New Directions: Dem Bones, Dem Bones

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I recently read an article posted by Alan Cohen  – a wonderful life coach I have been following for many years through his books and articles.  This particular article started out by discussing a group of indigenous people who were relatively untouched by what we refer to as civilization but had allowed a few individuals into their society who brought back some remarkable footage of them and their life styles.

One particular custom was for women who were widows to wear the bones of their dead husbands around their necks.   I had been pondering what I would write about freedom when this article came across my desk and I knew I had a thread to expand upon.  What if we also “wear the dead bones” of the past around our necks?  How many of us carry around hurts and resentments from previous relationships in our personal and professional lives?    How many of us mourn the passing of love and joy we are missing because a dear one has departed?   How many of us carry old belief systems that don’t allow us to grow into new ones?  Who among us is guilty of harboring religious beliefs, judgments from our parents, dogmas learned from our public education and cultural stereotypes?

I think most of us have somewhere in our lives that we hold onto some parts of our past – perhaps in an effort to protect ourselves from future hurt.  But, is this an effective strategy?  I think not.  Walling ourselves off in an effort to remain untouched by future pain – also walls us off from future joys and growth.  To be stuck in any past experience – even wonderful ones from great teachers who touch our lives in miraculous ways – makes us prisoners of beliefs that were meant to be stepping stones to a richer, more joyful future of our own making.  Each experience we have is really an opportunity to grow and then move on to a more expanded consciousness.  As Alan Cohen so aptly put it – “every experience and belief system exists to be learned from, applied and then transcended”.

So dear friends – what do we do to experience this type of exhilarating freedom – lots of avenues of release are available to help us move from bondage to freedom – begin now by taking action – releasing thru ritual, affirmation, ceremony, talks with a friend, or other methods for change I have discussed in previous articles – choose that which moves you to a larger, more expanded experience of yourself.

May it be so – Ashay and Amen!

ldisbell@aol.com / www.NewDirectionsForHealing.com / (256) 764-1153

Linda was raised in the Midwest, graduated from Saint Louis University and hired into a corporate position with Reynolds Aluminum. She met, married and traveled with her husband for a number of years before moving back to his home place – The Shoals in Alabama. There Linda was introduced to life coaching and took to it like “duck to water”. Her empathetic nature coupled with a desire to help people help themselves; led her to and through a number of certifications, in different modalities. Linda currently practices as a Wellness Coach plying her trade in Florence, Alabama.

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