Inner-Child Twist

Have you ever done "Inner Child" work?  


I had heard of this kind of inner healing work, but because I felt I already forgave those in my life that hurt me, I dismissed the idea.  But the term, "Inner Child" began to creep into conversations, friends posts on Facebook, and even internet searches (although I was not searching for that particular term).  It popped up so much, seemingly out of nowhere, that I finally decided perhaps my guides and angels were trying to tell me something.


My loving husband Mark studied and received his Ph.D. in Metaphysical sciences from University of Metaphysical Sciences, and it just so happened, "Inner Child" work was one of the subjects he studied.  And to top it off, he had three meditations that he thought might just be what I was looking for.


Finally the day came when all my excuses to not look into this work came to an end.  All arrows pointed in that direction, so reluctantly, I decided to give it a try.  I chose an early afternoon when Mark went off to "play store".  The house was quiet and I knew it was now or never.  I picked the living room couch to do my meditation because I was afraid I would fall asleep if I got too comfortable and I really wanted to give this a chance since it seemed even my angels were conspiring to bring me to this point.  As I slipped on my ear buds, I still felt a bit reluctant.  After all, I had worked hard to get to where I was now and I honestly did not see the point in drudging up old stuff from my childhood.  I already released all the hurt and anger, so why go back?


The meditation began.  I was instructed to relax and allow my mind to drift back to a specific time in my childhood when I was hurt by an adult.  Images began to fly through my mind.  I saw myself in my 20's, then at the angry age of 16; moving back even more I was suddenly 10, but that was not the stopping place.  Finally my mind settled on a scene that I had not previously remembered.  I was 7 years old and sick.  But being sick was not only not allowed, it also made me an outcast from the family.  I don't remember what I had; a cold or the flu, most likely; I only remember that it was horrible because mom was angry at me and very put out that she had to take care of me.  Oh my God, suddenly the emotions I felt as that little girl overwhelmed me.  My little self cried because she felt terrible physically, but was also afraid and emotionally tormented because she knew she was the cause of her mommy being so angry.  Alone and terrified, my little girl learned that if she felt better, her mommy would not be so angry with her, so she found a way to hide how she felt.  Of course the little girl recovered, but the lesson she learned was that it was WRONG and BAD to be sick.   "Sick" meant she was a very bad person that no one accepted and it even made people angry, so she stuffed her hurt under layers and layers of self-depreciation and pain.


WOW. . . I could not believe it!  Seeing and feeling the pain of that little 7 year old girl explained why I was wrestling so much with my own challenge in my adult life!  I saw myself as unlovable and someone to be ashamed of.  The tears that trickled down my face turned into sobs as the realization the scene I had just witnessed in my mind hit home.  I had to stop the meditation and allow myself not only to sob for my little girl, but for the adult I am now, dealing with all the stuffed emotions and grief along with trying to face the fear of my physical challenge. 


After several minutes of soul wrenching sobs, I was able to regain my composure so I could continue my meditation.  The next instruction was to picture the adult that hurt me (in my case, my mom), sitting across from my inner child and to forgive her.  That was no problem because I had already done the forgiveness aspect, but what happened next, changed me and the way I saw my mother forever.  


In the meditation the next step was for my mother to take my little girl into her arms and hug her, but much to my amazement, she could not do it!  Instead, my mother instantly turned into her hurting inner child.  Suddenly my little girl felt the pain she was in.  Mom's inner child sat in front of me with tears rolling down her face.  Her wall of pride and security crumbled and for the first time in my entire life I saw my mother for who she really was.  Not the bitter, hateful, manipulative woman I had always seen her as, but the deeply hurt, insecure child who was never able to get past her own tremendously abusive childhood.  My little girl's heart broke as she reached over to take mom's little girl into her arms.  We held each other and cried together and I promised mom's little girl I would love her and protect her always.  


I am so glad my angels and guides kept dropping hints around for me to do the Inner Child work.  My mom has no idea, at least on the physical plain, of how both our worlds have changed, but I will never forget!  She gave me the best childhood she was able to give, and after seeing what she went through, I really can appreciate the love and support she was able to muster up.  What a wonderful Christmas present!  


