Anger: The Fuel Behind Empowerment

Anger: The Fuel Behind Empowerment

Beth MundLeave a comment

Life is hard! Life is also beautiful, fun, joyous and unpredictable. The times of joy are easy, wondrous and we feel happy to be alive. But how do we handle the difficult times? How do we handle life when the going gets tough? Do we get going, face our challenges or do we stand still, feeling helpless?

Not many things in life have mimicked what Covid has brought into all of our lives. Inherent in this pandemic are many opportunities, ones that bring us to our knees, while simultaneously lifting us up to meet our higher self. Covid has brought out feelings of helplessness, fear, anger, grief and regret. It has pushed us all to take a closer look at our priorities, relationships and our self. It has asked us whether we are running too fast, not truly looking at the state of our affairs or avoiding inevitable endings and the grief that goes along with change. Covid has asked us to turn towards, not away from our desire to check out, distract and distance our self from our past. It has required us to rethink our future, and hone-in-on what the present is truly asking of us. Covid has asked us to Awaken! And when something or someone wakes us up, there are five normal reactions we have to this change. Shock/denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

It is not coincidental that these reactions closely resemble the stages of grief. For with all change comes loss, death and grief. If we become stuck in any one stage, we never get to the other side, to the gifts of change which bring rebirth, possibilities, love we never knew possible and a joy for life we cannot imagine. Where do so many of us become stuck? Anger!

Anger is not only a part of change, it is the fuel behind all the stages. Anger is expressed within our denials! “This is not fair!” “Why me?” “Fix this now!” It is also the backbone to bargaining, in which we are pleading for another to make this all go away, rendering us helpless, resorting to victimhood. Depression is anger turned inward, but it is the necessary stage towards surrender, and eventual acceptance. It is this glorious opportunity when we accept change, and face the challenges head on, we once again turn to anger, but in a very different way. We use it to forge ahead, away from victimization into empowerment, and eventually, healing.

Our lives are always pulling us towards change, and healing. We are here to evolve, change and grow. And while some of us have had individual challenges that have woken us up, given us opportunities for healing, all of us are experiencing this now because Covid has handed this to us on a silver platter. It is up to us, to find the silver linings, to choose to see Covid as an opportunity or a curse. Whether we find it or not, eventually comes down to empowerment. What is empowerment?

The definition of empowerment “is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.” We do this through anger. We come to understand that anger was often modeled for so many of us in unhealthy ways. Either passive-aggressively or flat out, aggressively. Some of us have been conditioned that anger is not a good emotion, that we are being “mean” or “bitchy” if we express anger. We watch others lash out, instead of feel. React, not respond. Become disrespectful, in place of courtesy. There are also manifestations where anger has been turned inward, creating self-blame, self-harm and helplessness. The buck stops here!

Anger is a beautiful God given emotion that helps to empower us. It lets us know when our boundaries have been trampled, and our feelings dismissed. When we are being treated with less compassion, kindness and respect. It tells us where we are resisting, and it diminishes our illogical fears. It provides us with fuel to make changes that are necessary in order to move through the stages we have been forced to face with Covid.

Anger is the fuel for blasting through our unconscious blocks that are clogging our filter, holding us back from change. Anger energizes us to confront those that hurt us, while giving us fuel to clean up our clutter and our lives. It helps us to name the truth, holding others accountable for their transgressions and strengthens our allegiance to our self. It is the cornerstone of self-love and we simply cannot heal, live a life of joy, abundances and peace without it.

The next time, anger rears its beautiful head, when Covid initiates a fight with your sense of fairness, obliterates your routine and does not seem to want to leave you alone, allow it to fill up your senses. Be with it as your friend, and allow it to guide you to a sense of empowerment. It has been said that when we feel angry, we see the color red. Dorothy did have the power all along, and perhaps it was her ruby “red” slippers, her sense of anger, that allowed her to feel empowered, giving her the key ingredient to finding her way back home.

Ask and You Will Receive! How to Begin Asking the Universe for What You Want.

Ask and You Will Receive! How to Begin Asking the Universe for What You Want.

