Kathleen Gage has been on a conscious spiritual quest for over three decades. With a thirst for knowledge and a deep desire to more fully understand one's purpose, Kathleen has traveled to locations around the globe, read, listened to and studied various spiritual and religious practices.
With a belief that we all have an important contribution to make to our own life and the lives of others to improve one's quality, Kathleen is dedicated to enhancing levels of awareness in herself and others.
Most people struggle to get so much done by day's end. Well, at least what they think they should be getting done.
The fact is, we will never get it all done. It's just not humanly possible. Over the last few decades we have been asked to get more done in a shorter period of time while piling on more and more due to technology.
I remember as a teen and young adult hearing that technology was going to make life easier. In some ways it has.
Yet, in other ways technology has made our lives very unmanageable. On any given day we communicate with dozens, hundreds and even thousands of people.
We have been misled to believe the more people we "touch" on any given day the better. But the truth is, this type of connection is often superficial at best.
Not a day goes by that I don't meet someone who has an incredible talent; a gift from God. It could be the gift of communication, writing, singing, care-taking, art, storytelling, or what not.
Many have the desire to more fully live in their gift and yet, many hold themselves back due to the unknown. What stops most people is not lack of desire, but rather fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of what others will think, fear of success. You name it, someone is likely to be walking in that fear.
Even the most spiritual among us (or those who claim to be) may hold ourselves back because we are not sure how to go about letting our gifts unfold. This is where faith and trust come in.
Left to our own devices we will often limit our potential simply because we are making choices based on our human experience. Sure, there those of us who believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience and yet, it is in that humanness the fear resides.
Today I am pleased to share a posting by guest blogger, Alexis Bonar.
Like most people, I have had a love-hate relationship with
my in-laws.To be fair, they’re a little
bit ambivalent towards me as well.
Married young…
My husband and I were married young, at 20 years old to be
exact. We met at the age of 19 in an organic chemistry recitation.His mom thought that I was a passing phase
for her son.She told him we were too
young. She cussed my mom out over the phone the night my future husband told
her we were getting married and, no, I wasn’t pregnant. Now, six years and one
grandchild later, she’s realized that I’m probably not going anywhere anytime
soon.
A strategy of
avoidance.
At the outset of our relationship, I determined that I would
have as little to do with my mother-in-law as possible. I would attend family
functions. I would be cordial, but I wouldn’t make it a point to engage
her.This worked out fine until my
husband’s father was diagnosed with cancer.
Thrown into the mix.
When my father-in-law was nearing the end of his life, my
husband and I temporarily moved into his parents’ house to help care for him
while his mother worked.Although the
circumstances could certainly have been better, the four of us were able to find
what common ground.My mother-in-law and
I both enjoy cooking.She started to
make it a point to ask me to help her, and would often ask about my family’s
culinary traditions.
Making peace.
Sometimes making peace hinges upon the simple things: shared
ideas, passions, or simply a desire to work together through difficult
times.By coming into what could have
been a difficult living arrangement with an open mind, I was able to find
common ground with my in-laws.By
allowing us to share a common interest, my mother-in-law made our reconciliation
possible.After my husband’s father
passed away, my mother-in-law confided in me that she wouldn’t have been able
to manage without my husband and I being there during his last days.If I hadn’t been open to the idea of moving
in with them, we never could have helped or reconciled.
Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie.
She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online school programs. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and
avoiding her laptop.
Every Sunday (and on other days of the week) millions upon millions of people attend their place of worship. Whether Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist or Spiritual in our beliefs the core message is the same. Our purpose is to live the best life we know how. To honor God, Higher Power, Spirit, Universe.
Our path is to be one of love, forgiveness, acceptance, sharing, giving and joy. These are but a few of the lessons we are taught during Sunday services.
As we sit in our place of worship and contemplate what our minister, rabbi or spiritual leader is sharing it is usually very easy to be in the space of, "This is so true. My purpose is very simple. Follow the Word."
Yet, how long does this train of thought last? For some, it is a constant. For others, the minute we leave our place of worship we may be confronted with a situation that triggers an unwelcome response. Perhaps someone cuts us off when we are on the freeway. Maybe we are being delayed due to road construction. Maybe someone says something to us we just don't like.
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