We Need Each Other to Fly

This Christmas has been the most bittersweet one I can remember – filled with both loss and blessings.

My grandmother passed away on December 23^rd, quietly taking in her last breath and beginning her journey back to Spirit.

This past year with her has taught me a great deal firsthand about the true meaning of compassion and loving unconditionally – with no expectations, to just give because someone is in need.

My grandmother lived her life as a tortured soul, so much pain buried within causing great instability, drama and pushing people away.

None of that really seemed to matter to me in her final months as I followed my heart to be present for her even when she wasn’t. It was sad and painful to watch her slowly fade away, to be sure.

Interestingly enough, her heart turned out to be much stronger than any of us imagined. When everything else deteriorated, her heart continued to beat strong, right up until her final moments.

Maybe, just maybe she was capable of loving far more deeply than she showed us in life. When I think now of myself and how I have not behaved lovingly, it is because I was carrying pain in my heart and the way to bury or protect it was to keep people at a distance. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t love those in my life – because I do, deeply.

I feel like I’ve learned more about the path to enlightenment this year than any other years previously; striving to know and be one with Spirit, God, the Goddess for the past sixteen years. Perhaps all the inner work has led me here – rather, led me back – here, in my heart; where there never was any separation, only the illusion of it, a forgetting.

Buddha tells us the path to enlightenment is ‘The Middle Way’, living a life balanced in the practical, the physical, and the spiritual.

I would add it is to fully live the pain, sorrow, love and joy that is put in our path. To be the victim, the martyr and finally the hero by claiming our experiences as our own and rather than drowning in them to finally seek and find the gift, the blessing in every situation.

To heal our hearts, allow Spirit to show us how to reawaken it and live deeply, live truly, live and love well, in each moment.

I’ve lived many a year swallowed up in my own life, looking for healing, for answers, for empowerment.

Yet, where did I find it? In the selflessly giving to others in need with no expectations of what I would get in return or how I wanted them to behave.

The healing just came. The answers just came. The empowerment just came – in the letting go of seeking and in the being and giving; present in my heart and through the power of love.

The path to enlightenment is simple. No complicated tools are necessary, no fancy breathing, visualization, or extended hours of meditation is required.

It is available to us in the living of ‘The Middle Way’; day-to-day living, present to our growth, experiences, healing – being awake and aware, living and loving with an open heart, and with a desire to acknowledge the sacredness in all that we do, who we are being, and the gift of life.

I invite you to make 2012 the year you commit to seek out and discover the gift or blessing in situations you are presented with that trigger pain, anger, frustration, expectations of others, retreating or pushing those near you away.

There is always something of value, a learning, a gift – find it and let gratitude fill your heart. Let it transform the way you see and experience life.

My grandmother is a part of me; her pain has been my pain. Now that I recognize how I’ve carried her defensive and protective mechanisms forward I can change my experience of life, thereby changing future generations in my family.

On Christmas morning, following a beautiful meditation I chose to be the change. I hugged freely; I told the beautiful people in my life I love them. I reached out.

It was freeing. I felt a closeness, a richness in these earthly human acts of love that brought the sacred deeper in my heart and soul.

We are here to experience awakening and ascension right here, in these bodies, living an earthly life – through the power of love. We are here to learn from each other, grow together and love one another. We need each other to fly high among the clouds, soaring to the Heavens, within our awakening human hearts.

I invite you to make 2012 the year you make peace with those in your life; your family, loved ones, co-workers – or at least come to inner resolution (not avoidance).

It is in your immediate circle your greatest lessons, growth and blessings present themselves, don’t let them pass you by.

Be the one to rise above the drama. Recognize how and where you feel slighted (or hurt others) and seek the deeper meaning – beneath it all is pain leashed out by a wounded heart and soul.

Be the one to reach out in kindness, love, compassion, and forgiveness. The only thing stopping you is your ego; your need to be right, to be the one who is wronged and hurt.

We are in an era of transformation and rebirth, and your soul is providing you with opportunities for growth. Act upon it and you will be set free. Don’t, and you will be karmically trapped to repeat the challenges and drama again and again, until you do.

If each of us took responsibility for ourselves, reached out and loved unconditionally (accepting people as they are with no expectations) the world would become the place of our dreams.

A world of peace begins with the self and the family.

Spirit is calling us to come together, to help one another, to live, love, laugh and believe in the promise of our dreams.

May 2012 be all that you NEED and may you ride on the cosmic waves of transformation.