Beth MundLeave a comment

As children we are all born with a sixth sense. At an early age, when someone is telling us one thing and doing another, something feels off. We can easily pick up on someone’s energy, good or bad, and some of us can even get in touch with our past lives. Unfortunately the adults in our life, unknowingly mold us as children, conditioning us into believing that our sixth sense is unimportant at best, and unreal at worst. What happens is our imaginary friends, our inner knowing, our glimpse into the unseen world get buried, sometimes never to be unearthed again.

When I was a child I would often leave my body and go to the afterlife, a place I began to know well. A place where I could connect to a world of unconditional love, and found I was able to bring that feeling back with me when I returned to my body. Knowing my angels were not so far away, I didn’t feel as alone as I could have. At the time, I didn’t know I had intuitive gifts, and that I would use my sixth sense on a daily basis.

As I made my way through my childhood, I began to shy away from my sixth sense. Yet, I never fully lost this connection. The creative stories I wrote at nine years old were filled with channeled information, guided by the angels, telling the story of what was happening to me. My gifts of connecting with the unseen world kept gnawing at me, my angels communicating with me in the form of questions. I was a curious kid, always exploring, creating and my soul knew I would pay more attention to questions than advice.

Why are we all here?

I was sitting in math class in 6th grade. when this question popped into my head, along with a feeling I will never forget. 

Looking around my classroom, every one of my classmates were copying the numbers from the black board into their spiral notebooks. Well everyone except the boy who was shooting the rubber bands from his braces’ across the room. Nobody seemed to be pondering their existence, and this created feelings of loneliness. But I could not ignore this question that had my attention far more than fractions or geometry.

I would not find my answer for another thirty years. And what I did not realize was the question was not to be answered anyway. I had more living to do first. It was there to remind me of my gifts, to look beneath the surface, to know there is an unseen world out there even if nobody is talking about it. To keep asking questions!

Why am I here?

The answer came when I finally stopped pushing away my gifts, fully opened up to my sixth sense and more questions began flowing, giving way to incredible insights and awareness. I was told to climb up the Jack’s beanstalk and I would stumble upon a world of magic and miracles, of unconditional love and a wiseness far greater than me. I was reminded of my childhood where I spent time in the afterlife, but now I was meant to explore this amazing place, one that included the afterlife, and so much more. A place I now call the Universe. It was no longer to escape but to discover, evolve and heal.

I was told to continue writing and that the angels and souls in the afterlife would speak through me. And they did. I was told that I would receive pictures, song lyrics and “movies” about other people’s lives in order to help them answer their questions. And I did. I was told to listen and I would be able to communicate with animals, that they would tell me things never before heard. And they have.

I am grateful for this part of me that knew, to lose this connection with an unseen world would be to lose the magic and wonder of life, and to hide these gifts would also be hiding who I was and what I knew to be true.

I continue to be shown so much more about this unseen world we call the Universe. It is where fractions and geometry problems reside, along with our souls in between lives, angels, information, and unlimited possibilities.. The unseen world is where quantum physics begin and never end, where we know the truth of something and not know how we know it. Where images pop into our minds about someone we never met, and animals communicate with us. This unseen world is our Universe, a place wide and vast and one that houses all the answers to the test, whether it is for sixth grade math or our mission in this life.

This Universe is a unified field that connects us all, both here on earth and in the afterlife. It houses the best google search that is completely underutilized with a connection that never loses power.

We can all live within the higher realms, while breathing, walking, laughing and loving in this physical plane. We begin by tapping into the Universe with questions. Whether we want answers to where we should live, will we meet our “soul mate” or if our loved one who passed has a message for us. Begin by asking a question, any question, and you will receive the answer. Let go of where and how it shows up. Ask for the answer to be so obvious, you won’t doubt it came from a higher source. And have gratitude for all that is going on around you, whether you know it or not; all that is working in your favor in this life. All that you cannot see but is here showing up for you everyday.

Everyone one of you has intuitive gifts. Everyone of you can access your sixth sense. You have angels and loved ones that are always helping you. Your soul is guiding you, no matter how loud your mind can get. You can receive the incredible love and abundance that is waiting to be given to you if you would only ask. We so often make life harder than it needs to be, judging ourself or thinking we need to do it alone, and this is simply not true.

Ask and you will receive. It is that easy.

What am I here?

