Looking Back, Looking Forward: 2012 and 2013

by Jillian Maas Backman

It is time once again to bid a fond farewell to another year served. Not just any year, mind you, one surrounded in antiquated mystery, intrigue and doomsday prophecy foreseeing ever-lasting fatal consequences, designed to unilaterally and spiritually over haul ourselves and emerge on December 31st as a new and improved population of undetermined proportion. A Utopian society comprising of single like-minded individuals flushed through by organic (severe weather and polar shifts) and non-organic (faith-based forecasts) convergence for universal higher consciousness.

In all probability, thankfully, it appears the world will continue long past this year and well into future. As much as some hoped, our transformation from turmoil to tranquility is not going to happen over the course of this magical year. There will be no spontaneous combustion on the horizon that will sway millions of lost souls to unite towards unselfish goals and wants for each others. No, this rise in conscious thought will take a tad longer than anticipated. However, the soul work we did accomplish over these several months did bump us up on the vibrational hierarchy chart of awareness and that’s always a good thing.

Year 2012 I labeled the “Year of Buoyancy.” In review, the last couple of years have brought about hardships for thousands of people. Last December’s blog post I asked each one of you to envision your inner spiritual core as buoys in a large body of water. Immovable flotation devices that serve to signal danger ahead and mark the beginning of calmer water ahead which helps to bob and weave through conflict and challenges without too much interruption to your normal routine. Hopefully, you were able to heed this calling and minimize the pain caused by indomitable circumstances. You will be asked to tap into this inner core strength once again during tenure in 2013. The energy of next year will not only encourage deeper contemplative thoughts but demand well laid introspective action as well.

This year was not about settling for status quo. It was supposed to represent a changing of the guard. New energy that could calm feuding nations and bring about greater hope of a peaceful planet. Elections held the potential to tear down cruel partisan rhetoric and set an historic tone of compromise, set aside obvious difference and strive towards mutual objectives. From outward appearances it seems we fell very short of the great 2012 potential. To the untrained intuitive eye it seems we are sitting right back where we left off four years ago. Piles of frustrated stalemates and honey-do lists for next time around. Don’t count out the energetic forces of 2012 just yet. The groundwork has been laid this year for new alliances next year. Watch for individuals demonstrating great courage to cross-over their political party allegiance to form lasting by-partisan relationships. These relationships will open discussions for others to follow. My hope is these brave taskmasters will in turn have constituents brave enough to follow their lead and support their endeavors for the higher good of all.

If one wants to see the true accomplishments from 2012 dig below the surface where magic truly lies. The mystical energetic treasures were not gifted to groups but to the individual. It’s no secret that year 2012 will go down in the history as the year we all worried about an apocalyptic fatal threat on December 21. I can’t imagine anything quite like a potential threat of immediate mass destruction of an entire planet to strip people down to the bare essentials of our existence. It shifted the onus back onto each one of us and forced us to live in “real time.” Individuals willing to set their ego aside and ask themselves tough internal questions about their own mortality by proxy. When insignificant things are dropped at the wayside it gives a person time to ponder the bigger picture. What do I believe in and can I support that cause to the bitter end.

2012 has been a year of blatant contrasts back and forth between all sorts of societal factions. As I have been suggesting, the gap is growing larger and more pronounced. In the words of Santa, there will always be some “naughty” and some “nice.” The difference is now Santa's “naughty” are becoming more brazen with both thoughts and actions. The nice are no longer turning a naive eye to their less than loving behavior towards others and getting involved. They are starting to stand up against the bullies of the world and saying no! once and for all. The energy of 2012 has removed the invisible cloak of anonymity and showing their true techno-colored grey aura for the entire world to see.

