by Beth Simmons Stapor, PhD
As you receive this copy of the "Reiki News" it will have been six months since the day our world changed on September 11, 2001. How has your life changed since "9-11"? How have you been affected within and without? As with many of us, I expect the days and weeks just after the attack you were much more aware of your feelings, planning to set priorities in your life to help make this a better world. Have you kept them?
Personally dealing with a traumatic event often follows the same path as grieving the death of a loved one. First you feel disbelief. Secondly you might begin to assess your part in the situation. Next you move into a place of anger, then depression. Finally you begin to reinvest yourself in life, perhaps in a different way.
The thought of reinvesting in my life after "9-11" led me to think about the relationships in my life. As I was contemplating the many different ways that I interact with people I realized that relationships are somewhat like streets on a map. Perhaps as I describe my theory, you can look at the relationships you hold most special in your life and see where on the map they would fall.
Your closest relationships would be those where you are on a one-way street traveling life side by side. However, it is possible that someone you think you are close to is actually traveling on a parallel street. You live your life; they live theirs even if you are living in the same house. You barely intersect. There are relationships that are like roundabouts (the English idea of an intersection) going around in circles, others are on dead end streets, some relationships are like a rural country road, lots of curves, twists and turns and others are like city streets very busy, jumping in and out without a glance. Then there are relationships where you meet at an intersection and say a few words and go on your way. There are freshly paved roads that are new and easy going and roads with many potholes causing bumps and times of being stuck.
From looking at the many ways I interact with those in my life I realized it was time for me to begin to set priorities. For me this meant making some choices about the relationships in my life. In this case, as in other times I have needed to set priorities, I turned to Reiki for help. I used the meditation time during my daily Reiki self-treatments to ask for clarity. I would have clear in my mind the relationship that was troubling me, and I would visualize a doorway. The doorway is surrounded with Reiki energy and the Reiki symbols that I know. Then I would ask my guides to provide the answer for me as I walk through the doorway. More times than not, when I walk through to the other side I realize the path that I am to take. With the help of Reiki energy I have reached out and invited some people back into my life. In other situation's, I have had to acknowledge that the growth and learning was complete in relationships and that it was time to move on. I also began to change my perception of what I expected of others. I have begun to let my children go on their way to becoming wonderful young adults, and I have realized how special it is to have a solid 28-year marriage.
Our world needed a shake up; it got one, far beyond anyone's belief. Society has been given a wake up call. We are being called to look at our personal situations and decide what is REALLY important in our lives? It is time for us to let go of those things that are holding us down and keeping us from moving forward and to embrace all that is positive and growth encouraging for us. As holders of the light energy of the Spirit Source here on Mother Earth it is time for us to become as clear as we can be in our walk in this lifetime so we are able to hold the energy for peace and healing on our planet. It is time for us to let go of what we no longer need, eliminate the negative from our lives, and set our priorities. All is in Divine Order, even those things we cannot understand. This is the TIME for Peace, Joy, and Love. I challenge you to use your Reiki Energy to be a force of change.
