Tuesday, November 2, 2021 Quote of the day

“They're in our hearts and on our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath...”

William Kent Krueger from his novel, Ordinary Grace

The Celts believed this time of year was when the veil between the two worlds thinned. Likewise, the same is found in Mexican culture. November 2 is called Day of the Dead or All Souls’ Day. It serves the purpose to honor the memory of our deceased loved ones. So what is the “veil” that is spoken of here?

One of the first books I read after Jim, was written by a woman who had a near death experience (NDE). She spoke of a thin veil separating the here and the hereafter, and that it’s closer than we imagine. I believe the spiritual energy from our loved ones do reach out to us through the veil, and we need to pay attention.

The following is an excerpt from my memoir, Choosing to See: How Miracles Carry Us Through to the Other Side of Grief. It was my first day back with my students since Jim passed. It had only been five days, but I felt I needed to at least try to be there. My eighth graders knew what had happened, so with the help of my coworkers, I mustered up the courage. It is what Jim would have wanted. It was a Monday, which was library day. This is what happened after I released them.

With the students gone, I peeled myself out of the desk and made my way towards the back of the room to my computer and sat down. I looked at the screen of the computer, and strangely, a YouTube video was playing. Lyrics were scrolling upward like it was a song. I was trying to unravel how this video could have come up because I hadn’t been on YouTube that morning. I read the title and then some of the lines; it was a poem. It was titled, “If Tomorrow Starts Without Me.” By the time it registered to me what was happening, the seventh line was already scrolling:

But when tomorrow starts without me please try to understand

That an angel came and called my name and took me by the hand.

Tears swelled in my eyes. I began chanting this is really happening, this is really happening. I wrung my hands and flailed them in the air and began pacing throughout my classroom. My entire body was trembling. Realizing something extraordinary was happening, I sat back down and read. Something miraculous was at work here...something that could not be justified or explained...it was clearly a message from beyond the veil.

In my head, I negotiated the rationale of this. How did YouTube get on my computer, and what are the chances that that particular poem, of all the millions of poems ever written, would be the one scrolling across my computer screen? The poem was perfect; it explained Jim’s transcendent journey that night.

Tomorrow had started without him, but this was a lucid sign that Jim or his angel was telling me I need not to worry about him and that he was still here with me. The love in my heart exploded. Until that day, I had not heard of this poem or the poet, David Romano. Since then, never has any other poem or video pop up suddenly on my screen. The poem provided for me a clear message that Jim was fine. My soulmate was silently walking with me even from behind the veil.

Open your heart to the possibility today.

Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Quote of the day

“Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.”

Wayne Dyer

In late fall of 2017, I enrolled in a class at my local community college called Developing Intuition. Jim had been gone almost three months and with the darkness and chill of winter approaching, I was trying to begin a new routine. A new class to get me out of the house. The class was quite diverse, and after introductions, the instructor presented the first assignment.

I paired with another student, and the exercise was to feel the intention of our partner’s energy. The seated partner would set an intention of either focusing energy pulling inward or energy pushing outward. It was a choice, but it was not to be shared with the other partner. The other partner stood behind the seated partner to feel the direction of the energy. I took the seat first and this is what happened.

With what little energy I had, I chose to focus inward. I turtled into my darkness and avoided going outside of myself, but then in my mind, I suddenly saw Jim. He looked so incredibly handsome that he took my breath away. He spoke to me saying, “You have so much love in you, and you need to give it away. You can’t keep it. All the love you have for me, now has to go out to others.” He had his arms around my waist at this point, and they were gently shaking me, trying to make me understand. So I changed my focus...for him. I envisioned an indigo blue light streaming out of me. I adjusted my shoulders back and down. I felt strong. I concentrated on pushing out my energy. And I breathed.

My hands were cupped gently together on my lap as I continued breathing and focusing on the intense blue light when I felt something drop into my hands. My butterfly necklace, which housed a portion of Jim’s cremains, had fallen into my lap. Realizing that the Universe had just allowed the veil to fall for a few brief moments, my body trembled.

