Keeping the Faith

As I've mentioned before, my readings each week usually share a theme. This week, all my readings seemed to deal with people losing faith -- in themselves, their career, or their relationships. I think it's safe to say that we've all be there. We've all experienced the proverbial dark night of the soul. How do we hold tight until the light that dawn brings? This isn't an easy question. Whole books and careers of research or ministry have been devoted to just that question. But I always like to keep things simple, so I'll try to answer this question as succinctly as possible -- PRAY.

P -- Pray. Sit in meditation, repeat the same prayer over and over, listen for answers and talk to God. There's a wonderful book about the power of mantra prayer call The Way of the Pilgrim.

R -- Resist negativity. Force yourself to avoid the downward spiral of feeling lost in a sea of negativity. Wear a rubber band around your wrist, and every time you think or say a negative word about yourself and your situation, snap the rubber band. Paste positive affirmation in your bathroom, kitchen and bedroom so you'll be reminded of the positivity that awaits you. Create an affirmation for yourself that you repeat daily for at least 10 minutes such as, "All is well in my world." Or "I am healthy, wealthy, loved and loving."

A -- Ask for help. The only way to get through tough times is by asking for help -- from your higher power, from your loved ones on the other side, from your angels and guides and from your friends and family here.

Y -- Yield to your higher power. Sometimes life just stinks. Period. And there's no rhyme or reason for it that we can discern. Part of the key to finding happiness to life is learning to surrender to these tough times. Once we can accept the grief that we're dealing with in the present time -- whether it's over the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the all consuming loss of hope -- we can begin to build our way back to ourselves.

Some great writers to check out on this topic include Louise Haye, Wayne Dyer, Catherine Ponder, and Florence Scovil Shin.

Full Circle

Today I had two very difficult readings. One involved a man who recently lost his son, and the other was a son who'd recently lost his father. I notice that my readings follow patterns like this all the time. One week, all my readings involved victims of sexual abuse. Another week, all my clients were going through a divorce. One time, I had a day with clients who were all in recovery. I'm not sure why this happens, but I think it's another reason why "coincidences" are so important. If we just follow the signs that coincidences leave us, we'll find our way every time.

But the readings I did today reminded me that life can be hard and unfair. Why should a father have to lose his young son? Why should a teenager have to go through life without the guidance of his father? I wish I knew. All I can do as the medium is provide validation that these men are on the other side, happy and still able to see what's going on. There are no simple answers, no clear path to happiness. I think all we can do is hold on to the hope that we will see our loved ones again and surrender to the mystery that is this life we all have to lead.

In high school, one of my favorite teachers was the kindest, oldest nun I'd ever known. Her name was Sister Elaine and she taught Trigonometry. Math has never been my friend, and so that semester I haunted Sister Elaine after school. "I don't even know what sin, cos, tan mean, sister. How am I going to pass this test?" She'd sigh wearily and explain it to me again. I remember one day, she patted my back and said, "Just ask your guardian angel for help." Finally, after one particularly frustrating afternoon, she turned to me and said, "Samantha, stop asking why. Sometimes we just have to follow the formula." That remains the best advice I've ever received.

I don't know why my clients today have to endure the grief they're living with every day, but I do believe, sincerely trust, that one day all will be revealed to us. Until then, all we can do is follow the formula of our life which, for me anyway, is FAITH + TRUST + SURRENDER = PEACE.