Transforming Grief
We are entering the year 2008 in the midst of turmoil. War, violence, global warming, the soaring costs of gas and food. The insecurities of life have become so commonplace that many people have become desensitized to them and walk through life in a self-induced haze.
Those of us who have lost a loved one develop a different kind of sensitivity that I feel is an awakening of all the dimensions around us. We cannot ignore the pain of others or deny the situations around us. The truth is: We are all ONE.
We have chosen to incarnate and come here at this time of discontent in order to grow. Among the many ways we can choose to grow is to study our own spirituality and find our strengths and weaknesses.
My clients tell me that after losing a loved one their strengths are challenged and it is a struggle to get through each day. However, it is important at this time, as you embrace your grief, to be aware of the terrible conditions and the pain of your planet.
I spend a great deal of time teaching my clients to find the gifts of life. I believe there is the gift of learning in everything we experience, whether the experience is good or bad. It is hard for me to find this gift while reflecting on the death of a loved one. Does death make you stronger? Well, I can think of other ways to become strong. Does death make you more compassionate? I can also think of other ways to become compassionate. But what I have learned is that the pain of death makes you look more deeply into the situations around you. Having a new car, a new piece of jewelry or the biggest flat-screen TV on the block means nothing to you now. Material things have little importance in your life; what is now important is to get through each day in peace. As you open up to this awareness, it helps to ease your burden by sending healing energy into your own heart and to the hearts of others who are also suffering.
If we can take our feelings of compassion and extend them out to the world, asking for all to be in peace, we can transform our grief. I know it is difficult to reach out, but as you focus on others who are suffering, your pain can transform into a universal consciousness that will heal our planet and those on it.
A reader writes:
Dear Marianne,
Since my husband died, I feel deep sadness. How do I face the New Year with this sadness?
-Joyce Westly
Dear Joyce,
Try to change your focus, send healing into your heart and then out into the hearts of others who are also suffering deeply. Try to stay in the moment, knowing that one day you and your husband will be together. For now, getting through each day as well as you can and fulfilling life's purpose will bring you closer to your husband.
-Marianne