Jim encouraged me that night to go forward. He knew I needed to dig my way out from under my grief and begin to rise up out of myself. I listened to him and to my intuition, and I was blessed with an affirmation. Jim literally fell into my lap that evening when he connected with me.

My necklace falling into my lap was a divine intervention. It had never before, nor has it since, fallen from around my neck. Meditation, stillness, and intention allowed me to connect with the spiritual, the invisible, the truth. The Permanent. There is a quote I framed and is sitting on my nightstand. It reads, "They did not leave your life. I moved them.” - God.

Wishing for you to prepare for the unexpected.

Thursday, November 4, 2021 Quote of the day

“Maybe miracles are given not to prove anything, but to simply remind us that the physical world is not so solid and real and dependable as we think.”

Dwight Longenecker

Jim and I hiked as often. On one particular hike, I recall how we bantered back and forth the concept of reality and illusion. To us, earth seemed artificial and flat whereas Heaven, the unseen, is the reality. What if Heaven is so big, that it goes undetected, like the mouse who is so small it cannot see the elephant. The elephant obviously exists, but to the mouse, it remains invisible.

As Michio Kaku states in his book, The God Equation, we only see a miniscule piece of the spectrum. Infrared and Ultraviolet rays exist although the human eye does not contain enough cells to see them. Since humans can only see a tiny portion of the spectrum, then that must mean that most of the energy embodying the Universe is invisible...the elephant so to speak.

God is the creator of all, so maybe God is just that big, and we have to seek out to discover true reality, the Ultimate Reality. Once we begin the search and we choose to see, the space dwindles. Space is now focused and in our grasp enabling us to experience reality from beyond the veil.

Space is more abundantly present within an atom than matter. Therefore, space is what holds this world and the people together, even those on the other side. Ultimately, God is that invisible space, the unity of all existence, lovingly holding us and all of creation together.

Wishing you the simple miracles life so graciously gives. See you Tuesday

Tuesday, November 9, 2021 Quote of the day

“All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;"

William Shakespeare

As I was taking my evening walk this past Sunday, this verse began running through my thoughts. As a teacher, being on stage is part of my everyday work. Never am I seated behind my desk but rather meandering around those of my students. Each class is a different dynamic, so I adjust and modify my behavior, my energy level, and my teaching method. One size does not fit all when teaching multiple classes of fourteen-year-olds. But the classroom is not the only place to find a stage.

Everyday we wake, we take the stage, the stage metaphorically being our life. Life can either be welcomed with jubilation or with trepidation. We enter onto our own stage each day with a purpose. Some acts are less thrilling, yet if we keep playing our roles, we are apt to find an abundance of moments that will take our breath away. Wayne Dyer says, " Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day..." and I couldn't agree more!

It seems that whenever an incredible event happens to me, whether it is a long-awaited dinner with loved ones, or a vacation, I hit a snag. The rush of excitement fades after it’s over, and I find myself feeling dislocated and absent. It’s like a sugar rush that leaves you feeling tired, weak, and empty. Yes, I’m left with emptiness and that’s when grief sneaks its way back in again.

After spending a beautiful autumn morning walking with my friend, I began to feel the emptiness; I was missing Jim, wanting him to be waiting for me at home on the porch. As I drove knowing he would not be there, I noticed a bumper sticker on the minivan ahead of me. It was bright pink and yellow and splattered haphazardly across the back of the window of the van. It read, You Have All You Need. Boom! There was the lesson I desperately needed. It appeared to me at the perfect moment. It reminded me to stay in the present moment and to be thankful. I believe that miracles can be so simple, and this silly bumper sticker couldn’t have been more fantastic!

Shakespeare reveals in As You Like It that the world’s a stage, but I also will add it is a classroom. The world IS the classroom and it gives us all we need to be the most tenacious actors. We are soul-students learning the lessons we need, so we can eventually get off the wheel and live eternally.

What lessons will you learn? What lessons will you teach?

Wednesday, November 10, 2021 Quote of the day

“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.”

Mitch Albom

My 2017-2018 school year was flanked with the passing of my husband in August and my mom the following spring. Although Jim’s was the most tumultuous for me, I was now compounded with the loss of Mom. She reached the age of ninety-one, and she was just tired. Her name is Mary.

