Tag: life

Weaving Together the Tapestry of Your Life

by The Author, posted in Blog

I enjoy watching seniors weave on the loom in the retirement home where I work as a part-time chaplain.

One elderly tenant proudly showed me bundles of variously colored threads that she would weave into Christmas accessories.

Our life is like a tapestry

This caused me to reflect on how our lives are like colorful threads woven together that form a tapestry of experience.

The various stages of our life come together to form the particular person that we’ve become.

Because life invariably presents challenging moments, these threads or experiences may be represented by shades of gray, black, or dark blue—dark times or the dark night of the soul.

Happier moments may be represented by lighter threads such as yellow, orange or turquoise.

Each life is unique as is its corresponding tapestry.

Embrace your whole life

All the threads, together, make up the design of our life. It is in embracing both the darkness and the light of our experiences that we can truly learn to love ourselves. Not selfishly or in an egotistic way, but in a real way.

The tapestry of your life is, indeed, beautiful! It represents the total you.

Baby stories

Although hearing baby stories may rub you the wrong way prompting an “Oh no, not again,” these stories can trigger long lost memories and fortify your sense of identity. They can help you remember who you were before becoming the person you are now.

Christmas baby

A relative recently reminded me of how I’d been the first baby born in my extended family, hence the best Christmas gift ever. I was like a living, little bundle placed under the Christmas tree.

The story helped me thread together piecemeal memories from that period of my life. I remembered the Christmas tree; kissing my grandfather on his stubbly cheek (he had Parkinson’s disease and hadn’t been shaved yet); my grandparents’ verandah and large, verdant ferns.

I told my relative how grateful I was for the love the family had given me and how these bonds had buoyed me during the darker threads of my life. It’s not something that we can repay, but we can acknowledge the connections, the threads both in our tapestry and in the lives that touch ours.

From baby to toddler to teenager, adult and senior, we grow up to become the unique individuals that we are.

All the threads make up the tapestry of our life

All of the threads or experiences make up who we are. Nothing can be denied or left out. Everything is part of our story, our tapestry.

Every thread matters

And just as those threads are delicately interwoven to create something beautiful, so too are the moments and experiences that shape us. Even seemingly insignificant moments have played a crucial role in the grand design, the grand tapestry of my life. Laughter shared with friends, tears shed during loss, wisdom gained through challenges—all these moments add richness and depth to our personal tapestries. Each person we encounter and every experience we endure adds a new thread, making our life’s fabric more intricate and beautiful. So, as you navigate through life, cherish every thread.

Wishing you all the best this beautiful holiday season has to offer.

Let’s Take it to the Next Level together,

Luba

Luba Rascheff is a chaplain and certified spiritual life coach in Toronto, Ontario. Book an appointment here.

Photo by Kimia Khoubani on Unsplash

Inner Peace Comes Before Upleveling

by The Author, posted in Blog

The first stage of TITTNL is finding inner peace in the rush

The first stage of my signature spiritual life coaching program, Take it to the Next Level (TITTNL), is called “Finding inner peace in the rush.”

I think you probably know what I’m talking about. Life can be so busy these days with so many distractions and tasks to accomplish.

It is possible though—when you connect to that which anchors you, when you adhere to your deepest beliefs about that which is most important and meaningful to you on this earth, your values—to, indeed, find inner peace despite the myriad distractions and obligations.

What is it that anchors you? What activity or practice gives you peace? Is it going to a house of worship? Going on picnics with your family? Camping in nature? Take a moment to write this down.

Since I’m a spiritual life coach, I believe that our spirituality can bring us inner peace.

Spirituality is different from religion

Religion involves certain practices and rituals. Spirituality is less formal and harder to define let alone constrain. Jesus compares it to the wind saying,

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[1]

Spirituality is fluid, hard to pin down yet can help us with concepts like self-definition, identity and rootedness. A spiritual connection to, for example, the divine can provide comfort, guidance and purpose to our lives.

Inner peace

The concepts of peace and inner peace are not as hard to define as spirituality. If you’ve ever felt peaceful, you understand that it is good feeling, much preferable to being filled with anxiety.

What I want to say in this article is that finding inner peace isn’t optional but necessary before you can begin to progressively move to higher levels in your life.

Being filled with inner peace could be defined as being in the flow, flowing through life like a river flows, not allowing the negative energies of others to affect your spiritual balance (although this will surely happen from time to time.)

Another way to define inner peace is a warm, secure knowing that fills your being. It’s almost as if being enveloped in peace brings a calm knowing about people and situations helping you to understand with what and whom you should align. You know who not to align with as this shatters your inner peace. You know what situations to protect yourself from as they would cause you to fall into a state of anxiety.

Yet another way to define inner peace is as a nonverbal construct. This means that it’s something that you feel on a deep level but cannot put into words.

Life as teacher

Life itself can be a great teacher when it comes to knowing what works for you and what doesn’t. What brings inner peace and what doesn’t.

Those people who have triggered the highest levels of anxiety in me have been my greatest teachers. If I had any doubts, they confirmed what clearly does not align with my core values, my spirituality. If I experienced this, it’s possible that you have, too.

Kindness and patience teach inner peace

When we are kind and patient toward others, this breeds inner peace. One of my professors at the University of Toronto said to the class, “People are messy.” This is true but if we’re kind and patient toward everyone we meet, this attitude can also help cultivate inner peace within ourselves.

 Let’s Take it to the Next Level together,

Luba

Luba Rascheff is a chaplain and certified spiritual life coach in Toronto, Ontario. Book an appointment here.

Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash

[1] John 3:8 (NIVUK).

Stepping stones toward your unique destiny.

