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Archive for August, 2008
Bruce and I just saw the movie…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 31st, 2008
Bruce and I just saw the movie Pineapple Express. Very funny!
LightHearted Musings - Nothing I Can’t Handle
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 28th, 2008
I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.
–Mother Teresa
I chose this quote for a very special reason. When Mother Teresa died, news came about the crisis of faith that dogged her for several decades. Soon after she went to India to minister to the poor and forgotten, she stopped hearing the Divine guidance that she had always heard up to that time. She felt separate from her God, like she no longer had Spirit walking with her in her life. She struggled with this separation privately while being a paragon of faith in the public’s eye. Her comment about wishing God didn’t trust her so much has a whole new meaning when viewed from this perspective, and I have even more respect for her now than I did before.
Her ability to carry on without any spiritual feedback must have been quite a daunting task, and her determination to keep going is a testament to her fortitude and faith. I have to wonder, though, what would have happened if she had taken this out of the shadow of her life and faced it more directly. Could she have found that spiritual connection again, that connection that had given her so much life, guidance and joy?
In 1999, I had an injury to my neck that paralyzed my arms for a while and caused great pain for several years afterward. I got quite an education in Spirit during that time, and I recognized myself in Mother Teresa’s words.
Before then, I had always felt like I was surrounded by Spirit. It was as natural a feeling as wearing clothes, wrapped in loving energy from some force connected to but outside of myself. I felt eternally nurtured by this, and my communication with the Divine felt like a personal conversation between friends.
When I injured my neck, though, I found that the incredible screaming pain I was dealing with day in and day out simply drowned out my spiritual connection. All of a sudden, I felt like I was on my own, and it was truly the most lonely experience of my life. I had always assumed that I would be able to rely on Spirit when the going got tough, and yet, here I was in the most painful experience of my life, and Spirit was nowhere to be found. I remember hearing myself quote Jesus’ words on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
I found it hard to articulate this experience with others, and much of this internal torment was dealt with in the privacy of my own psyche. Many others who have come to see me in my practice have related to this feeling of being abandoned by Spirit at the worst of times. It is such a personal experience that many never talk about it, making it even more of a lonely time for them.
Several months into my ordeal with partial paralysis and pain, I discovered Shamanic healing techniques purely by synchronicity. I went to a one-hour lecture on the subject that ended in a short, 10-minute journey that was life-changing for me. A Shamanic journey is a deep meditative technique that very quickly gets you out of your head and into your heart and opens you to healing and new insights.
During my first journey, Spirit came back in full force, saying that I now understood pain and despair on a deep level that I never could have gotten to without having fully experienced it. This would be helpful both in my healing work and in my own personal growth. I was told that I was never far from Spirit, especially during the worst of times. My shamanic pursuits since then have given me additional tools to help me tap in whenever I need a boost from Spirit or need to gain insight into the challenges of my life. Shamanism was clearly the next step in my spiritual evolution, though I am aware that others will find their own unique solutions. I was able to find a new dialogue with the Divine, one that sent me on the most powerful internal growth experience of my life. I can now truthfully say that it was all worth the journey.
Mother Teresa’s difficulties leave me with a lot of questions. I wonder what would have happened if Mother Teresa had been more open about her spiritual difficulties during her life? What if this had been something she could have explored within herself without worrying about how the whole world was going to react? What kind of impact would her struggle have had on those who are dealing with the same struggle in their own lives? I wonder what would have happened if she had gone for a full physical and nutritional work-up to make sure her biochemistry wasn’t creating a block in her spiritual channels.
What if she had explored other avenues for finding communication with her spiritual guidance instead of relying on the prayer that was no longer working for her those last 40 years of her life? I’m not talking about her changing religions, since there are several forms of meditation and spiritual communication within the Catholic Church that might have been helpful to her. Though I have great respect for her life journey and dedication, I wonder if she gave up on her ability to tap into her spiritual connection too soon, without exploring every possible channel to the Divine. Instead of God trusting her to press on, might God have been trusting her to keep searching?
These are strange things to hear myself saying about an icon like Mother Teresa, but her struggle does, after all, highlight her humanity. I can’t answer these questions for her and it isn’t my place to try, but the questions themselves are worthy ones to ask. If you are struggling with a loss of spiritual connection of your own, then these questions may have meaning to you as well - how would you like to answer them?
Dr.Molly
LightHearted Musings - Moving Mountains One Stone At A Time
Posted by Dr. Bruce Roberts on August 24th, 2008
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
-William Faulkner
I once read a wonderful little book called “The Gap” that says that the world is basically divided into two groups: those who look to the horizon and make themselves miserable because they can never reach their goal and those who look over their shoulder and celebrate just how far they have come. I happen to be a card carrying member of the first group, but am fortunate to be married to the president of the second group!
For those of you, like me, who happen to be perfectionists, the work ahead can seem daunting indeed! You see, no matter how much progress we make, the horizon remains unreachable and unattainable. We are guaranteed failure and are destined to a life of misery.
I guess I was hoping that if I stuck it out long enough, there would be some type of retirement benefit at the end, perhaps a Martyr’s Pension Plan. If you are already a member of this group (and you know who you are), I’m here to tell you it’s not too late. You can tender your resignation at any time. The pension plan does not exist - there are no benefits!
If you are a member of the second group, congratulations! You have discovered the secret to a life of joy. You have learned to celebrate every little step along the journey and can marvel at how far you have come. It is, after all, in the journey, not the destination, that true happiness resides.
If you are still struggling in group #1 I have good news for you. I checked with President Molly and am told that they are holding open enrollment! It turns out that there is enough joy and happiness for all of us!! I hear that all you have to do to enroll is to begin moving a few small stones and then simply remember to look back to celebrate how big your pile has become! What could be easier? I think I’ll sign up today!!