My mom loved the fall season. When she was healthier, she decorated her house to welcome in autumn and she wore shades of rusty cinnamon and crushed berry-red sweaters. Just this month, I have reached twice for my phone to call her. I always feel her more during this time of year than any other. Not only is November her birth month, but it is also my parents’ wedding anniversary. That must explain the energy and the vibration I feel.

For the longest time, I felt I had not mourned her passing because of the widow's fog that still clouded over me. Astoundingly, Mom lived another twenty-six years after the passing of my dad, her husband, and I am in awe of how she managed. There is so much I now understand about her. Her generation did not talk about feelings, and I realize now she buried so many after my dad passed. Her quirkiness and her eventual seclusion were defense mechanisms. Author Jay Shetty in his book, Think Like a Monk, discusses our reactions to fear, which he presents as panic, freeze, run away, or bury. Mom most certainly buried her emotions along with her bygone dreams.

There is nothing that will fill the void of loss, but we can honor our loved ones by keeping their memory alive. This month I have been wearing my mom’s jewelry to carry a little of her with me. She had quite a few lovely matching necklace and earring sets from Famous-Barr. Mom would also make a German apple cake during the fall, so I dug out her recipes, in her handwriting, and have been baking the apple cake as well as her pumpkin bread and oatmeal cookies.

I feel connected with my mom when I do these acts of love in her honor. In the years leading up to her transcendence, she told me numerous stories of her childhood growing up poor on a farm during the Great Depression. I have written her stories to pass on...to keep that fiery lady’s memory alive.

May you find peace in the memories.

Thursday, November 11, 2021 Quote of the day

“Those we love never truly leave us. There are things that

death cannot touch."

Jack Thorne

The film, Saving Private Ryan, introduces the scene in which the protagonist, Ryan, is no longer a soldier fighting in World War II, but is now standing before the grave of the man who saved his life. The war has been over for a few decades, and he is now an aging husband, father, and grandfather. Ryan tearfully falls to his knees and collapses beside the grave. He looks up at his wife, and pleading, asks her if he has led a good life. Has he been a good man? Ryan owes the miracle of his life and the family which so proudly stands behind him, to this man. Living after loss is the greatest honor we can bestow to the ones who have gone before us.

It is difficult releasing the pain of the past and the guilt of being left behind. Why we chose to cling to that suffering can only be answered within our own hearts. But as I state in my book,

Jim’s transcendence serves as the fuel to activate my life’s purpose like he used cancer to activate his. Grief has rewired my own spiritual development...I vowed to myself, to Jim, and to God, to live a more spiritual life and become aware of the impermanence of the world around me...This world will end, and so will my body, but my spirit will live on; there is no birth, there is no death. There is only is...timeless and present.

Nightmares cannot overpower our dreams. Adversity cannot weaken our spirit. We’ve all experienced loss and trauma, but we nobly forge through...for them. Death will not have the final say.

Live dutifully with love. See you Tuesday

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Quote of the day

“Sometimes letting go is an act of far greater power

than defending or hanging on.”

Eckhart Tolle

As the final leaves float from the trees and onto the ground, I cannot help but see the miracle of letting go. Letting go, the most impossible words to digest when coping with change.

Not so long ago, lush-green leaves were clinging to the branches with a bright blue sky adorning from behind. Now the sky has turned to a deep blue-gray and the leaves look like soft shades of brown brushed suede. Winter will soon sweep in leaving the trees bare. They will finally rest and restore in preparation for the awaited spring to follow. Nature reassures us that there is a cycle and transformation cannot occur without letting go.

Nature has much to teach us about letting go. To move from season to season, nature knows it must release itself. Stephen Harper noted that, “our relationship with nature is more one of being than having. We are nature: we do not have nature.” If we simply observe the natural process, we can also align ourselves to accept change more willingly.

As we have grown from each formative stage, we have had to let go of all that was familiar and comfortable. Teetering along the couch, we eventually realized we could go so much farther if we just let go. Although it was scary and we encountered some bumps and bruises along the way, it was liberating and freeing.

