Okay, here goes…TIME…it gets another week on the blog stage. All last week I asked for the blog topic for this week. Every message that came back was TIME. I knew that TIME and boundaries were in competition last week and I waited again this week to ensure that it was truly TIME that needed a part two. It seemed TIME rose to the occasion and I began asking what messages about TIME needed to be shared that weren’t explored last week. The answer I received was that there were still some different messages that needed sharing. And so I waited, patiently, counting the seconds, the days. Wondering what would be shared with me? What would come and then poof, a few different signs came that left me in awe and open to exploring the messages. Two books came into my space from two different sources that both spoke volumes and reflected TIME’s message that wanted sharing. I will tell the themes from these books with you. I believe that they each speak to TIME in a different way that might resonate with you.
The first book that divinely came was the book When Breath Becomes Air…wow. I hadn’t heard of it before and I was blown away when I read the summary. I felt called to read it immediately. I logged into Audible.com and began the adventure downloading it as I didn’t have time to read the book. I enjoy listening to books as I create my cake pops in the kitchen. The fuel for my soul stoked as I create my soulful treats for others. My time is the kitchen over before I knew it and my heart filled in many ways. This book was an absolute joy and I thank Paul Kalanithi for the beautiful story and lessons he shares. He is no longer with us in an earthly body but his spirit and soul speak on from the other side through his work. Truly a gift in that he faced his fears and wrote his book when most would have used the excuse of not having enough time. He was diagnosed with lung cancer at 36 years young and as a successful neurosurgeon he had some decisions to make as to what to do with his ‘remaining life’. I couldn’t possibly do the book the justice it deserves if I tried to explain it further. Google it, and if you feel called to read/listen to it I highly recommend you will not be disappointed. If you do read it or listen to it I welcome hearing from you, send me an email on how it touched you (coach@alohalife.ca). What I will say is THANK YOU Paul for your bravery; for being an example of love; for sharing your resiliency, your vulnerability, your courage; for finding joy and for facing your fears and making the most of the TIME you had left. I feel honoured to be writing about Paul, being able to include him in my blog. That I can possibly be a thread in the quilt of his soul by passing it along to others truly a gift I humbly accept.
I spoke last week on how if we were ill and possibly given what “time” we had left that for some it would be a gift. I’m grateful for the nugget and finding Paul’s book. He truly took what “time” he had and ran with it. Of course he wasn’t given a hard and fast number of days, weeks, months, but he was given the gift of the reality that it might come sooner than he had planned. He does an amazing job in the book of sharing his experience and I truly believe we can all related to parts of it and possibly apply it to our lives in a way that will make a difference. If we’re blessed enough have our health we can still live each day as it’s our last.
The second book was a recommendation from the lovely Deva Premal. If this is your first time hearing of her, then I suggest you google her and listen to her work. She’s an amazing mantra singer and her Gayatri Mantra is one of my favourites. I’ve followed her for a long time and share a kindred spirit. I have emailed with her at times and we have shared some wonderful conversations over the years. One of her previous book suggestions led me to a book that has comforted me and answered many questions. I knew immediately that this latest recommendation would be a powerful one. Was I surprised that it spoke often to the element of time? Not in the least. I smiled as I gobbled up the 180 Kindle pages each night as the hands of time shifted into the next day. Dying to Tell You: Channeled Messages from the Famously Dead by Lisa Najjar is the book. This wonderful author has written a book that shares the messages from famous people who have passed on. They have a brilliant message to share and have asked this book be written and shared with us. Regardless of your beliefs on life after death; where do we go; can we connect still and so on this book has some amazing messages that shouldn’t be ignored. One of the ones that immediately jumped out to me was about time from Abraham Lincoln and Waylon Jennings. Every person in the project of this book spoke of their time on earth and what they felt was valuable for us to know while still here. Waylon’s message touched my heart the most when he spoke of how time is a big farce. That it robs us of the important things because we are messed up about what’s truly important. I smiled as I agreed with him and recalled that last week’s message touched on this. The “busyness” that everyone seems to be and yet they can’t stop to “smell the roses”; to engage in a conversation with another being. They must scurry like ants from here to there showing off just how important they are because they are busy. Throughout life there can be many lessons that teach us the importance of taking time. Usually they come at the cost of losing a loved one and having regrets because we didn’t take the time. This book may seem a little ‘out there’ for some of you, but I applaud Lisa for finding the courage to stand in her truth and write it.