To bring powerful, loving messages from the unseen world, the Universe, to all of you. To help guide your soul. To share my story, my journey to encourage you to wonder about yours. To remind you to ask, and you will receive.

Book a powerful healing session today and hear what your angels are sharing: https://thesacredletters.com/readings/

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From Pandemic to Possibilities

Beth MundLeave a comment

Our world will be right here waiting for us, when it is time to return to it. There is no rush, for we have done much of the heavy lifting already. We have complained, cheered, prayed, stomped our feet, checked in, checked out, cried, mourned, drove aimlessly and stood our ground. We felt depressed and anxious, but also excited.

We need to ease into our world for we may not recognize it. The animals who share our earth may be a little bolder, the colors of nature a little brighter. Many of our younger children will feel more connected to their families and our teenagers will have a new understanding that life does not always give us what we want, but more often than not, we receive what we need.

We have all gotten to know ourself a bit better, and some of us have not liked what we have seen, but we looked anyway. Others of us realized we were not as bad as we had once thought. Many relationships will fall away, and others will strengthen. All of us will have taken off our blindfolds, our expectations blown to pieces and we will be adjusting to this new way of looking at ourself, our life and our world differently. Many of us will be a little stronger and a lot wiser.

We have witnessed humanity at its finest, which has helped us feel more connected to one another. And perhaps one day, we will realize that this is why we are here. To stretch ourself. To learn. To grow. To grieve. To connect. To heal. To love. And through it all, we will come to know a strength within us we never knew existed.

And yes, we did not like the pain, suffering and discomfort. We were stretched, and we feel bruised and battered. We have lost and been knocked to the ground. And yet, there is a knowing deep within each of us that has a sense that we will never be the same as we were before this pandemic, and perhaps, just maybe, that is a gift hidden deep within the rubble.

And we keep on keeping on, until the one day we begin to notice the possibilities within the pandemic. We know the struggles and challenges remain, and we respect and honor those that mourn the loss of loved ones. Yet, we are able to reach beyond the present and see a future full of hope and promise. We cannot reach it quite yet, but we have a sense it is right beyond our grasp. We have glimpsed beyond the pandemic into possibilities so we stand a bit taller and continue walking our path with a little more energy, strength and courage. We welcome the journey towards a better tomorrow knowing our patience, perseverance, compassion and love has paved the way for a brand new world.

What Those who are Suicidal Need you to Know.

Beth MundLeave a comment

You don’t know me, but if you did you would know how easily my heart breaks—at the sound of a baby crying, a wolf howling, a deer fighting for its life.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would know how much I cared that I never fit in, no matter how hard as I tried. You would know that I wanted to be something big, but I was given a mind that kept me small. You would know that I loved deeply and fell hard when that love was not given in return.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would see that I am not like most people, and that bothered me. That I cared too much about what you thought of me—the way I dressed, the sound of my voice, how I walked.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would see that I could not understand why I was not loved or cherished, why nobody believed in me. And that made me try more, but also, fall harder.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would know that my heart was fragile, like glass. And how I hid that weakness, even from myself.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would have asked how my day was and how it felt to be me. You would have wanted to know about my hopes and dreams, and why I liked chocolate ice cream, and how I always wondered why the sky turned orange when the sun set. You would have wanted to know why I hated the movies, but loved television. Why my phone screen always hurt my eyes, and how the ground felt powerful beneath my bare feet.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would know that I hated to be touched, but longed to be included. That I had so many words inside of me, but could not find my voice. That I worried about the trash piling up and destroying our earth, and sometimes this would cause me not to eat for days.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would know that I was afraid of the very thing that would help me—to be known, to be touched, to be understood.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would know to look me in the eye as you passed me in the street so I would no longer feel invisible.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would have known that I was  planning to leave this earth if things did not get better. You would have tried to stop me, but it would not have worked.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would have known the voices in my head would tell me things that were wrong about me, and right about you. How much I hated being smart, and yet there was so much about the world I did not understand. How algebra came easy, but talking at lunch was difficult.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would see that our differences are what made me stand out, and how I thought this was a curse, not a blessing. How I knew how to make friends, but did not know how to keep them.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you would have known that nobody could touch that place inside of me that felt broken—not even me.

