Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Seeking the gift in a challenge

FROM MY MAILBAG

The exchange that follows surfaces issues that have confronted all of us, and challenge many people today, and we can all feel for the dreamer.

Dear Robert:

Dreams, synchronicity and serendipity have played very large roles in my life. I'm afraid I am experiencing a crisis of faith, among other things.There were a few synchronistic events that led me to buy my house, the only home I have ever owned. After submitting my final offer three years ago, I was rejected. That night I dreamed I was sitting in the back yard at night under the arbor, looking at the lit house. I had never been to the house at night before. When I awoke, I recieved a call from my Realtor telling me that the owner had reconsidered and was accepting my offer. I signed the papers two months later.

My father was admitted to the hospital the next day and died four days later. My dream came true on the night of his funeral when I sat under the arbor to drink a toast for him. I recognized the dream as I sat down.

Now, three years later, I am losing my home and facing bankruptcy. The dream I had of the house, and all the other synchronistic things that led up to my purchase of it, did not have any feelings of foreboding or fear attached. I guess my question for you is: How do you again trust the dreams and synchronicIty when they've led you down such painful paths?

- Laura

Dear Laura

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you are going through. Though there may be slim consolation in this, you are not alone in the current state of our society.

I'll say something that may be very hard to work with right now: we always want to look for the gift in a challenge, however terrible the challenge may be. This is possibly the most practical guidance I can give you, if you are willing to work with it.

Don't blame your dreams and the signs you may have received from the world for the current problems. If it were my life, I would accept that I received information that was relevant at one stage of my life, though I may have misread some of it or not grasped it fully at the time. Now life has moved on, so I want to be alert for fresh messages. Greater dangers attract greater allies, unless we make ourselves unavailable for their help.

Oh yes - it's okay to ask for help. You turned to me. I want you now to turn to your deeper Self, the God you can talk to, the conscious universe, and ask, humbly and deeply, for help from those sources.

Blessings for the holiday season

Robert

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Laura,

Remaining open is painful when you are hurting and confused. But it is wise to keep your heart open for instruction. Shuting the heart down can make you bitter and fearful.

I imagine you will go back and forth between these two points as you work through this very difficult situation. Just keep coming back to the still point of asking and keeping your heart open.

I don't know who you are and yet I do. I will send you all the positive energy I can during this holiday season. Keep the faith.

Carol Davis said...

Laura, I'm so sorry you are going through this pain. The only way I navigate through life's challenges is to ask for help from higher sources. I would like to offer a waking dream.

One night in October of 2004 I lay awake in bed desperately ruminating about violence and loss, both personal and on the earth in our human family. I wondered if I could continue my work with trauma survivors because it continues to break my heart repeatedly. And yet, it also continues to give me inexplicable joy when people reclaim their power, their very souls in new life and healing.

I simply said to the One, "I need your help."

I saw in the distance what appeared to be innumerable butterflies descending. As they came closer, I saw luminescent beings with high wings. They are beyond description and yet exquisitely beautiful. They are flowing like the aurora borealis. I was drawn to them and lifted out of myself while at the same time I physically felt them completely covering, surrounding my body. My skin felt gently caressed and comforted. Whether my eyes were open or closed I saw them. I cried tears of grief for only a moment, as if the grief was being released. I went far with them, while never leaving. I opened my eyes wide and still could see only their presence. They surrounded me and poured out love. They remained, their vibrations, like music in my being, brought solace beyond words.

Finally, I saw only rich vibrant colors. First there was dark, dark blue with sparkles like stars in the night sky, then a most beautiful, verdant green that slowly swirled and was surrounded by white light followed by shades of blue--turquoise ocean, aquamarine, cerulean sky. The colors continued, each color appearing in several hues, swirling slowly, surrounded by the light.

And then, simply, there was quiet peace. I uttered a word of gratitude and went to sleep.

In the morning, problems were still there, but I had renewed, creative energy to move forward. I had creative ideas about how to deal with my situation.

May all the guidance and help you need be yours.

Carol

OL'Dog Junya said...

Transdimensional portals and rabbit-holes

I believe there is a parallel dimension inhabited by conscousnesses who take an interest in sympathetic and empathetic "causes".

They act independent of any supplication by us, though their intervention of "visitation" infers a meritcratic bias to their actions. For those who beleive in an identity beyond the temporal role of one's social and cultural circumstance there will be a greater sensitivity. I will also say that, the unbeliever or the agnostic is not immune to catching the grace of serendipity, as if a mischievous declaration of defeiance to the reductionist materialism of the subject.

Receiving serendipity is no affirmation of any personal virtue or earned blessing of salvation. It is a call to be aware of the transdimensional whose "rules" are of a different morality than being the obedient, It is a morality of integrity. Empowering that integrity is the journey for which the serendipity seems to most serve,

Jane Carleton said...

Dear Laura,

I've been in traumatic places many times in my life and I understand the deep sense of loss you are feeling. It is very difficult to keep courage strong when life is so hard, especially during holiday times.

I learned that there are times I don't understand the deeper meaning of my suffering. But I learned there is a deeper meaning, without a doubt. I said to myself years ago that no matter what happens to me, I will never, ever let myself lose hope. And the universe has supported me by giving me little glimpses of the magic that lies below the surface of our everyday reality. One time I was in an elevator on my way to work, distraught by my second divorce and the loss of all of my financial and emotional support, and very afraid for my future and tired too, so very tired. I heard a voice say clearly "You always have yourself." Very matter of fact and very clear. I looked down and saw a button on the elevator panel that said HELP IS ON THE WAY and I began to laugh all alone in the little elevator. I knew it was a big reminder for me. Little synchronicities are a sign of something much bigger, and that we are supported.

