the rest of our lives.

When we begin to question why we’re here, we find the answer in part, has to do with us having a purpose and our own unique gifts to share with the world.  To hide our gifts, our light, hurts us.  To let it shine, not only helps us, but it gives permission to others to find and shine their own light.  I believe it's part of the Creator’s grand plan.

I believe if we learn to forgive ourselves and others it will free us from carrying around the weight of past burdens....it doesn't mean we forgive the actions of another or that we hang out for coffee, it means we acknowledge that all humans have a shadow side (yes, even you and me!) and make poor choices.  Forgiving that part of them frees a place in our own heart for more love to get in.  Carrying it around only hurts us.

I believe when I look in the mirror that I'm the only one that sees what I see.
I believe our lives are a gift.
I believe stress and struggle continue for those who remain in the victim role and at a distance from Spirit.
I believe if we learn from our mistakes we don’t have to repeat the pain of the same lesson over and over again.
I believe life puts the same circumstance in front of us until we ‘get it’.
I believe if you want change, you have to change.
I believe listening and following our intuition, and trusting our ‘gut’ feeling means we're working together with the Universe/Creator/God/Source for the highest good.
I believe we need to listen to our hearts and not let the fear in our heads try to talk us out of how we feel.  
I believe in being generous with ourselves and others.
I believe we benefit greatly by learning to have compassion for ourselves and others as we walk this earth walk.

We entered into this life with nothing material and we will leave this life with nothing material.  When our souls are ready to transition to spirit and leave our human vessels behind, that we can only take what is in our hearts.  I believe we need to find who we 'really' are at our core.  We are not our job title, our bank balance, and our 'stuff'.  I believe none of these things determines who we are.  I believe we are deserving and worth a happy life despite our past.  I believe in second chances.

Sometimes when it all feels like too much, I get quiet and remind myself that I am a soul in a body, with seven billion other souls in bodies, spinning around on a giant rock in a vast universe.  That perspective doesn't have me singing and dancing right away, but it does bring me closer to something greater than me, and that always gives me hope.

I believe we can live the life we dream about, if we choose hope over hopelessness.

Peace, Love and Hope

---