All Things Anne Wondra

Soul Friends - a guide to surviving the Pit

Is there somone you love who feels like they are in a "pit" right now?

A colleague, Nancy Nicholas, wrote and created this workbook.  I read it recently, and my first thought was that this is so very much needed right now.   I was only beginning and I had to drop Nancy a note.

Nancy – I’ve only made it to the ‘close your ears’ part and I’m lovin’ it already.  Your style, what you write, and how you write it, and the artwork too, are so easy to relate to.  You’re very gentle and reassuring and inviting of one to continue reading.  Very nice.  I’ll be continuing that reading….

 Here's where you'll find the Soul Friends Guide to Surviving the Pit.  Scroll down to the bottom until you find it.  I've copied the beginning of Nancy's description here.  The SAMPLE link does work on HER page. Check it out. 

Anne :) 

Soul Friends Guide to Surviving the Pit:  A Workbook for Surviving and Thriving Through Tough Life Changes
Looking for support as you move through a life transition?  Ready to discover your authentic self and learn to follow your bliss? This step by step guidebook was written to help fellow “Soul Friends” navigate life’s crises. It walks hand in hand with the reader sharing helpful tips and insightful messages to bring them out of the “pit” and back to peace and wholeness. Each step includes coaching activities to try on your own.  It also uses humor and cartoon illustrations to help the reader along this journey.  To read the introduction, see the table of contents and read the first step~ SAMPLE.  This will open an Adobe PDF sample from the e-workbook. ...

The Right to Die of Natural Causes

Wausau - The defense has rested its case without calling any witnesses in the trial of a rural Weston woman who prayed instead of getting medical care for her dying daughter.

The charge was second degree reckless homicide.  The daughter died of untreated diabetes.

None of us gets out of this world alive.

As great as the human person is, we can not create life, or prevent death.  We can only postpone it. 

And why should postponing death be considered a higher value?

I have witnessed someone I love go through a lot of pain and sufferring while modern medicine took all of its medical care of him at one of the most well-know and respected medical facilities in the country.  He was finally brought home to die...and did so less than a week later. 

I'm the daughter of a man who, when learning what the next step in treatment of his disease would be, said no.  No more.  Enough.   He died several months later, at home, in hospice care. 

Allowing someone to die as they wish, allowing them measures that take the pain away, and allowing their body to take its inevitable course.  The quality, not the quantity, of life matters more.

And the mother chose to use prayer to help her daughter.  Perhaps she was a Christian Science practitioner or maybe that was her church of choice.  Prayer has helped many.  Will it heal and prevent death?  Will modern medicine? 

Just because a condition is given a label, a name, and called a 'disease' and is something the medical community has some treatments and drugs to use for it, is that reason enough to compel or require a mother to use those?  

My answer:  No. 

If it comes to courts and medicine and drug companies over-ruling our right to die of natural causes...or requiring 'medical' practices for conditions they put a label on and create treatments and drugs for...we have a much more serious issue.  Our health freedom to make choices, to handle our conditions as we deem most appropriate for ourselves and those we are responsible for. 

We each have the most vested interest in our own well being. 

No one else does... 

Resources:

Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney

Other healthy body stuff

Reiki, Bishops, and Superstition

The US Catholic Bishops find the practice of reiki to be superstition...dangerous, and not healthy to their catholic spirit....  Isn't that interesting.

I grew up Catholic.  I have a degree in religious studies, and I’ve experienced reiki…and I’ve worked in the church. 

The first thing I did when I heard this was laugh.  This, from an organization that teaches A LOT of stuff many consider superstition.   Faith, God, transubstantiation, immaculate conception, and purgatory, to name a few. 

Have they never read the gifts of the spirit, or heard of laying on of hands?   Reiki is pure channeled divine energy.  Do they not understand that their very breath and life is divine energy coursing through them, allowing them to walk, talk, think, create and be who they are?   (or they would be dead)  Once again, the church of my childhood is showing its lack of understanding and openness to the Spirit at work outside the confines of their rules.  Galileo comes to mind on that one.  How arrogant to think the Spirit of Life is limited to what some men on a Bishops’ Committee can understand….or that spirit is limited to act only in accord with the rules they’ve created.

So, it comes back to your well being.  And YOU have the most vested interest in that.

