We’re all familiar with the different stages or phases in life – childhood to youth, youth to adulthood, and so on. Those stages could never happen if there wasn’t change ~ every day. Like a flower unfolding, each stage has its beauty and also its challenges. Those constant little changes become part of the rhythm of our daily life and we really don’t think too much about them. It’s the “big” changes that tend to rock our boat.

That happened to me when I lost my husband and both parents in a short period of time. Everything changed, seemingly overnight, and because of that, I had to change, too. I was an active church organist back then, but the circumstances I found myself in were so demanding that I finally decided to “hang up my shoes” and just go with the flow. I remember so clearly saying to myself, “Well, that was one chapter, and this must be a new one,” and indeed it was.

The picture that comes to mind when we meet such junctures in life is one of revolving doors. Sometimes we move through those doors intentionally. Sometimes life takes us through those doors, willing or not, but there is this much about it ~ one door never closes but what another door opens.

Those swinging doors – that evolutionary process – most certainly can try our faith, but it can also deepen our understanding of who we are and what we have come here to learn. If we can hold to that thought and work with it, most certainly we will find the hidden blessing that comes with every great change.

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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