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The other day I was having a chat with my daughter about life, school, and her plans for the future, and I was amazed at how things have changed since I was her age. She knows so much more than I did.
Have kids these days been forced to grow up more quickly? I’m not so sure, I think that point is debatable (even with Covid). If you look throughout history, there has always been something that would affect children – war, famine, plagues, poverty, divorce, and so on. And sometimes all at once.
Regardless, I think the kids these days are friggin awesome.
Looking at how they are now, and what I was back then, I thought – “Manuela, what advice would you have for your younger self if you could speak with her?”
As simple as the question may seem, I found it quite challenging and confronting. It meant having to really take a good look at myself. And this is what I came up with:
1. Trust and respect your intuition. It’s there to guide you through life. Sometimes you can’t explain why it’s telling you certain things, and that’s ok. It will never wrong you.
2. Trying to please everyone is a waste of time. At the end of the day, you can’t make anyone happy, so focus that energy on other things.
3. You are lovable just the way you are. You are a unique gift to this world, and if someone doesn’t like or love you, it’s ok. If they treat you poorly, it tells you a lot about who they are.
4. Kindness is the way to change the world. The world can never have enough kindness. Spread that kindness like you would peanut butter – thick.
5. Focus on one thing at a time. You can have it all, just not all at once. Focusing on one thing at a time is a surefire way to achieving what you’d like to achieve.
6. Your relationship with God is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. Turn inward, talk to God, and listen. In these conversations, not only will you discover what God is really like for you, but you’ll also discover who you really are.
7. Relationships matter. You can’t go through life alone, and the only thing ever worth collecting is friendships. This includes family and community as well. When you look back on life, it isn’t the things you purchased, the places you’ve been that matter, it’s about who you met along the way.
8. Love what you do. This isn’t about doing what you love, but loving what you do. It brings a certain sense of purpose, gratitude, and peace to your life. Take care when doing the mundane things washing the dishes, taking out the trash, or speaking to a telemarketer – bring love into these moments. This goes hand in hand with point 4 above.
9. You are responsible for your happiness. Nobody can make you happy or complete you. Happiness is a state of mind. Search for at least one thing of beauty each day, and hang onto that mental picture and let it carry you throughout the day.10. Know and respect your boundaries. This is a big one. Learn what is acceptable and non-negotiable for you. Reinforce those boundaries as needed. as you are important and deserve respect. However, this also means that you need to learn and respect other people’s boundaries as well because they are important too.
I did, in fact, know most of these points while growing up, but I don’t think I paid attention to them or knew just exactly how important they’d be. Amazingly, just as they would have been extremely helpful back then, I find that they are just as relevant today. Perhaps these are universal?
LISN member Manuela Cheney has a holistic practice for intuitive coaching which is described in full on her website
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congregation. However the death of both her mother and her daughter led her to look for a different level of connection to what she gained from her weekend religious activities. Through LISN membership Annabel found inspiration from others who have had similar losses, and who were nearby.
Ethelia is lonely, new to her new village, and with specific spiritual interests which could be called ‘mystic’. Her country does not permit views contrary to the national religion. Ethelia longs for people to explore questions and inspiration with, and finds LISN.
anyone else knowing what they are. He likes that.
He joined LISN and then discovered he can also upload his entire cohort of parishioners as users, so that they are part of the membership of LISN, but specifically assigned to his care group.
He had recently found a number of small groups existed that he did not know about. His attempts to get people to let him know had not worked, probably because things were constantly changing and there was no online method for people to update their own connections.
She looked online and found lots of offerings but no indication if they would match what she was looking for. By registering and defining membership with LISN she was able to define her own spiritual expectations in a fun way, and in doing so the list of local Spiritual Directors was somehow narrowed down to those who matched her needs and style. She loved not having to research a whole lot of options and found it easy to choose one that works well with her spirit.
LISN also has mapping and organizational support for small groups, circles, councils. LISN can link a person to spiritual circles or groups who are local or in a vicinity of interest.