You have a brain, intelligence, access to a world of information, and a personal internal guidance system, a direct connection with your source.  You make good decisions every day.  You are very capable. 

Who's permission do you need?  Permission to do what you think and believe is healthy to your spirit, body, and well being?

My answer:  Your own.  It's your body, your soul, your life, and your well being.  You have the most vested interest in it.

If you want to learn more about reiki, visit the Kindred Spirit Center and talk to Sue or Susan.  Gather information.  Watch for informational classes.  Experience it for yourself.  Make your own choices. 

In my experience, reiki is a very spiritual practice...and it's a lot bigger, more inclusive, and open, and powerful, than the limits some bishops in a church organization want to put on it. 

Now what do they have a vested interest in, do you think?

 

 

Intention: Coaching available to Everyday People

Everyday people need coaches too, not just executives.

The  average hourly rate for coaches is $205; For now mine is $75. 

My intention is to make coaching available to everyday people--because I was and am one of those everyday people coaching made a difference for.   In times like now particularly, people need to see possibilities and opportunities and receive support in their strides to appreciate the NOW.

In a world of technology, traffic, and ready information, people still feel alone, energy-drained, unappreciated, and starved for affirmation and support to help them see opportunity, focus on what matters, and ENJOY living.  

And yes, we are tired of being sold to.  We want someone who sees us and what's good about us; the parts we've lost touch with, the essential elements of who we are and why we're here. 

Some have an employer who will fund coaching as a training or professional development investment.  (Never hurts to ask.)  Some prefer not to have their employer involved. 

Coaching is often about the personal side of success--our beliefs and world view about ourselves and those we work with.  We are masters in the roles we play.  And underneath, many still perceive themselves to be frauds and afraid of being found out.  We don't see our natural beauty or the talent we take for granted.  Our spirits are wounded, and we are trying to find our greatness and why we are here.  That's how I help.

I'm a farmer's daughter and I understand that a cost of living increases don't come for everyone each year.  And I have that business, entrepreneurial spirit with a mix of spirit, business, human resources, and education in my background.  And I have a heart, common sense, and a sense of fun.  And I'm a muse--all about art and soul and living well, a playful spirit. 

I choose to work with those who are changing and growing, or ready for a change; desiring to become more sure of themselves, confident, and beautiful in who they are, ready to step forward with intention. 

So no more excuses.  Are you ready for more?   Wellness Incentive coupons  are gifted to each new VIP News Notes member, and  I offer classes, group coaching, and home-study options to fit needs and budgets. 

Properties of Money to remember

Money is meant to flow, like water in a stream.  We exchange money for something of value.  And when we feel the exchange is fair, and we genuinely ENJOY and APPRECIATE the service or item or privilege we've received in exchange for that money, we FEEL GOOD about spending it.  Think about when you've really enjoyed spending money.  What did you buy?  Even paying your bills.  Do you appreciate the electricity you use every day?  How about the use of your phone or car or the internet?  Money is meant to flow.  And it can flow TO us just as easily.

Money likes being paid attention to.  Pay it GOOD attention.  What we resist, persists.  And what we think about, we bring about.  How many ways can you and a friend think of to have more money flowing to you?  Easily, enjoyably.  And spending money?  Easily, enjoyably.

Money is an exchange of value.  Feel good exchanging money for something you value.  Appreciate, and enjoy the benefits of it.  I want learning, personal growth time with a coach to be one of those exchanges you feel really good about. 

A Woman's Worth

Welcome to an amazing 7-week series for women, especially women who desire to lead.  The summer series starts August 13 and uses the classic Marianne Williamson title, A Woman's Worth as a backdrop.  It evolves, as do participants, and includes resources for continued personal growth.  If you or someone you know is looking for a meaningful class, or if you are a woman in transition, reassessing her worth and value, consider this one and join me. 

The series will be offered in the fall as a teleconference starting October 8...meaning your girlfriends in other states and elsewhere can participate by phone.  The beauty of technology.

To growing into, and living out of, our greatness. - Anne :)

Self-discovery is a sacred path.  Life enjoyment, finding JOY in living, is its purpose.

Who do you think you are?

Questions...and finding answers.

Who do you think you are?  What do you know about spiritual matters?  What makes you think you know more than the pastor?  There's only one way to eternal life, and you're certainly not on it!  You'll be sorry; you'll be back when you have kids.