I don’t want to drone on about how fragile and precious TIME is. You have now heard about this for two weeks and I feel my work with it complete on the blog. However, I will say this, be true to yourself when you make the choices you make. If you are unsure be okay to use the full sentence “No thank you.” Don’t always feel that you have to say yes to everyone and everything. If the option is to choose something that gives you time doing what you want to do for yourself. Be 100% okay to say no and not need to give a reason why. You deserve to choose what’s right for you at the time and allow the gifts that will come with it.
At last the photo, I always try to relate them to my posts if possible. As I looked for one for this week’s blog post I was immediately drawn to post one in memory of a dear, dear friend of mine who speaks to me from the other side of the veil now. I have many photos with her but this one called as it expressed so many of the “times” we got together. It was taken by her lil daughter in the middle of a parking lot after one of our many famous “coffee dates”. Where we would sit and enjoy our time together solving our life puzzles, sharing stories and just being together. Some days a race to the comfy seats because we were three and other times just her and I and the seats not relevant, just the fact we were sharing space. Oh the chats we enjoyed back then, now today our chats are a little more one sided (on the voice side I speak and she listens). But she definitely finds ways to share that she’s heard me or that she supports me and my thoughts. Butterflies soaring by, random dimes left for me to pick up and smile, a song on the radio, a brush of a leaf falling from a tree, the sunshine peeking through the clouds at just the right angle and I won’t bore you but the list goes on. Each of these gifts that I view as her way of communicating and I am grateful for them all. I believe that our souls live on and that we are all connected to each other. She once shared with me this sediment just before she left this earth. (This was five years ago so I’ve paraphrased the conversation from our text message) “I’m playing legos with my lil one right now, the cleaning can wait for another day. Big happy face emoji. I want to make memories like this with her. I don’t want her to remember her mom as always cooking and cleaning and never playing when she grows up! Heck, the cleaning can be done at night when she’s sleeping. Look at me letting loose! Aren’t you proud?” I was beyond proud of her for moving past her beliefs about a clean house – it’s important to have a clean house but there’s times when playing legos trumps cleaning! I often think back to this comment she made when having to make those types of decisions. I feel so happy and was absolutely proud that she made that choice to play that day. Little did either of us know not long after that comment she would no longer be able to make the choice to play legos or to cook or clean again.
For me “time” will continue on and on with each incarnation of the soul and I know that this earthly ride will eventually have its end, the date unknown. Knowing this doesn’t scare me, it make me grateful to squeeze every second out of the 86,400 ones I am gifted each day. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing the ocean waters with me this week. The waves were a bit choppy, but reflecting on my life they weren’t as storm churning as they were five years ago. A beautiful reminder of how time unfolds and what was so intense then is now but a distant memory. I trusted the flow of this post, that it would create itself, knowing that TIME did deserve another week. That regardless of what words were formed they would hopefully allow you the gift of breathing in some extra seconds, perhaps reflecting and creating a few more moments that serve you and your journey in this lifetime. (side note – I did the math wrong last week I missed the ‘4’ in 86,400 – actually not a math error but a fat fingered typing error! My apologies and I’m going to go back and correct it!)
I’ll sign off now, sending much love and aloha to each of you from my heart. That you are gifted the awareness of time and that it is spent in ways that serve you and your life’s mission whatever that may be. Always love and to all our angels out there – we are listening. We may not be able to ‘hear’ your voices but we know you are always there connected to us and loving us. xxoo Jodi