You don’t know me, but I am your son, your father, your friend, your pastor, your waiter, your aunt, your boyfriend, your banker, your husband, your teacher, your UPS driver, yourself.

This post was channeled from a soul that left the earth at a young age through suicide. For more information on channeled souls, healing, and grief, please visit http://www.thesacredletters.com.

Dedicated to all those who have left this earth too soon. We wish we knew you just a little better.

Thank you Elephant Journal for publishing this blog post .

When our Inner Child needs some Well-Deserved, Conscious Parenting.

When our Inner Child needs some Well-Deserved, Conscious Parenting.

Beth MundLeave a comment

It was not until moments after a long meditation, when I was lying in a pile of my own bliss, that I let go of the idea of becoming thought-less.

Ironically, that morning, upon returning to my body, I was thought-less—for a whopping three seconds. It felt strange, amazing, beautiful, yet also, fleeting.

For 10 years I had attempted to become thought-less during meditation. And if I hadn’t heard the saying, “We are not our thoughts” from almost every spiritual guru, I might have given up long ago. That morning, something changed. Perhaps I was ready to hear the truth, or I had just had enough of trying. Either way, it was time to give up.

Moments later, I received a download from the Universe. I saw the image of my thoughts as an extension of myself, only it was my child-self. When my thoughts were at their most abundant, she, meaning me, was having a temper tantrum. Ruminating, worry, fear were all manifestations of her trying to get my attention. To wake me up.

The Universe then asked me a question: “Would you follow a toddler into a full-blown temper tantrum, screaming along with her in the toy section of Target, or worse, would you give the toddler what she is demanding reinforcing the behavior?”

As a parent, I knew the answer was no.

I also suddenly knew meditation was never about becoming thought-less as a goal but about creating the space for self-reflection to emerge. And what was unfolding was one juicy insight—that the child inside of me needed some well-deserved conscious parenting.

My first role as the parent was to improve our communication. I tried to reason and was rebuffed. Then I got down on the floor and looked her in the eye. Gently, I said, “I hear you. I see you. You can do your thing and think whatever you want. You can go to the past and think about what you could have done better. You can worry about the future. You can think you will not have enough time to get everything done, or wonder if people will hurt you. I will be waiting right here.”

She turned and stared at me for a few moments, seemingly confused. “You mean you are not coming along?”

“No,” I replied. “But you go ahead. I am just going to do my thing here. To just be. Rest. You can yell as loud as you need.”

I got that she wanted me to join her or it would not be as much fun. I got that she was shocked. I also got that I was on to something.

She tried again to lure me in with our old pattern. She was not giving up so easily. She tried again and again. Testing me over and over, just like a child.

I did not give in. I also did not get mad or frustrated. She was doing the only thing she knew how to do—to be repetitive, get loud, even scare me into listening in order to be heard. I knew instinctively she needed boundaries, not a laissez-faire attitude. Responses, not reactions. Discipline, not control. Love, not neglect. And it was my job to give it to her.

Over time, we stumbled and fell, but we persisted. If I was not going to follow her down the rabbit hole, she stopped sniffing around it.

When I fully got that the little girl was me, we sealed the deal. That little girl was screaming for my attention because she was never praised for who she was, never loved for who she was, never allowed to just be herself. I simply let her be. 

The little girl whose boundaries were trampled, and who was loved—conditionally—never gave up. She was that stubborn, amazing child who would not be silenced. The part who still wanted to be acknowledged and heard. I grew to respect her.

It does not matter how we get there: through meditation, connecting with nature, or following our breath. Take some space and we will see that our thoughts are us! They are not our enemy or something to run from.

Among other things, they simply need a little love, patience, and understanding.

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It’s About Time We All Begin to Get a Little Angry.

It’s About Time We All Begin to Get a Little Angry.

Beth Mund2 Comments

I believe in anger. I also believe in fighting. Not fighting with our fists up, spewing words of hatred, creating resistance, defensiveness and separation. Not fighting against someone or something, but fighting for what we know is possible. Fighting for a better way, a better life and a better world. Fighting for what we believe is beautiful when we are conscious, and tapping into our anger is the first step. 

Anger means our boundary, our rights, our safety or our future has been violated or threatened.

