Life is very much a continual weaning process. We come into the world dependent on other people, but over the course of time we are forced more and more to rely not so much on others as on That which is within us which is both our Source and Sustainer. I’m talking about learning to put your hand in the only Hand that can lead you not only through life but through death as well.

The process begins when death first comes into our lives as children through the gradual loss of family and friends, and it does not end until we, too, face that portal which only the soul can enter. How we deal with these losses, how we let our faith sustain us, how we allow that Hand to lead us, no matter what, not only determines how we approach that door, but is also integral to the teaching/learning process of which our example is a part.

It is said that children learn through watching. I think we all do. In seeing how others cope with the challenge grief presents, we each are forced to weigh our own beliefs and attitudes. We are challenged to search out that which rings true in our deepest heart of hearts as we continue to develop the premise on which we are forever trying to build our foundation.

There is considerable responsibility here, when you stop to think about it. Accepting the inevitable and making peace with it enables you to find a Way when there does not seem to be a way. It allows you to reach for the heights even while your spirit is at the depths of its grief. It makes it possible not only for you to go on, to find new meaning and new purpose for your life, but to do it knowing that all is not lost, only changed, and while that change can be soul-shattering, strength is forged from the crucible of that grief even while joy is found in the knowledge that this is not the end but rather the beginning.

Yes, it is the beginning of a new chapter in which we learn that the relationships that helped make us what we are have not ended at all. Indeed, they have become richer through the new dimension in which they now must find expression. Now we see that the cycles which may seem to separate us are but the cycles of our evolution. As we seek, through faith, the means and the will to continue, so, too, do we find new meaning and purpose for our lives. It is this meaning and this purpose that enables us to face death, even our own death, with a serenity and a peace that is born of the knowledge that all is well, and all shall be well, even when life has been turned upside down and all is changed beyond recognition.

Donna Miesbach

I have been on a spiritual path all my life. I was first introduced to meditation when I was seventeen. I knew this was an important tool, but I wanted to go deeper than that particular method allowed, so my search began. I attended workshops and classes, read books and tried every form of meditation I could find, to no avail. Then in 1994, my life changed dramatically. My husband died very suddenly. Soon after that, I lost both parents, too. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. This student was certainly ready. About a year after my husband’s sudden death, I learned about Dr. Deepak Chopra and his teachings. It was like finding the light at the end of the tunnel. I took meditation training from Dr. Chopra and began attending his courses. They fed my deep roots and made such a difference in my life that I committed to being certified both in meditation and yoga so I could share these wonderful practices with others. I have studied with Deepak and also Roger Gabriel both here and in India. I also studied sound healing with Jonathan Goldman, and remote viewing with Dr. David Morehouse, having completed all five levels of his training. As my teaching became established, doors began opening that allowed me to teach meditation to at risk youth. Then another door opened and I found myself working with Playmakers Mentoring Foundation, a Sacramento-based outreach. Together with their Executive Director, we wrote a book and then opened a chapter here in Omaha. In addition to my work with Playmakers, I continue to teach meditation in the Omaha NE area, offering both private and group instruction. I also hold group meditations and programs five times a year, and speak to groups on various aspects of spirituality upon request.   It has been an amazing journey, one I never could have anticipated. I didn’t know it then, but I know now that it is possible to get to the other side of grief, and that is what my book, “From Grief to Joy, A Journey Back to Life & Living,” is all about.

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