I grew up on a farm, close to nature--animals in particular.  Life itself was most awe-inspiring to me.  Then there was the realization that much of our livelihood was dependent on the weather, a mighty force of nature that a Great Other controlled.  I learned most deeply that no matter how great the human person is, we cannot create life or prevent death, and the way of nature is one of cycles and seasons.

While the Catholic church I was raised in told us we were children of God, I don't think they really wanted us to grow up and take them at their word.  We were given questions and fed the answers.  I memorized them all.  For the longest time, I went to church faithfully without thinking too much outside the lines of patriarchical tradition.

I'm not sure when the awakening started, the realization that I heard the beat of a different drummer.  Maybe it was the gorgeous priest who walked down the isle with sandals and simple robes, a storyteller who brought the characters to life in ways I'd never heard before.  Maybe it was friends of other religions who challenged my thinking.  Maybe it was just growing up to be an adult woman, single and in her late 20s.  In time the Spirit's call led me back to school to learn more and to teach.  And learn I did.

I learned how to read between and behind the lines and ask different kinds of questions.  I listened with new ears, amazed to realize I'd been praying to a goddess all my life, "Hail Mary, Mother of God..."  A mother of a God is definitely...a Goddess.

As for those accusing questions I started with, the irony for me is that the church of my childhood taught me the answers.  As an adult woman, I reclaimed them in my own words to make them wisdom-empowering answers:  Who do you think you are?  I am a woman, created in the image and likeness of God the Goddess, Mother of All Living, the Spirit and Breath of Life.  I am an adult daughter, loved, entrusted, and empowered by the Spirited Breath of Life Within to make choices and make a difference.

******

Anne Wondra is a writer, workshop leader, wellness coach, and creative muse in the life enjoyment and personal path finding business.  Follow the muse to wonderspirit.com for more.  

Originally written in 2003 and published in the Summer 2003 edition of SageWoman Magazine.

Women, Wages and Root Causes

I've worked in a law office, a church, and in a corporate human resource office.  And the only place gender discrimination was, and is, legal was the church.  There's something wrong with that picture. 

Churches influence our beliefs about what's right and wrong, the roles and value of men and women.  As a rusult, the lives, careers, and paychecks of women have been particularly impacted.  Think about the 'glass ceiling,' political leadership, wages, benefits and the role of women in churches. 

Because the environment always wins, those kind of discriminiating faith environments may not be safe, positive, empowering or supportive places for women who aspire to be leaders, women who desire to hold top positions of power or financial wealth; women of spirit and spunk who want their voice and vision to be heard and respected; creative women of wisdom and intelligence with intuition and dreams and transformational passions. 

Look around and listen, as if for the first time, next time you're in a church service.  Are you being included, or not?  Are you being inspired?  Energized?  Given attractive feminine role models, images of divinity to emulate? 

If not, seek one that does.

It takes courage to look elsewhere, or to leave.  These organizations specialize in guilt trips.  And it gets painful and harmful to your spirit and soul if you stay.  Remember, the environment always wins.  Choose environments that support, encourage, and affirm your best, most beautiful self, who you are and desire to be.  Leave those that don't.  When do you feel the greatest?  most successful?  fulfilled?  worthwhile?  appreciated?  You want MORE of that!  And there are positive places and ways to attract and build it.

An organization that perceives or treats womankind as anything less than the powerful, intelligent, leaders, everyday goddesses, and queens that we are, does not derserve the benefits of our time, talent, services, or financial support.  As Suze Orman says in her book, Women and Money, We are not on sale.  There are organizations that honor, appreciate, and fully support all of who we are and aspire to be.  If you don't know one, let's talk.  I can help. 

Women and Churches

Imagine ... pulpits without prophetic female voices.  Imagine ... board rooms without a woman in sight, except one taking notes and making coffee.  Imagine singing hymns each Sunday that lacked inclusive language.  Imagine congretations actively ignoring woman's spirituality.  Imagine your religious community silencing women or being indifferent to barriers to holy and whole involvement. 

Everyday Goddess inside

It’s really no big deal I’m just an everyday goddess, doing all my goddess duties, trying to find a way….

There is a story told in Julie Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way at Work, called "The Roar of Awakening."  In the story, originally out of China, a young dragon is raised with farm animals and believes that he is a farm animal just like the rest of the animals he lives with.  Until one day....