Hopelessness is not a mandatory condition. . .
WE NEVER NEED TO FEEL HOPELESS. ONE’S HIGHER POWER IS ALWAYS
PRESENT. There are innumerable personal situations that can cause creeping hopelessness. You have been diagnosed with a terminal illness with only months to live or a parent dies unexpectedly. Maybe your troubled teenager is on the run again and you feel you have no where to turn. The job you have loved for years suddenly gets cut with no forewarning. Or the boss who always understood your personal struggles and insecurities and willingly worked with you, gets transferred. Or the situation that every one dreads, your relationship partner informs you that he wants to leave the commitment you had believed was life-long.
It’s easy in any of these cases to fall into despair. And when some one says, “This too shall pass,” we want to scream. But we never need to feel hopeless. Our Higher Power is always present. We want the situation that has caused our pain to change, however. Now. We want the diagnosis to be incorrect. We want the parent to remain alive, indefinitely. We want our child to be safe and asleep in her bedroom. We want the job to not only be secure but we want the promotion we had dreamed about. And we want the “love of our life” to say he or she is in this relationship for the long haul, through think and thin. That’s what seems fair, after all.
But life has a different way of showing up, doesn’t it? In fact, life shows up as it should. Our lessons are many and intentional. They have not come to us accidentally. We have been part of the selection process whether we know that or not. That’s why we never need to feel hopeless. Our Higher Power is and always has been present. Cherishing that as our reality can change the way we see every situation in our life. The difficult ones are designed to stretch us, to help us reach out to others and to God for support, understanding and wisdom. The joyful ones are meant to be shared so that our traveling companions can appreciate that life does give all of us moments free from turmoil.
The more we trust that our Higher Power will always do for us what we can’t do for ourselves; the more we realize that the many experiences that are calling to us are our “dancing lessons” being paid for by God; the less anxiety we will feel and we will know that we have been prepared for whatever might be next on our agenda. Rest assured. We have been prepared. Nothing happens that hasn’t been divinely ordered. Our lives are never hopeless. We are in the right place, at the right time. Walking with the people who are necessary to our journey. And our Higher Power is and always has been present. Even when we were certain we had been forgotten.
We are lucky people, indeed. Nothing will ever happen in “God’s world” by accident. Nothing will ever happen that we have not been prepared for. Nothing will ever happen that we don’t need to experience. And nothing will ever happen that doesn’t benefit others as well as us. Being free of all concern and filled with hope in all situations is the gift we were given in the moment of our births. Peace can now be yours always.
Cindi
Hi Karen, I have read a lot of your books, we lost our 26 year old son to a Heroin overdose last September, we were just so stunned, we did not know he was taking drugs, I found him dead in his room, was the most heartbreaking day of my life, I am just having a hard time dealing with it, what gives me strength is knowing he is no longer struggling, I miss him so much.
E
Karen-
I have been reading you for a few years now. I am 10 years sober, in alanon/aa/acoa.
Currently, i am suffering from panic attacks, get numbness in my body (worried its something terrible), dont speak my truth, worry the worst all the time, suffer from severe depression, fight to think positively to bring good thingd into my life, hating job, etc.
I dont want to depress u-but i respect you.
When, how did your life becime great-health, financial, emotional?
What was your turning point. Looking for help.
Thanks in advance
karencasey
EI would have to say that certain areas of my life seemed to improve pretty quickly; however, nearing the end of my first year I was planning my suicide and would have succeeded had I not been interrupted by a very persistent knock at my door from a woman who insisted we had made an appt to discuss my financial life. I had never seen her before. I am convinced she was an angel sent by God. My journey hasn’t been a straight shot up. But I am always convinced that I am right “on time” for every thing that is happening. That helps me a great deal. I do think life will get better for you. Begin by believing that every experience you are having has been divinely ordered and say thank you for it. A tiny shift in outlook can result in a huge swing upward. Good luck to you. Thanks for writing. I will believe in your happiness until you can begin to feel it.
Peace,
Karen
Angel
Love it 😉 I was faced with a situation this morning, I felt my ego come up, I took a deep breathe and said how important is it? Am I leading from the heart? Or the ego? At that point I took a deep breathe and decided to communicate with the other person, and tell them how I felt. I can never control another human, very easy to understand but to really believe it, I’m faced with many situations that make the first step evident again and again to me. I can continue to make rules, that they will never be able to follow. I can continue to build resentment between my stepson and I, or I can choose to keep it simple and let go and let god. This is my journey, and that is his journey. He will learn his lessons on gods time, and my lessons on gods time as well. Gods humorous though, he keeps trying to teach me the same lesson over and over again. Many blessings and much love to you Karen. Your writings help me more than you will ever know, and I know that God brought your word to me.
karencasey
AngelThanks so much Angel for continuing to connect and even more for continuing to speak your truth and for seeing the way God is working in your life. As you said so eloquently, your lessons are yours. His are his. And both of you are “right on time.”
Peace,
Karen