Anger, a human emotion, is not wrong or bad. Demanding that justice be served or speaking out against the abuse of power stems from the beauty of anger. Using anger to pull our self up after another knocks us down, is healing. There is nothing more powerful than channeling our anger into what we believe. 

We need to allow our anger to rise to the top, so it does not come out sideways on an unsuspecting innocent victim or take a U-turn, where we may use it against our self. It is the stuffing down or denying that creates the explosive anger that is harmful, giving anger a bad rap.

Anger is a beautiful emotion giving us the fuel to fight for our rights, our dignity and our honor.

Fighting means we have hope. We have not given up. We know that change is possible. We need to tap into our anger and take action. We need to find our voice that urges us to leave that abusive relationship, make that phone call, demand that meeting, write that email or grab that picket sign. 

Fighting means we have the courage to say no. Not on my watch.

Fighting begins with anger and continues with passion. Fighting with respect and honor, helps us figure out with a clear head what needs to be done to make permanent changes in our life and our world.

We are all connected, and when we fight for our self, we fight for another. When we fight for another, we fight for our world.

Yet, we need to fight for, not against. We don’t want to fight a war on drugs, we want to fight for recovery, where we people feel safe enough to heal their addictions. We don’t want to fight a war against cancer, we want to fight for prevention and health.

When I feel into the world, I am blessed to see fighting happening at all corners of our earth. 

I see a boy in a coma fighting for his life after being hit by a drunk driver.

I see a mother fighting for her child who is being bullied in school.

I see a couple fighting for their marriage, creating new patterns of communication.

I see a store owner fighting for his livelihood.

I see a professional soccer player fighting for her right for equal pay. 

I see a survivor fighting for those who have not yet found their voice. 

I see a courageous girl fighting for the world to take notice about the seriousness of our current climate crisis.

I see a soldier fighting for the freedom of others.

I see a teen fighting for her self-worth within the lure of peer pressure.

I see an addict fighting for recovery. 

I see a protestor fighting for the rights to control her own body.

I see a husband fighting to keep his home from going into foreclosure.

I see a football player fighting for the rights of shelter pets.  

I see patients fighting for their health.

I see a homeless man fighting to stay alive one more day.

Our world is not hopeless, even when we seem to be dragging our feet.  Don’t stop fighting. In fact, when we up the ante, we encourage others there is hope. That our life, our families, our country and our world know better. That we can do better.

It’s about time we all begin to get a little angry. Our world depends on it.

What is Happiness?

What is Happiness?

Beth Mund2 Comments

Happiness comes in moments, each and every day.

Happiness is also the most misunderstood state of being. It is not outside experiences or getting what we want that creates true happiness. It is not about what job we do, or how much money we have. True happiness occurs when we are deep in feeling and connection. When we express emotion. When we put down our defenses, and open our heart.

We can feel happy while tears are falling, and we can feel happy sitting and looking out upon a field of wildflowers. We can feel happy playing a game of basketball or knitting a sweater. We can feel happy listening to music, dancing or cooking. Happiness is not the experience, but an inner state that is created by the opening of our heart.

Whatever opens your heart, do that. When life feels overwhelming, do that. When challenges arise, do that. Do what makes your heart smile. And you will see that a happy life is created by the moments where we felt most alive and connected, when we took a risk and opened our hearts.

It is not about how much time we have on this earth, but how often we have opened our hearts.

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We Should be Used to Endings, But This One Hits Us Hard

We Should be Used to Endings, But This One Hits Us Hard

Beth MundLeave a comment

My first sign that things were changing in our town was a friend’s post on Facebook, “We are moving to Colorado.” My friend’s leaving felt contagious, as she was the first in a long line of empty nesters flying the coop.

The “For Sale” signs began to scream a reality that along with the empty nest, comes the empty neighborhood. When our kids graduate high school, we all have deeper wrinkles, more time on our hands, and endings that seem to hit us hard. The empty neighborhood was no exception.

We should be used to life’s endings by the time our kids go off to college. Every day we say goodbye to the sun going missing beyond the horizon, while seasons naturally carry us through endings every three months. We learn to make the most of endings with birthday parties and graduation celebrations signifying life’s transitions.