Thank you, angels and guides for helping me do this work, but mostly, THANK YOU, MOM for giving me the best childhood you could possibly give me.  I DO love and appreciate you!

Happy Halloween

A message from The Glitter Witch; that's me!  I love it!  What do you think?

The Best Day Of My Life

The best day of my life happens every morning when I open my eyes to another glorious day! 


My joy is not dependent on the weather.  It can be pouring down rain; hot and humid; or numbingly cold.  


My happiness does not depend on how good or bad I feel; how much my body hurts or how comfy and warm my bed is.


"Waking up on the right side of the sod", does not dictate how wonderful I feel (even though THAT IS a plus).  Even the prospect of dealing with the negative people that surround me cannot steal my joy away.


I have decided that no matter what may come at me . . . today IS the best; most joyful; fun; exciting and glorious day of my life!  The questions I ask myself each morning are these:  


"Why is this day the best day of my life?  What surprises await me today to show me how delicious today is?  How is the Universe going to remind me TODAY of how special I AM?  


Then, just as the butterfly emerges from it's cocoon, I roll out of my cozy bed, and my feet hit the floor the excitement within me has built to such a degree that dancing is the only mode of travel.  I almost feel like the little birds from Cinderella will be flying through my window at any moment to aid me in getting dressed for the day.


Sound too good to be true?  This IS my life!  I have CHOSEN it to be so!  Each and every day, I now expect the Universe to pour out an endless supply of blessings because I see this day as the most glorious day of my life.


I am so grateful and I am blissfully ecstatic that I CAN CHOOSE to see how magnificent each day is.


Would you like to join me in my excitement?  All it takes is a CHOICE.

Worlds Within Worlds

People are funny.  One of the funniest things about people is the way they judge one another from their narrow stand point.  I'm not just talking about a nebulous group here or there, but everyone!  (Oh, no, even me!)   For instance, those who follow the Christian teachings believe everyone else is doomed to hell.  The New Age group is all about taking care of Mother Earth and making everyone conform to how they think that should be done.  Muslims believe if you're not a Muslim, you must die, whereas Hindus are very careful not to harm any living thing!  So, with this wide variety of beliefs;  who is right?  EVERYONE AND NO ONE!


You see, I believe we came to this planet at this time in history because of the variety of beliefs.  From an energetic view, it's a very exciting time.  The trick is to get past the human brain and see things from that higher vibrational viewpoint called Spirit.  Then we can begin to see that everyone is correct in their beliefs if it serves them right now, and everyone is wrong in thinking their way is the only way.


My desire is for us to one day see that we are so insignificant next to the greatness of the Universe.  We are so full of ourselves if we think anything we do will really impact the Earth in any way.  Yet at the same time, we are magnificent creators; able to create whole worlds within this Universe.


Have you ever driven by homes at night before the occupants have closed their shades?  Each home, apartment, or other dwelling is a whole world separate from other worlds, yet connected.  Each home is separate,yet connected to the neighborhood, which in turn is connected to the village or town, which is connected to the state and so on.  I daresay, even every automobile on the road contains it's own individual world, yet it flows very nicely together with the other worlds on the road.


So, if we can stand back and notice how everything blends nicely together, even if we don't all agree with one another, how can we say, this belief is right and this one is wrong?  It's time we just kept our attention on what makes our world run smooth and happy, and let others worry about their own worlds.


Sometimes, we interfere with other's lessons they set up for themselves, by interfering with their world.  I'm all for helping our fellow man, but not insisting everyone do as I feel I'm led to do.  If you want to give, I would only ask that you examine the motive (the real motive) of your heart before you do anything at all.  If it's pure, then perhaps you are helping that person complete the lesson they set out to learn.  If  however, you have any other motive, you may well be interfering  which in the long run makes the individual have to go another route to learn the lesson.


Let's stop forcing our beliefs on others.  Let's begin to allow everyone the freedom to be who they are.  I think we would really be surprised at what we find; people really desiring to be of service.  


What do you think?

Inspiration

Most of you know I am on the path of allowing my body to heal itself of breast cancer.  I decided not to go the conventional route of surgery; chemotherapy and radiation.  Instead, I changed my diet and lifestyle and have done some very deep emotional work to allow the natural healing to take place.  I have conquered my biggest fears and opened my heart to learning the true meaning of "unconditional love" for myself as well as all those who enter my life.


