From 'Irish Spirit' by Mary Teresa M.

03/20/2012

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Sometimes
 I grieve for my father and brother who died 
in addiction, their own strong Spirits 
stolen by the spirits in 
the drink. If I could hold my dying father in 
my arms now I 
would say, "It's okay. It's okay. It's been a 
long, hard time,
 hasn't it?"     
I would rock him and I would rock the denial that was kil-
ing him, the denial that was desperately 
trying to protect him
from the horrid truth of what had happened 
to
his Life,
his Family,
his Freedom,
his very Soul.       
I would soften the fear and soften the 
shame
to break through to his own Strong heart.
But I cannot. I never could. As it is, I 
have only Today to soar
into Freedom, breaking the chains that 
bind me. I have the Hope 
of Healing the Cross-Generational chains 
that bind
my Children.

~From "Irish Spirit",
by Mary Teresa  M.
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YOUR Truth and your siblings

03/14/2012

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What happens when your experience as a child is diametrically opposed to your siblings experience..... or at least their reported experience?
This can be a very tricky situation for a lot of people.

One sibling may want to 'let sleeping dogs lie'. Another may want all that has been brushed under the rug brought out into the light of day.
 
If you are on  Your Truth  journey, the reaction of your siblings can be daunting. It can vary from a mild 'let's not get into that' to threats of 'excommunication' from the family.   It is possible to sort this out by yourself but this often ends up meaning accepting the status quo, with varying levels of resentment.
 
However, many people find it far easier to make a decision or deal with the consequences of a decision with the help of someone who has no axe to grind and who truly understands how you are feeling. 
This is often what brings people to  Your Truth
In absolute honesty, I could not have found my truth, 
made my decisions,  
dealt with the consequences, 
made peace with the past and 
found my freedom without a supportive coach behind me.
Not every family is ready, willing or able to accept  Your Truth
Not every family is willing to respect you and Your Truth.

As I write this I am reminded of how alone I felt for such a long time. But oh the absolute joy, when I met someone who understood and wanted to help me. 

So if you are out there somewhere today, trying to handle your complicated family all by yourself or without success, believe me when I say there is help available. 
Don't give up on yourself. 
Don't settle for less than inner peace and freedom.
I am so glad I didn't. 
And I would be honoured to help you either in Your Truth class or privately.  
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Freedom

03/07/2012

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Erin Gruwell is an amazing teacher who  helped her students find their freedom by writing about their experience of growing up in poverty and gangs. As they wrote about their lives they began to discover that they had far more power than they had ever realised. 

I believe this is true for all of us in one way or another. We make prisons for ourselves and we don't even know it. Until one day, we hear a voice which says 'it doesn't have to be this way'. And for some reason we hear that voice. It is the right day for us.
I hope today I can be that voice for you. I hope today that you can ask yourself the question, 'how do I imprison myself?'

And if you find that you imprison yourself, act now to free yourself. Do even one small thing today that sets you free. One teeny weeny thing that says to you that you have the right to be your very own wonderful you.
For many of you, this will be something you can do by yourself but if you would like some support or help along the way,  check out  Your Truth class and join the freedom train!


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Hell no, I'm not alright!

03/02/2012

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There are so many ways to tell the truth.
We can tell the truth faintly or firmly.
We can tell the truth in anger.
We can tell it to wound just like we have been wounded.
Sometimes, we can open our mouths and unexpectedly out pops the truth.
We can tell the truth without any real support.
We can tell the truth before we even know what the consequences will be.
Certainly we can tell the truth before we are ready.
Sometimes we can be manipulated into telling the truth.
Our truth can be used to further someone else's agenda.
I have probably told the truth in all the ways listed above. 

But there is another way of telling the truth.

We can tell the truth with compassion for ourselves.
We can tell the truth from a place of strength and integrity.
We can tell the truth by our own choice.
We can tell the truth because it is what it is.
This, I believe, is the ultimate freedom.

For years, I thought truth was something only someone else could give me.
Then, one day I realised, only I could give this truth to myself.

If Your Truth is calling to you even when you stick your fingers in your ears, then maybe it is time to get some information and support by popping your name in the box opposite.

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The Path of Truth

01/28/2012

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In the Gaelic, Sli na Firinne, (pro. shlee-nu-feer-in-eh), is the Path of Truth, but more than truth it is MY truth, my spiritual journey if you will. 
It is the search for why am I here, 
and why am I here? 
In tracing our roots we begin to answer these questions.
When secrets are uncovered, we find this truth.
When we stop telling ourselves lies about ourselves, we find this truth.
When we own the gifts and shadows of our identity, we find this truth.
We find freedom, when we find this truth....
Freedom from and freedom to...

Elizabeth Gilbert talks about this freedom in Eat Pray Love. 
Martha Beck writes about it in Leaving the Saints.
Maria Housden writes about it in Hannah's Gift
Alan Cooke talks about it in his film The Spirit of Ireland
Charles R. Hale writes about it at Stories connect, Love heals
Marie Ennis O'Connor is writing about it at Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer
Nona Jordan is helping many people to do it.
 
Look around you and see how many of us there are following Sli na Firinne, the Path of Truth. 
You are not alone.
I am not alone.
Together we are changing our world.

Join people with Irish roots as we  Explore Your Irish Identity here on Monday Jan 30th 

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Praise the child and boil the dishcloths!

01/12/2012

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Praise was scarce in our house. We were reared the old way. Parents believed that to praise a child would make them big-headed and full of themselves. And this was to be avoided at all costs. Criticism was supposed to mean that they cared enough to correct us. Knowing our faults would help us do better, at least that is what we were told.
I remember cleaning my house as an adult woman in preparation for my mother's visit. I had scrubbed and polished and hoovered all morning. But just before she was due to arrive, I noticed brown stains on the teapot. I quickly wiped them off with the nearest cloth, a white dish cloth. She was barely in the door when she said "I can see you never boil the dish cloths!"  Immediately, all the joy went out of her first visit to my house. All the care that I had put into her comfort during her visit counted as nothing. 
After that visit, one of my most often told stories about my mother was that she only ever noticed what was left undone. This was a theme in our relationship. As her eldest daughter I always knew that what I did was never enough. As my understanding grew, I began to see that it would never be enough. There was freedom in 'it would never be enough'. In that realisation, I could let go of all desire to meet my mother's exacting demands. I could discover all the choices I had as I explored what I felt was enough. 
In the eighteen months before my mother died, she came to my house often and invariably told me my windows were dirty, the lawn needed mowing or the shed needed cleaning out. Invariably I laughed. I was free to laugh because I was no-longer engaged in a struggle for her praise. After she died, the neighbours told me how proud she was of me. This made me very sad. I wondered what our relationship would have been like if only she could have given me the praise directly. But she couldn't...
Today, I praise my children. Often. And this comes easily to me. I have made peace with this part of my maternal legacy. I even praise myself from time to time. And just in case you are wondering, I rarely boil the dishcloths. I wash them in the machine and then throw them out at a certain shade of grey!  
 
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