Everyday we get to embrace a new beginning. As the day winds down, we reflect on the experience the day has brought us. What did we accomplish, which moment do we wish we could do over, and how have we ripened from living another day? And then...we let it go and eagerly anticipate another tomorrow.

Peaceful week wished for you.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021 Quote of the day

"The fruit of love is service."

Mother Teresa

When you let go, you are going to land somewhere else. Where you land, however, is your decision. No one else can decide what your course is, so be brave enough to own your new destiny. Are you happy? Well, no. Had you much rather reverse time and once again be with your loved one? Heck yes! But can you find a new happy? Absolutely, but only if you want it.

Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that, “our life is teaching. Our life is the message”. As long as we are part of the continuum, we are to empower our lives and the lives of others through service and love.

I was and still am indebted to all those who cared for Jim while he was sick. Wanting now to return the service, I volunteered at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Reading and playing with those sick little ones humbled me. Grief shrunk to miniscule proportions when I played with a few of those little angels that I knew would never go home. But it was too soon. It worked for a few months, but I had to let it go. I didn’t fail because it didn’t work out; I would have failed if I had never tried.

Letting go allows us to look beyond. Instead of the past holding us in captivity, the present bestows upon us the reality of the moment. After watching some of the highlights of the evening news, I realize the world is in dire need of service and love. The love we hold in our hearts for those no longer with us needs now to be dispersed to whatever or whomever we choose.

Matthew reiterates this message in 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”

Love is in your heart, and you still have so much to give..so much to offer. Love is magical. The more you give, the more that is returned to you.

Discover the treasures still within you!

Thursday, November 18, 2021 Quote of the day

"The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love,

for joy, for peace."

Eckhart Tolle

There certainly is no script to follow, so release the urge to compare your grief with others who are dredging through their loss. Let go of what you think you ought to be doing. Observing others to seek instruction will crimp the line of connection from your heart and your Source. Ultimately, it will influence how you live out your purpose.

For quite some time, I used to feel a wave of guilt if I smiled. The guilt permeated into social gatherings with friends, as though I had no right to enjoy my life without Jim in it. I was leading a dismal life; what an appalling and insulting way to continue.

A post from my friend Bernie is from an Auschwitz survivor that reads, “You, who are passing by, I beg you. Do something...something to justify your existence...learn to walk and to laugh because it would be too senseless...for so many to have died while you live doing nothing with your life.” This survivor, who experienced unfathomable loss, can still appreciate the gift of life. I am truly humbled.

When we are able to lift ourselves from the mire of grief, we will find a way forward. No matter when or how slight, there is a path worth plodding...but in your own time. You have a blank canvas, which can be terrifying. But you get to choose the pattern, the colors, and the theme you wish to create. Imagine greeting your loved ones when it is your time to become one with the Universe once more. They will be ecstatic and so proud of us we continued creating, serving, and loving!

Move forward...one step, one breath, one moment at a time. For the present moment is all we have. The present moment is reality. Live it well. See you Tuesday.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 Song lyrics of the day

Why Worry

By Dire Straits

Why worry

There should be laughter after pain

There should be sunshine after rain

These things have always been the same

So why worry now

Why worry now

This song by Dire Straits echoes through my house during my difficult moments. I sing it under my breath while walking my dog, during a long run, or even in the midst of tornado warnings. Why Worry captures for us the essence of our life experiences, the peaks and valleys, and the realization we have little control of the cadence in which we receive them. Yet we still project ourselves and our fretful woes forward into a time that doesn’t exist. The anticipation of what could or should happen isn’t truthfully what will happen. That is a mystery, yet one we try to haphazardly own.

To worry, is the equivalent feeling of gorging down several jelly donuts. Our stomach is in knots, we feel sick, our heart races, our body perspire, and the ache in our head begins pounding. We have a choice as to how many donuts we eat, but worrying is no different. Eating a plethora of donuts is futile to our well-being, but so is worrying. So why do we still wring our hands and distress over the what ifs of the future?