As I share my journey with the inquiring minds around me, I am surprised with all the responses.  For example those I thought would rally, being family, have made themselves ghosts in my world; or they think for some reason beyond my comprehension that I am lying.  Why the hell would anyone lie about something as serious as having  cancer?


For the most part, people have been very supportive and encouraging.  I am grateful for the few family members that are very positive and let me know that even if I've chosen what they would classify as an extreme path, they will continue to support me in every way possible.


There is one reaction that I am totally unprepared for; being an" inspiration"!  You see, I'm just doing what is natural for me.  Having never been in a hospital as a patient in my whole life, the thought of entering into that realm is very disconcerting.   People that find out what I'm doing make remarks to me about how "brave" I am or that I have a lot of "faith",but I see things differently.


I look at the women who have chosen to go the traditional path as having tremendous faith.  They are putting their bodies in the hands of men and women who can only offer them treatments they have learned in books.  There is no individual care; everyone is treated the same.  And pretty much everyone gets the same prognosis!  If you are still alive in five years, you are considered "cured" of cancer!  If you drop dead two weeks after that five year mark, well, you are still considered cured of cancer because you passed that five year mark.

I cannot imagine giving control of my health and body over to a bunch of strangers that are limited in how they are able to help me.  The path I have chosen keeps ME in charge.  I listen to what my body needs and am able to adjust my lifestyle to the way my body will heal.  I realize that just about any dis-ease is caused by not only a physical challenge, but an emotional and spiritual one as well.  Therefore the healing cannot be accomplished by only addressing the physical, but the whole person I am has to be addressed and changes made.


Physicians are bound by the law to offer only the conventional treatments to their patients, or risk being fined and thrown in jail, where upon they of course would also lose their license to be a doctor.   Their treatments have nothing to do with addressing each individual, and of course cannot even begin to treat the emotional or spiritual ailments.


So, when you put all that in perspective, who really is the brave soul?  One who listens and follows what their body tells them it needs, or the person who gives all control over their body to  those who MUST only treat the body?


Please don't misunderstand me;  I have total compassion for the thousands and thousands of people who go the "normal" conventional route.  After all, we have all been trained from birth that the Doctor knows what is best for us and that listening to our bodies or addressing the emotional and spiritual part of the ailment  is whack-o!  I daresay in this day and age, the medical personnel themselves got into the field with full intentions of helping their fellow man.  Somewhere along the line, however, helping people has taken a back seat to plying the patient with pharmaceuticals that address the symptoms instead of the true problem.


So you see, I am not really a hero.  I have simply chosen to listen to my body and address the root causes of the cancer as well as the physical dis-ease itself.  I'm simply doing what comes naturally!


I wonder how much more health and well-being would people experience if listening to their bodies and addressing those underlying issues was the "norm".

Contrast

Contrast.  What is it and how does it work?  


On TV sets, in the olden times anyway, contrast is the little knob you turn to make the picture sharper.  The same can be true in our lives.  


Contrast can be a slippery little knob, however.  If you turn the knob too much, the picture on the TV gets too dark and cannot be seen very well.  And, at the same time, if you don't turn that little knob enough, the picture is too light to make out any features.  
  
   
The same can be said about our lives.  Contrast is the little knob in our lives that helps us define what we really want.  It makes what we truly want sharper and more in focus and gives us a clear picture of our desires.  Without contrast, we would not have a distinct definition of what we truly desire. However, just as on the TV, if we spend too much time focusing on the contrast, instead of our desires, our lives become dark and brooding.  We cannot really distinguish what we want our lives to be like because we pay too much attention to the contrast.  In the same way, if contrast comes up in our lives and we don't fine tune it, we can barely make out what our true desires are because we don't spend any time exploring the options.  It is much easier just to skip over and ignore hard situations instead of finding out the true desires of our hearts.  


So, contrast is really something to embrace instead of push away.  What contrast do you have in your life that helps you define your true desires?

Missing Recipes

For the last couple posts, I've forgotten to add recipes at the end. So here are a couple favorites of ours. Minestrone soup, I make for Mark's lunch and Vegetarian Chili; a great cold weather, hearty meal.