Even if we don't know why things happen, traumas are an opportunity to see what strength we have, to see what we can do and to be proud of ourselves for being survivors.

I've learned to rely on myself and to look for the joy contained in the little messages that come through in dreams and waking life. The world of wonder is all around us. I remember to stop and look at the sky, get out and walk in nature when I can. Breathe through the pain and remember a few years from now my reality will be different and I will have gotten through this tough patch. When I cry I really cry and let myself feel it and when I feel joy I am ecstatic. And I always have myself.

When I have had to move and find a new job, new friends, and a new place to live, I see it as a chance to start new, like a clean canvas that I will paint with the life I want to live, unburdened by what I've had to let go.

I wish for you great joys ahead and the strength to keep hope alive no matter what. You will get through this and you are supported by your own deeper wisdom and strength, cushioned in a foundation of deep connection to the universe and to all of us within it.

Diana said...

Laura,
When events have not transpired in the way signs I preceived seemed to indicate, I've learned over time (and continue to learn) to accept that it is most likely I who missed a beat (took the wrong thing to be a sign, put an erroneous meaning on it, etc.), not the signs. Signs are provided but most of us interpret them through our own unique filters putting our spins on them to varying degrees. Or, the signs were related to that moment in time, a moment now changed; there are so many forces at work/play of which we are not aware. I also think the universe plays with us so we don't get too complacent in our lives or in our beliefs - pushing us to see truly. The image for you that comes to my mind is "riding the waves" - like a skillful surfer and if sometimes you fall, you get back up on the surf board and keep riding through the swells and dips until you reach the shore. May you be touched, as Juny puts it, by the "grace of serendipity".

Nancy said...

Laura,
My heart goes out to you in this trying time. Others have given you some of the same counsel I would have, like looking for the gift (especially in this season!), remembering that only Change is constant, & that you always have yourself. I have a couple of things to add. First, I've seen many times in my own life that when I thought something was disastrous, I just wasn't seeing the big picture. Coming out of myopia involves a lot more than improving my physical eyesight, believe me. Related to this, the Hanged Man card in tarot has been very significant for me, encouraging me to look at things from a different point of view. What is GOOD about this situation that seems so dark? Etc. Finally, if your dream of the house at night were mine, with I am assuming an associated feeling of peace & safety & being "at home", I would consider what "home" is to me. Perhaps this particular physical structure I am so worried about losing isn't as crucial to me as any place I can be with friends & family, loving & learning & growing. To me the true home is where my heart is, wherever that is in Physicality.

Have a wonderful blessed Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year. I encourage you to be open to whatever gifts may come your way, even though they may be in guises you don't immediately recognize. Remember O'Henry's "Gift of the Magi"? Love is the greatest gift of all, & doesn't cost a thing.
Nancy

Patricia said...

Concerning making ourselves available... I was offered this process over christmas:

I had organized a day at the spa for us four girls and Mom. As part of this I spent $258 on a room so we could have "the boys" meet us for dinner and a night of frolic. The boys didn't want to come and the girls didn't want to stay all day. I first went into "Oh man I have been coordinating this with every one for months." Then I shifted into " There goes $$$ down the drain", at which point I spouted a nasty comment to my husband. Then I shifted into Center, asking what is it that I need to do here, and Listening. In less than 10 minutes I re-arranged the room for a future date, with a possibility of a total refund.

I just wanted to thank Robert for directing me to this Blog and other guidance to see connections with my dream world and physical world. I just realized you are like Santa Claus to me. Thank you for the gifts this christmas season!!

Patty

Patricia said...

Concerning making ourselves available... I was offered this process over christmas:

I had organized a day at the spa for us four girls and Mom. As part of this I spent $258 on a room so we could have "the boys" meet us for dinner and a night of frolic. The boys didn't want to come and the girls didn't want to stay all day. I first went into "Oh man I have been coordinating this with every one for months." Then I shifted into " There goes $$$ down the drain", at which point I spouted a nasty comment to my husband. Then I shifted into Center, asking what is it that I need to do here, and Listening. In less than 10 minutes I re-arranged the room for a future date, with a possibility of a total refund.

I just wanted to thank Robert for directing me to this Blog and other guidance to see connections with my dream world and physical world. I just realized you are like Santa Claus to me. Thank you for the gifts this christmas season!!

Patty

Joan said...

Laura,

If it were my dream,

I sit in the nighttime feeling calm and sheltered in the warm and comforting darkness and the gentle embrace of the arbor above me. I feel at home here in the dark night. I feel separate, alone and at peace. The house looms before me, empty and alight in the dark night - a detached family home - and I sit in the dark night feeling quite detached from it. I am happy here under the arbor. I am content.

When my father dies, I find myself again under the warm and sheltering arbor in the dark night, drinking a toast to his memory and I remember that I was here before. Again I gaze at the house, still alit, yet empty, like a shell, like a corpse. The house is separate, strange and removed from me, dull and heavy now and without a soul. My home is here under the arbor and I am again at peace knowing that this is the place where I truly belong, outside, like one of the traveling people, not one of the settled people at all.

And when I seek the feeling of being truly at home and truly at peace, I return to the warmth of the dark night and a sheltering arbor.

Joan