In our town, the most obvious celebrated ending is the three-day Labor Day weekend carnival celebration, distracting us as summer bleeds into “back to school” season. The first years of attending the carnival, our children’s tiny, sticky fingers gripped paper cones of pink cotton candy.

As time passed, we watched our kids crash and burn at the hard-to-win carnival games, screaming on the stomach dropping rides and indulging in the deeply rewarding zeppolis. Years later, dropping off our teens a block away, and texting to coordinate pick up was the norm.

Looking upon those familiar streets now, I can only see the ghosts of my daughters and their friends, texting, laughing. In their place are unfamiliar faces, strange voices, younger mothers. A feeling washes over me of being out of place, or rather replaced. No different than the final scene in the movie, St Elmo’s Fire. The Brat Pack, heads to their favorite hangout, St. Elmo’s Bar, but think better of it when they notice a new group of freshman sitting at their table.closeVolume 0% 

It’s how the movie ends, and how many relationships feel when time urges us forward, a sad but accurate reality about life. Yet if we had seen the sequel to St Elmo’s Fire, we would have watched them all grow up, get married, have children and eventually look out upon their empty neighborhoods.

Life’s circle suddenly becomes more obvious, like an insight to a problem I have never before solved; new beginnings always follow endings. The tearful mothers I see pulling their kindergartners from their clutches, will also eventually smash up against their teen’s SAT prep courses. We all must keep moving forward, because we have no choice.

Yet, there are always good things ahead. We can drag our feet as time changes, or let life take us forward. It is not easy. These five strategies help me almost enjoy each ending, knowing I will soon unwrap a gift of a new beginning.

5 Things That Help When Relationships End

1. Sadness. Nobody enjoys feeling sad, but it is a necessary emotion in life. Thinking about all those happy memories: prom, nail biting soccer games, carpool chats about life – while shedding some tears helps. Reminisce quietly or in a group about when your kids were young, and how this phase of life felt chaotic, but deeply rewarding.

2. Say goodbye. When friendships change, whether you are still as close or not, it is important to say goodbye. You can do this with a friend or simply to yourself. Not all relationships are meant to last forever. Some of these friends who we spent hours texting or sitting beside at the sports games, we may never see again. What we had in common may have passed, even if we developed a friendship that went beyond our kids. Plan that last dinner or go out for a drink. Laugh, cry and wish them well.

3. Make new friends. You may have to start over making new friends who have nothing to do with your children. Perhaps someone older who you would not normally get to know or someone younger to mentor may be a welcome change. Taking on a new role can be rewarding and life affirming.

4. Become closer with your spouse. While raising your children, friendships were your savior, but now that the neighborhood feels emptier, you and your spouse can fill it with romantic evenings, Netflix movies and weekends away visiting old friends. Confide in each other, and remember you are in this together. You are not alone and you may be surprised that he/she is feeling the same way.

5. Look for the new beginnings. Endings are a part of life, but new beginnings are too. When the endings feel hard, know that change can bring new life into your life, home and relationship. Welcome the excitement, adventures, opportunities and freedom that new beginnings offer with open arms.

Change is inevitable; challenging but also a gift. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and just feel those longings. Better yet, go rent St. Elmo’s Fire with a glass of wine. Laugh and cry along with this heartwarming story about how life moves on, and so do we.

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Thank you Grown and Flown for your wonderful edits and publication. Please find my article originally published here: https://grownandflown.com/moving-after-empty-nest/

Feeling stuck? As an intuitive healer and certified Reiki Level II practitioner with a Masters in Psychology and Wellness Coaching Certificate, I offer one on one Intuitive Healing Sessions.

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Grief has its own Timeline & that’s Beautiful.

Grief has its own Timeline & that’s Beautiful.

Beth Mund2 Comments

When I lost my son in 2004, I hid myself from the world.

There were days I did not get dressed. I did not want to face anyone who would mistakenly ask, “How are you doing?” The answer was too long, horrifying. It felt like agony to even think about how I was doing.

I don’t hide any longer, but I still go it alone. My grief likes to be by itself, without company. And I allow it to take as long as it likes.

As an empath and intuitive healer, I’ve been tapping into a collective grief. Whether you are reacting to the devastation of the Australian fires or facing the loss of a loved one, grief is one of the deepest human emotions we experience.