You Are More Than Your Job, Title or Degree

by The Author, posted in Blog

Healthy self-esteem is vital to moving forward well in life.

Losing a job or retiring can trigger feelings of doubt, insecurity as well as a dip in self-esteem. You may wonder, Am I still valuable and worthwhile?

Did you know, however, that categories, jobs or titles do not make us who we are? We are much more than that!

It’s been said that we are great spiritual beings having a physical experience. It’s also been said that this life is a testing ground for the next—the ultimate Next Level.

So what does that mean to me, Luba?, you may wonder.

Viewing life as a glass half full instead of half empty means that losses are stepping stones to new, better opportunities.

When we really hope for something that doesn’t happen right away or doesn’t happen at all, or lose something to which we’ve ascribed much meaning, we may feel sad, despondent and even begin to despair. But the truth is that this non-gain or loss happened in order for something more fitting and much better to fill the gap.

In many ways, life is like a playground. Some people will play with you, and others won’t. Some will bully you, and some will offer unexpected gifts. Sometimes, the game itself changes midstream. Adaptability works much better than rigidity, in any case.

Figuring out how and what we want to play means doing the inner, spiritual work. Figuring out who we really are and what we really want out of life.

We need to change the definitions and terms that society uses to define us. Instead of saying ‘unemployed,’ we should say ‘free to pursue dreams.’ Instead of saying ‘retired,’ we should say ‘ready for new adventures.’

We are more than outward physical, observable signs of success.

Time is the most important commodity that God gives us, and how we use it vital in aspiring to our goals.

Have you asked yourself, Who am I really?, What do I really want? and What should I focus on now?

These self-identification questions are key to determining next steps, steps that will take you to the next level.

It’s important not to go through life blindly but to walk gently with sensitivity. Take time to smell the roses! If you run, you will miss seeing the surrounding beauty. If you hurry, you won’t taste the richness of life.

Each of us is unique, as is our life destiny. No two people are created alike. Do not compare yourself with others because your path is unique.

5 Questions That Will Help You Decide What’s Next

  1. What do I dream to be, to have, and to do? (Write a list.)
  2. Where is my intuition leading me?
  3. Has a particular path been blocked? (If so, what else can I do?)
  4. What answer is forthcoming when I pray about the direction I’m to go?
  5. How do I feel about the path I’m choosing now?

Let’s Take it to the Next Level, book your appointment today.

Luba

Destiny’s Path

by The Author, posted in Blog

The title of the book I’m writing is Take it to the Next Level: How to Rise in Life.

What does the subtitle of the book mean? What does it mean to rise in life?

I believe that rising has to do with overcoming difficulties, obstacles or challenges whether they be physical, mental, psychological or emotional.

There never seems to be a dearth of such impediments. Like a garden that is filled with both beautiful flowers and weeds, we need to take the time to uproot all of those elements, ‘weeds,’ that are both unnecessary and hinder that which needs to ‘bloom’ in our lives.

This kind of work doesn’t come easily. It doesn’t happen overnight either.

If you’ve ever gardened, you’ll recognize that some weeds are tougher, more embedded in the soil than others. Rooting them out involves not only possessing the right tools but being willing to expend quite a bit of effort—toil and sweat even! In the case of gardening, nothing happens without getting our hands dirty, even if we’re wearing gloves.

But isn’t the effort worth it? Isn’t it wonderful to look at a garden with its neatly arranged, wide variety of flowers and perhaps fruits and vegetables? Doesn’t it make us feel good knowing that such beauty is the result of our hard work?

As in the metaphor of the garden, it takes time to ‘clear one’s mind’ and this endeavor could be described as a refining process. By ‘weeding,’ ‘clearing,’ mulling over, considering, understanding, properly dealing with—respecting even—those pernicious and unpalatable impediments—thoughts, beliefs, behaviors or people—that stand in the way of our heart’s desires, we advance along Destiny’s Path.

Destiny’s Path is the path you and I were always meant to walk on, but invariably either got or continue to get sidetracked from. This path was and is always there, and the idea is to wrench ourselves free from forces—internal or external—that are —consciously or subconsciously—trying to keep us from walking on it.

Destiny’s Path is the smooth path. It’s the path that carries us forward in an almost effortless way. It is the path that has our name written all over it. It’s like the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz. It is distinct and unmistakably belongs to us.

As we ‘jump fences,’ so to speak, we’re advancing toward our destination, our goal: and we’re either getting back onto Destiny’s Path or moving along on it. We could have one goal, or more than one. It is typically a series of micro-goals, what Arianna Huffington terms micro-steps, that leads to one bigger, macro goal. The all-encompassing dream: that which exists at the end of Destiny’s Path.

A hurdle will primarily teach us what we like or don’t like; who we are or are not. Some obstacles will be tougher than others and may even seem insurmountable. They aren’t. Forward movement eventually transforms them into paper tigers.

It is in the process of ‘clearing hurdles’ that we rise in life. To clear a ‘hurdle’ means to fully understand it. This has to do with learning the lesson that a hurdle teaches.

That’s because psychological processes take place in the process of going through, moving through, clearing those aspects of our life that are preventing us from rising.

It’s in the ‘jumping and clearing’ that we cut through whatever acts as an obstacle to our advancement on Destiny’s Path.

Before we can ‘rise’ above the ‘muck and mire,’ we need to clear it. We need to listen to what life is telling us; recognize or see things for what they are; and roll up our sleeves and get creative. These are the three principles whose first letters respectively stand for LRC, short for Luba Rascheff Consultancy.

LRC is the process that I, Luba Rascheff, use to help you help yourself.

Book your appointment today by clicking on the Contact tab of the menu bar and let’s Take it to the Next Level together,

Luba

Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash