By now you all might be wondering why it’s been so silent on my website and facebook pages. Well, life changes, and we adjust because we must.
My dear mother believes that, when you’re running a business, it’s not a smart move to offer too much detail about your personal life, especially if it’s not going well. Most of the time, I would agree with her, but at this point, I feel that it’s time to come clean and offer an explanation.
I made a choice to take an indefinite break from coaching and Reiki because I need to be here to care for my husband full time, who has been quite ill, off and on, for the past several months, making appointments difficult to commit to.
Looking back over the time I’ve spent helping my husband get through each day, I realized that I should have made an announcement sooner. I honestly didn’t think it would necessitate being such a long break, because he usually bounces back from hard times like these much faster. Yet, ultimately, I had come to a point where I had to make a very clear decision as to where and how I focused my energy, for both our sakes. Sometimes these life choices are very challenging. As much as I love what I do, I love my husband more than anything.
I still have a few clients who are disabled, either physically or financially, that I see at their request, at no charge, as they are still very much in need of healing or some encouragement to keep moving. I’m always willing to do Reiki on beloved pets of friends and family members, and distance Reiki with my crystal healing grid for anyone who requests at no charge. We’ve had to ask for help for so long now, it’s my way of paying it forward while I focus my main energies on my husband’s getting well again. It’s also a good way of keeping my skills in use for when the time comes that I feel can book more regular clients again.
Why am I sharing all of this?
Firstly, I believe it’s important that people see coaching and healing professionals as real people. We are not infallible, and sometimes we need care ourselves, and sometimes, those who help others must also remember what it means to ask for help. We have compassion for others, because we live lives of our own, complete with surprises and difficult choices, not because we are above anyone, or up on some pedestal looking down on our fellow man We are right beside you, experiencing the human condition. We understand more than you know, more than we even realize at times.
My husband and I feel independence and self sufficiency are very important. It has been very challenging to take off the healer/helper hat and hold it out to say, “Can you please help us?”, and then allow ourselves to accept the generosity of others. It’s been humbling, and at times embarrassing, but these are valid feelings that even healers and coaches must sometimes revisit and work through in order to survive through very difficult circumstances.
It’s so easy to forget how hard it can be to ask for help when you need it the most when you spend most of your time helping other people.
Secondly, I believe these experiences are making me a better coach and healer. As crazy as it sounds, it’s given me an opportunity to use my coaching and Reiki tools on my own life, reminding me again that my system works as I take my own advice. Despite the horrendous and ongoing challenges we’ve been facing for the past several months, we manage to stay positive, confident, and most of all…happy.
If we can manage it with the challenges we face in life, I truly believe that anyone can. And remember, these are all good things! They may not sound that way, but they are experiences that are building character, giving us opportunities to remember what is important in life, what love means, how it can heal all wounds, and what it feels like to be full of gratitude for those who offer themselves in service to others.
It’s been good for my husband and I to feel those things from the receiving end. It’s so easy as a caretaker, healer, or motivator to accept a thank you from someone you’ve worked with and say, “Oh, really, it was no problem. No thanks needed/it was nothing/no big deal for me to help you, this is what I do, it’s what I’m here for.” But it IS a big deal, and it’s NOT nothing.
To receive help from those who are more than willing to give it is a HUGE DEAL. To the recipient, it means EVERYTHING. It means hope, it means relief, maybe even life or death for some. This current experience has made it so that I can accept gratitude from others by saying, “You are so welcome, I understand,” and know it’s true. I’m grateful for these challenges. They may not be fun, but I know we must somehow appreciate it all.
My husband suffers from severe multiple sclerosis. It is one of the most unpleasant, unpredictable, and expensive chronic diseases to have. When we realized that our combined incomes and his insurance were no longer enough to cover his medical expenses, we started a fundraiser last year to help ensure his needs were met, regardless of what I could generate to supplement it.
Around the first of the year, we were faced with situations that developed which were beyond our control, and very expensive to resolve, so we expanded the fundraiser to help offset the associated costs. At the same time, my husband was requiring more and more of my time and energy, so I stopped seeing clients all together to give him my full attention.
Our life is not at all easy, but we are happy, and count our blessings every day. I will continue to make new blogs whenever his health allows me some time to sit down and focus, or whenever I’m blessed by the muse.
I’ll be planning changes to my business, and a Grand Re-Opening as soon as my husband is well enough that I can leave him for a few hours on his own to meet clients again. He seems to be doing better, so my hope is to get back into full swing over the summer.
In the mean time, I’m doing what I can to promote a new Facebook page called Helping Average Americans In Need. Maybe you can help by liking and sharing the page. I started it because it’s hard to find a link to the various fundraisers that come through the Facebook news feed when they get lost in the stream, and I figured it might be worth it to have a place where people can easily browse around and help who and when they can.
Every week, I post links to different fundraisers to help them be more visible to people beyond the reach of their friends lists. We want to help as many people as possible. Obviously, I post our own link there, but I also post links to fundraisers for average folks who need help with medical bills or emergency help, and also vet bills and animal rescues.
If you or someone you know needs help and has a fundraising campaign you’d like to support, feel free to contact the page, and we’ll put the link into our rotation (please, no political fundraisers or small business promotions).
Here’s to a better future!
