Women's Empowerment Stories ...

Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired
~ Jenica Ashlie

A sample chapter from Jenica’s book, Your Feminine Heart

The Feminine Heart’s deepest desire is to give and receive love. This is the juice that makes us feel alive and connected to those around us. If only we had more time to focus on what gives us the greatest joy and happiness. Super moms and extraterrestrials excluded, women today are overextended. Physically, emotionally and spiritually, there never seems to be quite enough time and energy to do everything we want.

Genetically, we are programmed to give. That is the nature of the feminine sexual essence. But if we aren’t able to receive deeply as well, our circuits get blown out. When we are not in the now, we are out of sync with ourselves, which creates tension in our minds and bodies. This tension accumulates, but we don’t usually notice until it manifests physically and we get sick.

We get so tired that we don’t even have the energy to fake it. So we check out. We do things to try to fill ourselves up with something, anything – food, clothes, shoes, sex, alcohol or chocolate. You fill in the blank. We feel empty. We are tired to the core. If we could just sit in the blissfulness of the moment, we could get a break from our aching bodies, tired minds and derailed spirits.

Depression, anxiety and unexplained sadness – we can say that these conditions are a normal part of living, that feeling these emotions is normal. But over time, if we continue to let these emotions keep our hearts closed, we will suffer. The number of antidepressants and mood-altering substances given out by the medical establishment shows that many people have shut down to the point where they can no longer experience the joys of life. Without the highs or the lows, we live our lives flat-lining – coasting along, without any real feelings. Automatons of the new millennium, the medicated do not feel deeply about anything. Only the surface exists. The Feminine Heart, however, doesn’t do well living on the surface. The surface does not fill her heart, and a heartless woman is a woman who has forgotten her natural gifts.

When we push down our feelings, they come back to haunt us again. By allowing our feelings to come into full expression, we give thanks for the messages that they bring, and then let them go. This is one of the biggest perks of living in the moment. As we let the tide of feelings and emotions wash over us, each new feeling almost immediately replaces the last, keeping us in the present. This is not an easy task, especially if the feeling that swells inside demands our forgiveness. That’s where the angels leave the pack. With their big wings, they are able to fly above earthly traumas, and raising their hearts closer to Spirit, they find forgiveness, even for the most ruthless of transgressors.

I am in awe of people who have freed themselves from the pain in their heavy hearts by forgiving the people who have harmed their children. These people have the utmost capacity to forgive; they deserve the title "earth angel".

To protect ourselves from being hurt, we slowly shut the door to our hearts. After a while, we don’t dare open the door even a crack. But if we leave our heart’s door closed too often, or for too long, our vital energy starts to vibrate at a lower frequency. Despair and disease insidiously creep in. When we hit middle age our bodies do not lie to us anymore, and we discover the physiological and psychological ailments that closing our hearts for so long produced.

Not sharing our Feminine Hearts is one thing, but we can actually infect others with our negative thoughts and energy. This is a big step toward spiritual awareness and personal growth. Once we accept responsibility for our feelings and experiences, we embark on a new path of self-discovery and personal empowerment.

We may not know how to go forward in that next step – but we know we must. There is no power in blaming others for our situation or experience. There is no power in playing the victim.

In Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, author Carolyn Myss, PhD, shares examples of why people choose to be sick. She explains that people choose to hold on to thoughts and patterns that do not allow them to have their full and radiant health. The experience of being sick gets them things that they want in life that perhaps they never received as a child; things such as attention, concern, and maybe even love. But never does it give them self-fulfillment as radiant beings.

The greatest sense of joy and being alive is when we are deeply and intimately connected with other human beings, giving and receiving love. There are many levels and kinds of intimacy. It is possible to feel intimate with every living thing. The important aspect of intimacy is that we feel, touch or experience ourselves deeply. We feel more of who we are.

~ Jenica Ashlie

This was drawn, with permission, from Jenica’s book, Your Feminine Heart.