I want to celebrate something with you.
I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in years. Over Thanksgiving I was able to play games with my in-laws at night. Over Christmas I was able to watch full length holiday movies with my parents. Neither of these things have happened in four years, because I couldn’t handle it. The bright lights, high energy, and loud noises always sent me upstairs to a dark room with a pounding headache.
The last four years have been quite a health journey for me, dealing with environmental illness that brought on hypersensitivities to light, sound, and EMFs.
It has been a deeply windy recovery and one that has taken me to my knees, crawling into the depths of pain, trauma, and my shadow. But, as with all trips to the underworld, this one has been filled with immense transformation.
And as we are collectively emerging from the underworld of the last few years, and standing at the precipice of a new year, I want to share with you what I feel will be the most important super power for 2023.
Your ability to meet challenges with compassion.
Something that really changed my life when I was going through a devastating divorce in 2013 was the teaching, “pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”
As I was watching the life I had built burn to ash, and feeling the pain of heartbreak, I longed for relief.
Could I feel this emotional pain and not suffer?
Was that possible?
I remember working a temp job at the beginning of 2013 and feeling wave after wave of shock travel through my body. I couldn’t believe I was getting a divorce. As the tears started to well, I ran to the bathroom because I didn’t know anyone in the office and was so embarrassed.
I locked myself in a stall, and decided to try something new.
I said YES to the pain.
I said YES to the tight knot in my throat and heart.
And a miracle happened. The knot loosened. And the wave of anxiety traveled out the top of my body, releasing it’s hold on my mind.
My breath came more easy, and my tears slowed.
I realized in that moment how much I had fought feeling my feelings throughout my life. I had been taught to tamper them down, to fight them.
But that never worked, it always made things worse.
So, now I was willing to try something new. And it turned out to be my salvation.
What I learned in that stall would be my foundation to a year that also brought car accidents, death of a loved one, and robbery. And at each juncture of a devastating event, I would say YES to what I was feeling, and find I could move through it.
It was 2013 that began the building of a new foundation. One that was based in acceptance and compassion, instead of fighting and disassociation.
And I wouldn’t fully appreciate how important that foundation was until I found myself having daily migraines in 2019, and not knowing why.
There is a level of loss when you lose people and things.
And then there is the level of loss when you lose your vitality and health.
At first, I couldn’t wrap my mind around experiencing the extreme pain of a migraine and NOT suffer. And the truth is, it took a long time to discover what that meant for me, especially because I felt so frustrated, scared, angry, and anxious. But the path was the same.
I had to say YES. I had to meet the challenge of my hypersensitivity with compassion, not fighting.
Over the holiday break, I listened to this wonderful class taught by Tai Chi and Qi Gong Master teacher Helen Liang. What drew me to her was her miraculous healing journey.
She was released from the hospital with stage four lymphoma in her 20’s and given two weeks to live. Nothing had worked, so she went home to die. Once home, she finally released all the anger and fighting she had been doing internally. She finally accepted where she was and what was happening.
And then her miracle happened. She was able to heal.
She shares how it was the power of acceptance that released ALL the energy she was using to fight where she actually was. Now that energy was free to heal her body, so she and her family used Qi Gong and Traditional Chinese herbal medicine to treat her.
And now she is the vice-president of the Shou-Yu Wushu Institute and teaches globally, helping countless others to also access their own healing.
This year, we have a Jupiter return. Jupiter is the planet of expansion, so there is great opportunity here for you.
However, the expansion will arrive on where you place your energy.
Where you place your focus.
What you believe is true about you at your core.
Every astrologer I’ve listened to has stated that the karma of the last three years will be playing out for quite a while. In layman’s terms, we are not out of the fire.
But we can reclaim our power by trying something new.
Releasing the fighting, and learning to meet our challenges with compassion.
Saying YES is a radical act of compassion. To accept where you are is a revolution in and of itself. To actually FEEL your feelings in the moment of disappointment, fear, and anxiety is completely out of the mainstream.
And yet, it will be the alchemy that will allow you to expand this year.
This can be YOUR year to return.
To return to the birthright of your humanity, and the sacredness of your beating heart.
Because when you can truly be present to where you are in any moment, you can always access your power. Miracles will happen daily.
And you will be unstoppable.
Who you are is your greatest power.
So, discover who YOU are this year, through the power of acceptance and compassion.