Worrying complicates our present moment and tangles up our thinking like last year’s strand of Christmas lights we pull from the attic. In order to unsnarl our thinking, meditation and prayer is the solution. The Greek word for concern and worry, merimnao’, means to pull into different directions, which is exactly what worry does; it pulls us away from the present moment; it pulls us away from our Source. From the sacred text of Matthew 6:34, it says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

Thanksgiving week is upon us. Take the days as they fall, welcoming whatever will be.

Hoping for a disentangled, worry-less day today.

wednesday, November 24, 2021 Quote of the day

“Like a skilled carpenter who removes a coarse peg by knocking it out with a fine one, so a person removes a pain-producing thought by substituting a beautiful one.”

Buddha

Teachers “practice” their professions. My profession, like many others, necessitates change. Pedagogies that once worked well are now archaic and fail to meet the goals of the lessons. Therefore, I have to rearrange the instructions, the readings, the videos, and the reflections to better accommodate the students that sit before me. The Buddhist quote above reminds me of such. I have to “knock out” the old way of planning and instruction and replace them with newer, more effective methods.

The same can be for when we worry. With time and with much “practice”, I am learning to knock away the splintered peg of worry. Instead, I practice replacing it with trust.

Trust is the opposite of worry; if we trust our Creator, then there is no room for worry. God brought us to our loved ones, and God will eventually lead us back to them once more.

Whatever the pain-producing thought you experience, allow yourself the process to feel it. Then, honor the process of replacing it. Life without Jim is what I have. As I contemplated this entry, I honestly admit to shedding some tears. However, I get to cry because I shared my life with someone worth missing...someone worth loving.

There is no shortcut when learning to remove our polluted thoughts to those of gratitude. We hurt so much because we love so hard. How blessed is that.

Enjoy chiseling out a peg or two today.

thursday, November 25, 2021 Quote of the day

"When you start your day with gratitude, you'll be open to opportunities, not obstacles."

Jay Shetty

Our hearts today embrace those who have moved beyond. No matter how much time we had, we always wished we had more. But this Thanksgiving Day, let’s appreciate the lessons they taught us and treasure the memories with which they gifted us.

Although they cannot be with us physically, they are here in spirit form. A wise reflection from Paulo Coelho also agrees:

“Never. We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don’t disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms.”

We were blessed to have shared our lives together on our life’s passage, and I take comfort knowing I get to see my loved ones again. There is a time for everything and today is one of thanksgiving for the lasting imprints they have made on our hearts and in our lives. We love, appreciate, and celebrate their existence.

I hope you find peace reading the words in Ecclesiastes:

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Hoping for you much laughter and dancing today.

Happy Thanksgiving. See you Tuesday

tuesday, november 30, 2021 Quote of the day

"One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead."

Oscar Wilde

A brand new week has been graciously bestowed to us once again. On the heels of Thanksgiving, there is much to be thankful for as we reflect back on the festivities of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. What are the lessons we learned? What are the memories made that will be forever engraved into our hearts?

Over the holiday, I invested in nearly twenty hours of driving to see my family in Ohio and Wisconsin. Notice I refrained from using “spent” and chose the word “invest.” Traveling is hard. It takes a few hours of preparation and planning to execute a successful trip. But time is limited; we have only the dash between our bars of our start date and end date, so traveling to embrace our cherished relationships is worth all the toil. I ask the Universe to protect me and provide me with the sources I needed to be safe.

Instead of anticipating perfection from the holiday, I chose to live in each moment. As I drove across the Ohio border from Indiana, I cried. The last time I made this trip was with my Jim. I spoke to him in my heart, told him again how my love for him will never dim, and then I thanked God that he brought us together. Emotions vary from elation back to grief and we accept them as they come. Awareness back to the present moment allows us to release the grief that blankets our hearts. We can give power to whatever emotion we choose.

Oh, the memories made! My son-in-law, my brother-in-law, and I toasted a warm shot of Bulleit bourbon in Jim’s honor. My sister-in-law pounded a heavy wooden spoon on the rim of a stock pot of dressing in honor of my beloved mother-in-law who reunited with Jim this past April. A cozy read on the couch with my two-year-old granddaughter and a snowy walk with my grandson on a Lake Erie beach. The hugs, the kisses, and the tears...all quality memories well worth the investment!

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE