Stripped Searched

It’s been nearly a year since the familiar rhythm of writing flowed through me. I felt abandoned, much like countless other losses I have endured.

It’s taken me this long to understand my experience and my journey this past year. A year ago, my health took an unexpected turn. After spending a week in the hospital with a team of 8 physicians, it’s only now that I’m starting to feel like myself again.

The best way to describe the past year is I was stripped of everything to be searched. Stripped of my health including mental, and emotional health, my relationships, friends, job, and finances. My survival mode included hope and the constant thought “When you’re down to nothing, God is up to something.”

The deep pain of abandonment I felt during my 9 month recovery I couldn’t understand. I assumed and expected those I have poured my heart, soul, and energy into would return the same. I now understand that love is not a boomerang and doesn’t always return from the same sources.

Isolation became my involuntary teacher. Isolation is dangerous, but if you believe there is a purpose for it, then you know sometimes it presents itself as an opportunity to search the soul, through being mindful, practicing consciousness, prayer , and seeking a different path.

The path that leads you to know not everyone deserves to hear our story. It takes courage to share our deepest pain and sharing it with the wrong people can only deepen our suffering. We share for compassion, acceptance, and connection not for judgment, shame, sympathy (bless your heart), disappointment, comparing stories, or minimizing the story by saying “You should be thankful it wasn’t worse.” Just because it wasn’t worse doesn’t soften the pain.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”- Maya Angelou

Don’t misunderstand me, I am thankful. I’m thankful to know I am still here because I have a purpose. I’m thankful for the overhaul of relationships, the replacements who became my new community and my support group. I’m thankful for friends who reached out to me and supported me through my recovery. Grateful for newly discovered gifts that became a source of income and has allowed me to live my best life. I’m thankful for redirection that has shown me new paths. Paths I would’ve never seen or chosen without being stripped.

I believed I had lost everything but because we think, feel, and believe we have lost everything and are alone doesn’t make it facts.

It took the process of stripping me of everything I thought I needed to be searched. I searched to find compassion for myself, to face my fears, and to deepen my faith in God. Just like being searched at the airport, sometimes we are called to dump everything we have in that moment to have our stuff removed just so we can get through the process and to get to the other side of what is waiting for us.

In Jesus Name

When my son was in college he was like most college students and trying to find his way in life. It’s not unusual at this time to question what you believe or question your core values. We’ve all been there at twenty-something.

I remember specifically going to visit him at his work one weekend. During one of our conversations, he alluded to the fact that he was not sure about what he believed regarding God. My heart sank and tears started coming up. I could barely contain my tears or emotions before walking out the door of the store. I was too emotional to respond to him the way I wanted to respond. But baby let me tell you when I got in my truck it was a whole nother story!

When I got in my truck in Chattanooga TN to about Rome GA, I prayed and cried to God like never before in my life. I cried, beat my steering wheel, prayed out loud, and screamed for God to hear my prayer and my cry. I asked God to reveal himself to my son no matter what it took. Let him know that God is real!

I went old school rebuking devils that tried to twist the mind of the child that we dedicated to God. A child that was planted in me as a gift to me and his daddy. A child that I had in Christian school for 2 years to plant seeds. A child that grew up seeing multiple Bibles at his Nannie’s home, born into 2 families that believed in God and believed in prayer. His Nana anointed the walls of the house during my pregnancy. It took all my strength to pray that and believe that prayer because when you say “reveal yourself” that means do whatever it takes for him to say “I know God is real!”

Sometimes we have to stop everything and pray “In Jesus Name” because it’s all that’s left in hope, healing, and a new lease on life. It’s why our money says “In God we Trust” because, at the end of the day, it’s all we have got. We have to believe in a higher power that can move mountains and do things we cannot comprehend.

No other name is as powerful. It’s the name that will make people argue over if he’s real. It’s the name that has caused wars and deaths among many. It’s the name called out by the nonbelievers when they are desperate. It is the name above all names “In Jesus Name!”

I’m happy to report that today my son believes, prays, and goes to church every Sunday with his wife and is strong in her faith.

Hard Times

If you want to know your capabilities, just wait for hard times, if you want to know how strong your faith is, just wait for hard times, if you want to know your strength and integrity wait for hard times. Run DMC did a song in 1980 called “Hard Times”. The lyrics said, “Hard times spreading just like the flu. Watch out homeboy, don’t let it catch you.” I know Rev Run meant well when he wrote those lyrics but I disagree and say “Let them catch you.” Let them catch you to test you!

I had surgery last week and I had lots of pre-op time to talk to the nurses. It didn’t take long for us to get into a serious conversation about life. I don’t remember what I said exactly (because the anesthesia cocktail was kicking in) but I do remember one nurse looked at me and said “You have real strong faith.” I explained to her that it didn’t just come naturally but it came through years of suffering and pain. I told her when it’s just you and you alone in the dark, all you can do is pray and have faith. And when you witness over and over again saving grace, and situations that you have no idea how you are going to make it, then the situation flips like a light switch with a phone call, a knock at the door, a text message, a total stranger, a drop in your bank account, then you know that there is a God bigger than you and I, a higher power, a guardian angel, unfathomable energy that is almighty and all-knowing always there to perform nothing short of a miracle. That’s how you develop strong faith!

On July 7th I parted ways with my full-time job and started a new journey. A journey that is going to put my faith on another level that I cannot comprehend. From here it looks like more hard times and it very well could be but I know with every fiber in me that my present situation is positioning me to do what I have been called to do and that is continue building my Dealing to Healing project. In less than 30 days I have put much thought into my sessions by adding a tab on my website for sessions and the intricate details of each session. https://dealingtohealing.com/dealing-to-healing-sessions/ I’m also considering a podcast that several have requested but one, in particular, tells me each conversation that it is a must for Dealing to Healing.

I’m not sure how I will find participants for sessions but the one thing I do know is “The Hows are not up to us.” That is a phrase my shrink told me over and over. Leave the how up to God and let divine intervention do its thing.

To anyone reading this and having hard times. Let me implore you that your hard times will test your faith, integrity, strength, and capabilities and hard times WILL test your relationships. If you want to know the true character of who someone is, let hard times come and you will find out who can stay in the boat with you and row and who is a jumper, and who will drill a hole in hopes that you will sink. As I told someone the other day, when someone walks out of your life, let them! Don’t beg, don’t cry, and please don’t ask “why?” because if they don’t want to be with you then why do you want to be with them? Embrace that new chapters and transformation can only happen when doors close, people leave, and hard times come. Sending love and prayers to everyone having hard times!

The Cost of Distractions

Distractions are the number one cause of failure. We miss what someone said because we are distracted by our thoughts of worry or anxiety. Car accidents happen every second because someone is distracted by their thoughts, phone, or music. Distractions in general cause losses.

The apostle Peter almost drowned when Jesus asked him to get out of his boat and walk on the water. He got distracted with fear and began to sink. He allowed fear to be his distraction.

I have a Facebook group for my Enneagram participants. Sometimes I post something personal that is related to the Enneagram. As I told them yesterday in a personal story. Being distracted can cause us to miss our signs. Sad to think we can pray, hope, and meditate on something for months or years but when the answer comes we are so distracted that we miss it. We cannot say that the prayer wasn’t answered if we missed our answer.

Timing is everything too when it comes to signs and not being distracted. The timing has to be right for the seed to grow and the harvest to come in. If we plant tomato plants in the dead of winter we will not get a harvest because the timing was not right.

Does it matter? Sure what if that is the one opportunity and we miss it? Getting to the front of the line to find out you missed something and have to start all over will cause many people to just give up. We’ve witnessed that at a retail store because we missed the one item that didn’t have a price and now we wait for a price check.

Let’s not allow fear, worry, anxiety, or daily distractions to cause us to lose sight of something meant for us. If we are talking with someone let’s give them respect by putting our phones away and listening to them without surfing. They may be giving us a sign or insightful information that we may need. Learn to be present, mindful, and conscious so we don’t miss our harvest.

My Access Policy

I have given access to people to elevate them, to encourage them, and I’ve even tried to drag them down a better path because I saw more in them than they saw in themselves.

I wear those jewels in my crown proudly because of my access they have benefited. I don’t say it egotistical, I say it with confidence. The same confidence that I know if it wasn’t for those that gave me access to them I wouldn’t be here today.

We must learn the difference between giving access to those who appreciate us by in turn supporting us and being up on the seesaw when we are down. And those who get access to us and abuse it. Abusing people take the meal and leave. They won’t come early to prep the meal because it’s not convenient for them. They just want what we got but don’t expect them to stick around to learn how to get it.

Don’t be fooled by words. Words become emotional abuse when the action doesn’t follow. I don’t care how much you say you love me if you don’t show me.

As someone said to me the other day, “Not everyone can fly with you.” That person saw something in me that even those with all access to me don’t acknowledge.

Honestly, I’d rather talk to a hardcore criminal, a homeless person, or a stranger and allow them access than give access to those who abuse my friendship, my gifts, my wisdom, and the vulnerable parts of me.

It is important to know what we got, and how we contribute positively to other’s lives. We must also know what we’re dealing with because remember takers always take. And we must maintain the boundary to anybody who abuses our all-access and become unreachable.

My Daddy

I have blogged a lot about my mother but I don’t say much about my daddy. Maybe because it’s still painful on some level. He was my first love. I mean I bonded with him like most babies bond with their mothers. I was a daddy’s girl right out of the wound.

Shortly after I was born my daddy fell off a building in Nashville. He broke his back and was never the same physically. He quickly became unemployed and mom became the breadwinner. My memory doesn’t take me back that far or to infancy but my first memory of being home before I started school was with my daddy.

He raised me until my parents divorced. I was 9 years old when they divorced. I spent almost a decade with my first love. I was his only child and it was obvious that I could do no wrong. Even when I did wrong he just shook his head. I only got in real trouble once due to I left the dog on her leash and she ran off and got tangled up in the woods. I was only about 4 or 5 years old but I remember how stern he was with me and that switch he cut off the tree that he tapped so lightly.

My memories of being with him range from going to flea markets, granny’s house every morning to eat breakfast, visiting his brother who trained horses, riding in the back of his pickup truck with my cousin drinking Yoo Hoo’s, trick or treating with him, going to carnivals, and so many more fun times.

I believe it’s why a part of me died twice. I died when that green Chevy pickup truck backed up to the front door of our home and he started loading furniture on it. I remember the fighting between him and my mother. I was about 8 years old. It was the day my mother left him. I can still see it so vividly as I looked in the doorway from the living room and was thinking I don’t know where she is going but I’m not going. Within hours later I was ripped from my daddy. I cried every day for almost a year.

I died again in 1999 when he passed. It was the first worst day of my life. It’s been almost 24 years since he left me for good but those memories never fade. I will hold the love in my heart forever. Here’s to healing my heart on Father’s Day. The first man who was my world and changed my world forever, my daddy.

Fear of the Unknown

Anytime we are not sure about anything, our relationships, our economy, jobs, and finances. We are often traumatized by the unsureness which makes us fight, flight, or freeze.

If we don’t know if he/she is cheating, leaving, or staying we will become stressed which leads to fighting with them, us flighting and leaving first, or freezing and becoming emotionally and/or physically detached. Being unsure is being sure of nothing.

Uncertainty is a silent killer. It’s the number one distraction in our society. It’s why when inflation is high and paychecks are low that we see more violence, more suicides, and crime is higher. It’s because uncertainty breeds fear of the unknown. Not knowing how to take the same amount we made 5 years ago and apply it to today’s essential needs.

Many of us withdraw and freeze because the stresses of life put us in the thinking lab aka The Rabbit Hole to figure out what we can do to improve our situation. Some people will be more sensitive and/or angry at just the fact they have been victimized through no fault of their own and feel more entitled. Some will become more image-conscious and try to pretend the situation is not affecting them. Anyway, you slice it or dice it we are not ourselves.

We can see how the gray area of life causes imbalance. We want to say “Love me or leave me but don’t leave me hanging.” We want it to be clear where we stand. It’s why many people who feel rejected by family due to their religious, political, or sexual preferences flee to often unhealthy but feeling secure relationships. They just want a place of certainty.

Let’s remember that maybe many of us or maybe all of us are not ourselves. Let’s assume we all live in the land of gray and we all are uncertain and projecting our fear of the unknown because we have known is gone.