I also feel an opening around the energy of grief, an invitation for people to process it on their own terms, which has not always been the case: Grief has been put on a timeline—either by ourselves or another. Grief has been an inconvenience, a feeling we would prefer not to feel.

But when we open to it fully, grief doesn’t need to be scheduled or inconvenient. To allow ourselves to feel whatever is coming up is actually a relief.

Grief comes in waves, and passes when we allow it to come and go, much like ocean waves. At times, the current of grief is so strong that it pulls us away from shore, leaving us treading water. Do not panic. We will find our way back when the waters are calm.

Whether grief lingers for a moment or a year does not matter. We jump back into life when we are ready. There is no shame in feeling like we are too sad to take part in life.

And even when we allow ourselves to feel grief outright, it can also burrow itself into our body. For me, I feel it as an ache in my heart, which is why the term “heartache” feels so appropriate.

Although my son passed away 16 years ago, I unearthed more grief around his loss a few months ago, unexpectedly.

On my way to the mall, I drove past a turtle trying to cross the road. Wanting to help, I turned my car around. By the time I got back to the turtle, it was too late. Another car unknowingly ran it over.

I was devastated and began sobbing. I sobbed for the turtle, who simply wanted to cross the road. I sobbed for myself, who witnessed life and death so up-close-and-personal—it burned a hole straight into my soul.

I also sobbed for my son.

It appears, even after all this time, I still had some grieving to do. There is no better time to heal past grief that we unknowingly push aside than when life gives us the opportunity to do so without asking.

I feel we all have an opportunity to process our grief, both obvious and hidden, within the chaos we are confronted with these days.

Do not underestimate the effect life has on us. We live in a chaotic world that seems to play with people’s lives like a casual game of tag. Taking time each day to care for ourselves helps. When we release what we take in, we breathe easier.

Our world is changing, shifting. We are taking off the masks we used to hide behind and walking toward truth and humility. The time is now.

We can wake up kicking and screaming, or we can take someone’s hand and walk away from the past’s brilliant disguises toward a future that is more authentically us. The energy is right.

Let’s welcome our grief and come face-to-face with the unconditional love within our hearts.

Feeling stuck? As an intuitive healer and certified Reiki Level II practitioner with a Masters in Psychology and Wellness Coaching Certificate, I offer one on one Intuitive Healing Sessions.

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Previously published on Elephant Journal: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2020/01/grief-has-its-own-timeline-and-thats-beautiful-beth-mund/

The Light of Hope

The Light of Hope

Beth MundLeave a comment

Through hope, we find the strength to climb from the hole we call grief. When facing loss, we have no choice but to let go, discovering both humility and faith within the pain of a shattered heart. Humility helps us fall to our knees and admit we are powerless over what shows up in life, and faith carries us through our pain to the other side. We cannot know what awaits us, but we must have the faith that we can face whatever arises.

It is for us to someday rejoice. Not in the struggle we endured, but in the knowing that we had the strength to climb out of the hole, walk through the dark, and emerge into the light of hope.

Should we have loved at all? Why risk the pain of loss?

It is why we are here. To feel deeply. To love deeply. And yes, to lose deeply.

For the family who loses their son to suicide. For the mother who loses her sister to illness. For the daughter who loses her father to addiction. For the child who loses his friend to an accident.

We may blame God. We may blame our self. We may blame life. We have a right to our anger. We have a right to our sadness. We are entitled to grieve, and to heal. We will one day smile again. We will know that sadness is as much a part of life, as laughter. And when we embrace both equally, we do not resist what life brings. We welcome it all though our sorrow and joy, ease and challenges. We move beyond the stories, we feel the depth of grief, knowing it is a part of life.

Someday our scars, made of gold, will be shining for all to see. We will know we made it through our darkest moments. Step by step. Tear by tear. Heart by heart.

We are never alone, for grief touches us all.

If we continue searching, we will see that although we have lost, we have also loved beyond what is safe, or comfortable. When we allow our hearts to burst open in sadness and joy, we know that the love within us never dies. It gently guides us forward towards hope.

No matter how our story ends, we would not change a thing. For we know, to have loved is to have lived.

-For the families in our community, and those around the world that are facing unimaginable grief at the loss of a loved one.

#hope #grief #loss #love