Minestrone Soup

2 tsps Red wine

1 med Onion, chopped
2 clove Garlic, minced
2 med Carrots, peeled, halved and sliced thin
1 med Potato, peeled, cut in cubes
1 med Yellow Squash, cut in cubes
1 sm Eggplant, skin on cubed
1 tbsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Oregano
2 lg Bay Leaves
28 ozs Crushed Tomatoes, with juice
48 ozs Vegetable Broth

1/4 lb.Green Beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
4 ozs Tiny Shells or Tubettini
1 can Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
Parmesan Cheese, grated  (I leave this off mine, but put it on Mark's soup)
3 tbsps Fresh Parsley, minced

1. In a large heavy kettle, heat red wine over low heat for 1 minute. Add onions and cook uncovered 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

2. Raise heat to moderate and add carrots, potato, squash, eggplant, basil, oregano, and bay leaves. Cook uncovered 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Add tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so that the mixture bubbles gently and cook uncovered 20 minutes longer.

4. Add green beans, cover and cook until beans are tender but still crisp. Remove bay leaves

5. Add pasta and cook until tender. Add additional water if necessary.

6. Add kidney beans. Cook 3-5 minutes longer until heated through.

7. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with the cheese and parsley.

Vegetarian Chili

4 med Zucchini, chopped
2 med Onions, chopped
1 med Green Pepper, chopped
1 med Sweet Red Pepper, chopped
4 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 c Red wine
2 cans (28 Oz Ea) Italian Stewed Tomatoes, cut up
1 can (15 Oz) Tomato Sauce
1 can (15 Oz) Pinto Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 Oz) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped (*see note)
1/4 c Cilantro, fresh, minced
1/4 c Parsley, fresh, minced
2 tbsps Chili Powder
1 tbsp Raw cane sugar or Agave nectar
1 tsp Cumin, ground

1. In a Dutch oven, saute zucchini, onions, peppers and garlic in red wine until tender.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, jalapeno and seasonings.

3. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

*When cutting or seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect your hands. Avoid touching your face.

You can also use white wine; sherry; or vegetable broth to saute in any of the recipes I send out.  If you choose, you can also use Olive oil, but since I can't have any vegetable oils, this is how I cook.  Also, a nice crusty whole wheat bread is really tasty dipped in the broth of both soups. 

I hope you enjoy the above dishes as much as we do! Let me know what you think.

Wii's Havin Fun Now!

What a whirlwind holiday season!  I feel like I'm just now beginning to catch my breath.  Already, my Wisdom has taught me how to lighten up.  I must be willing to lay aside even more old belief systems that I did not realize were still there.  

For Christmas, Sarah gave Mark and I a Wii game!  Then for my birthday (a week later), she gave me a Wii Fit Plus!  It's a perfect gift because it helps motivate us to exercise a bit!  However, as all three of us played with the Wii and learned all the little games I ran into a challenge.  I didn't want to do any of the games in front of Mark or Sarah, so I just watched them play.  Yesterday, I realized why.  

While growing up, my siblings and I were taught to be very competitive.  And when we did not 'win' or happened to 'goof up', we were ridiculed endlessly and told what losers we were.  Comments like:  'You're not any good; you stink; you loser' were very common digs.  As I tried out a new game on the Wii, I once again felt the sting of those comments come back to haunt me.  I didn't want my loving husband or daughter to think I was a loser, so I just didn't want to play, or I would reluctantly play announcing how terrible I am at games, to cover that base before anyone could call me a loser.  

During one of my announcements of how terrible I am at the game, Mark pointed out that I would be terrible if that's how I approached it.  That's when the light bulb turned on and I realized my thoughts were based on past occurrences instead of present realities.  Mark and Sarah would never ridicule me like that!  They both love me.  How could I think such a thing?  Now for the decision:  shall I go ahead and allow the past to dictate how I play with my family now, or shall I dismiss the past and firmly plant my heart in the knowledge that I never again have to believe I'm a loser?

I think I'll do the latter.  It seems much more fun and light-hearted!  And that's what this year is all about for me anyway.  Fun; laughter and joy!  


Has anyone else had to deal with these kinds of revelations?  What did you decide?