Lesson 100000000000000006

Yesterday I spent over 7 hours at a medical appointment. What I thought was going to be a simple process turned out to be a lot more detailed than what I could imagine. In the past, I had done something similar but this was not the same as it was much more complicated. It was much more complicated because I had ignored my own health needs. Now I was paying the price of procrastination due to time, money, and the demands of life.

I’ll share it with you as I told my friend. There is no escaping anything. We deal with it as it presents itself or we chuck it in the “fuck it bucket” until it grows and we must deal with it. This is everything! That little tee tiny place that we think is nothing is now cancer that’s taken over our bodies. That little bill that’s due but we don’t pay it because we choose something more comforting like brunch, shopping, or Netflix is now suing us or garnishing our check. That thing that someone said or did hurt our feelings but we ignore it for fear of confrontation so we repress our feelings and anger until we explode. Nothing is going away until we deal with it.

It’s why we keep repeating the same lessons. Procrastinating our pain is not supposed to be pocketed. We need to deal with it as it presents itself no matter how painful it is or how long it takes because it’s not going away. The little spot, the bill, the anger, the secret in our vault. All will still be there until it rears its ugly head and gets right in your face.

It’s a hard lesson but we will keep repeating it until we stop the madness of delaying the pain. The best thing we can do is stop self abandoning for the demands that others put on us, stop trying to escape the pain and deal with it as it presents itself. Make it lesson 1, not lesson 100000000000000006.

She Found Her Authentic Self

Someone asked me the other day what I teach and what type of coaching I do. I responded with one word “transformation”. I teach how to transform from who we believe we are based on generational beliefs that I call generational curses. I teach and coach people how to be their authentic selves by releasing our inner critic, which include our thoughts, beliefs, fears, insecurities, opinions, wounds and how to understand ourselves. And how do we get there? Awareness. Practicing being conscious instead of being on automatic pilot.

I will follow up and say it’s not for everyone. If anyone believes they have no room for growth due to their life is perfect then this might not be for the perfect people. It takes a hungry person that wants to better themselves emotionally, mentally, and spiritually to commit. It takes a level of self-awareness that sometimes will bring tears streaming down your face when you get real. It takes an open heart to allow compassion for yourself while removing guilt, shame, and judgment.

If we worked as hard on ourselves as we did trying to change others including exclusion and cancel culture, can you imagine that perfect world? The reason we try to change others instead of ourselves is because we believe it’s easier. It is definitely not as painful.

As I tell my participants. We lie to ourselves daily. We say we’ve gained 5 lbs when the scale says 15 lbs. But that’s too painful so we go with it’s not that bad or that much. We avoid suffering while we are suffering. It’s like a hamster on a wheel. If we keep doing the same thing over and over then there’s no change, no new direction, no growth, and no transformation.

Understanding our authentic selves is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. Not just ourselves but our children and their children, our families, and our friends. It’s the gift that keeps on giving and living for generations long after we’ve passed. I want my tombstone to read “ She found her authentic self.”

A Lion is not a House Cat

My first therapist made an illustration for me that was so impactful that I’m still telling sharing it with others today.

I was sitting on her sofa, ranting and raging about my mother. I was telling about how she manipulated me, tried to shame me for saying “no” because she was my mother, how she told stories to me of how someone else’s children loved them to make a comparison. It was all toxic narcissist behavior but in the earlier 2000’s the word narcissist was not tossed around as it is now.

When I got finished with my rant and tears of pain my therapist said, “Dana you treat your mother like a house cat but she is a lion. If you continue to let her in your house and don’t keep her on a leash, she will slice you and dice you. If you don’t want to get eaten up then treat her as what she is a lion.”

I think that therapist illustrated what Maya Angelou said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Just because a lion is roaming the streets freely doesn’t mean he’s tame. Our deception is when we put a label on someone that we love and care about we don’t want to believe they have the capabilities to hurt us. We want to make believe that the lion is a house cat. We keep allowing that person to come into our homes which is our safe space without setting boundaries. We continue to allow manipulation, control, gaslighting, and triangulation. Triangulation you know that thing people do to devalue you through comparison to invite jealousy, insecurities, and doubt?

Let’s stop make believing and start believing what people show us. Let’s remove the label of family, partner, and best friend and let the animal show you who they are through their behaviors. Let’s stop treating lions like house cats.