Dr. Bruce
Tomorrow, our oldest daughter,…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 21st, 2008
Tomorrow, our oldest daughter, Katie, is off to college. Wow-it’s here! Here’s to an amazing daughter - it is my great honor to be her Mama.
We celebrated our son’s 17th b…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 18th, 2008
We celebrated our son’s 17th birthday last night. Ever have one of those times when you know a happy memory is being made as you make it?
LightHearted Musings - We Become What We Think
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 17th, 2008
We become what we think about all day long.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
I was just flashing back to my time working as a waitress to pay my way through college. I was quite the Energizer Bunny during college - still am. I worked about 30 hours a week, graduated college in 3 years instead of the usual 4 or 5, and I still found time to be a Disco Queen at the local nightclub as many nights as I could get there. Needless to say, I was also sometimes extremely tired and overwhelmed! It was during one night when my fatigue and workload had me down that I learned a lesson, one that has stayed with me for almost 30 years.
I was working my waitressing job and really didn’t want to be there. I was tired, my back ached, I had a slew of homework to do, and I was just generally in a terrible mood. I started out the night with the intention of simply surviving it, hoping to hit the pillow as soon as I got out of there. Everything felt like more work than it normally did. The food trays were heavier, the customers were more irritating, the tables were left dirtier - my greatest wish was for everyone to realize that they weren’t hungry after all and just go away. I was not having a good time.
It was then that I passed a mirror and caught a glimpse of my face. Wow, who would want to be around someone with that sour expression?! Who would want to give a tip or lend a hand to someone who was as clearly grouchy as that woman in the mirror was? And the biggest question - who would want to BE that person?!
The answer was, not me. It was one of those moments where everything stands on end, and I made the decision to go back to the dining room with a smile on my face. Did I feel happy at that point? Nowhere near, but I was determined to at least go through the physical motions needed to approximate a smile and let the rest of the night take care of itself. And boy, did it take care of itself!
What happened was that the smile started to wear me instead of me wearing the smile. The more I did it, the better I felt. There was a renewed spring in my step, my tasks became easier and - go figure - those customers were significantly more fun than they had been before. Pretty soon I realized that I had, just by smiling, truly made myself happy. It stopped being an act and fairly quickly became the real deal.
This method certainly doesn’t take the place of deep healing work and it isn’t the answer to all your problems. However, sometimes our negativity is simply a habit, a rut that we have found ourselves stuck in. If we truly do become what we think about all day long, then maybe a smile is as good a way as any to represent who we would like to be.
Dr.Molly
LightHearted Musings - We Are All Connected
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 10th, 2008
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
–A.A. Milne
Before birth our soul exists in an energetic realm where everything is connected. When we incarnate into physical form we often lose that sense of connection to our source as we replace it with a connection to our parents and our families.
Then, through the process of separation and individuation we begin to explore and express our unique gifts and talents, reinforcing our sense of ourselves as separate from each other. As important as this process is, we can also be left with a deep sense of isolation and longing, which we attempt to fill through our work, our relationships, our lovemaking, or our addictions.
It is very easy as we go through our busy lives, to forget who we really are. We forget that we are spiritual beings and that we are always connected to each other and to our source.
Sometimes we can reconnect to our source through meditation or prayer.
And sometimes, like Piglet, all we need is a simple reassurance: “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
Dr. Bruce
Yippee! I’m officially a techn…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 8th, 2008
Yippee! I’m officially a techno-geek goddess! Check out our new videos on our website or join us at www.YouTube.com/JuicyDocs. More to come!
First day of school for the ki…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 7th, 2008
First day of school for the kids - a big deal even in high school. Off to dinner to celebrate!
LightHearted Musings - Keep Your Thoughts Positive…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 3rd, 2008
Keep your thoughts positive because they become your words
Keep your words positive because they become your behaviors
Keep your habits positive because they become your values
Keep your values positive because they become your destiny.
–Mahatma Gandi
When I read this quote, I had mixed emotions. On one side, I can practically taste the optimism and truth in Gandhi’s words, and my own natural optimism gets a little juicy infusion of positive intention. This is how I have lived much of my life. It has helped me to feel good about the life I have lived so far, and it has helped steer me in the direction that does feel like my destiny.
On the other side, though, I wonder if this is too simplistic, if it misses a piece of the rich tapestry of life that gives texture to our existence. That piece is found when we explore our shadow aspects, those parts of our psyche that we keep hidden both from ourselves and from others. If we are living only in the land of the positive, we may not be willing to go down there and explore around, and we may therefore miss out on finding those jewels hidden in the shadows.
These shadows may be our fears, our traumas, or our inadequacies, but they could just as easily be our brilliance, our love, or our passion. The shadow is anything that needed to go underground within you so that you could survive your childhood or adult life. What is hidden in your shadow is often your brightest light, and it sometimes takes some scrounging around in the muck to find it. Releasing that light can be an incredibly freeing and joyful experience.
When the shadow is a trauma or fear, then keeping something this big down in the shadows takes a lot of psychic energy that could be better used to bring you more joy and vitality. Bringing it forward releases that energy and gives you a chance to heal that wound and finally let it go.
There is great value in making your life an open book to yourself. When there are shadow aspects that are not being dealt with, then these shadows will start to trip you up in ways that you won’t understand or anticipate. Focusing on both the shadow and the light therefore makes it even more possible to live by Mahatma Gandhi’s words. When you deal with your own complexity and harmonize your inner world, these words of outer action will then become simple again. We wish you well in living your own positive destiny.
Dr.Molly