Many of you may have already been experiencing this same phenomenon in your own personal relationships. Those people who have been playing two ends to the middle for their own gain are starting to lose ground quickly. The perceived payoffs living in the middle grey zone is evaporating rapidly. The energy of 2012 is widening the gap two-fold. If you, or someone you know, is playing in this danger zone, watch out. This will be their spiritual death if not careful. The energy in 2013 is about asking yourself the reasons of why you are the way you are. It is about raising the consciousness of this planet upward towards the next plateau of awareness. The core theme for 2013 will center on building true adult soul relationships. Eliminating the need for foolish games or tactics to get what you want from another person. Souls will be communicating first and words will follow. This will be a new way of learning and growing for many who have not been practicing in small spurts this way. Don’t be surprised if it pushes your Trust emotion to the limit. There is something attractive when human beings are challenged to be venerable and trust another person as much as they trust themselves.

The energy of 2013 is all about re-calibration. Setting the re-start button to go bigger than ever before. Unlike this year where change and personal growth was waiving up and down, next year is slow and steady movements. No sudden jerking off course if you lay the foundation down properly. Turn your full attention towards your home life, specifically personal relationships. This is where the energy of 2013 will be felt the most in the coming months ahead. The energy for 2013 will afford each one of us the opportunity to see every relationship before you in a true light, the games people play and the way you interact with it. In this year many will come and go. The ones that survive the cut will afford the opportunity to delve deeper into a spiritual connection than ever before. How much are you willing to trust the new consciousness that is coming to fruition? Or are you going to be one of those people who are stuck in the mud and refuse to budge from your stubborn old matrix or risk for big rewards?

The word "dominance" will rear its ugly head a few more times as well. There are still factions of individuals that will refuse to rise to the level of greater open consciousness. Not ready to admit old school methods of dealing with everyday dealings which are no longer working. This is not time to sit back on our laurels. We need to keep the pressure on our present systems with love and grace. Yes, we are on the verge of breakthroughs. However, the plan is not entirely written on how that will evolve. If we choose to let others take over the transition, you will not gain the conscious vibration rewards.

So many of us have built lives around the goal of survival and the quest for material goods and services, money, job issues. The energetic year of 2013 is our payoff for the work in 2012. Watch for that to continue, but not at the forefront of people's mind. It was rocky for some but the calm is waiting for us in the future coming months. Stability in this area is reaching mass level. Take this reprieve before us and shift attention to other areas of happiness. Clear out your relationship closet and expect remarkable soul conversations to come your way.

For the rest of the 2012-2013 intuitive thoughts at Change Already, Your Future, Your Choice. 

Get ready for steady 2013! 

In love and grace, Jillian

Jillian Maas Backman, Author, Beyond The Pews, Breaking With Traditions and Letting Go Religious Lockdown and host of Change Already! broadcasting each Thursday at noon CT.  www.jillianmaasbackman.com

To read previous articles by Jillian Maas Backman CLICK HERE

Cliff Divers and Rabbit Hoppers

By Jillian Maas Backman

I want to dedicate this entry to my good internal emotional friend,   Fear.  One of the most mis-understood emotions and yet, has the greatest potential to be our working warrior beside all of us in a time of need.  

  

So much is written about this illusive emotional condition.  Just the word alone conjures up a negative reaction and sends people into a tailspin.  Why?  Along the way, we have received implied mixed messages, finger pointing towards FEAR as the “evil one” from our emotional piggy bank from which to draw from.  Origins deriving from such statements, as “We must conquer our fears!”  “That fear is going to kill you!”  “FEAR is the root to all evil!”  This kind of verbiage sets up a battlefield inside your conscious mind.  Think about it this way, whenever someone goes into battle there will always be a winner and loser.  When we apply this same kind of tactical representation towards fear, it is no longer an ally.  It becomes an adversary to suppress.  Nothing good comes from this kind of thinking in your head.  We end up segregating pieces of ourselves and assign judgment.  A power struggle ensues between good and evil.   

We have humiliated ourselves into thinking it is cowardly if we admit experiencing some form of fear.  Somehow, we are less emotionally healthy if we have bouts of fearful momental breakdowns.  What a set up that is, in so many sad sad ways.  Fear is a human emotional conditions we should honor and respect on different levels.  It is not meant to be a comfortable state of being, by any means what so ever.  

NEVERTHELESS, it can be an immutable force behind your intentions! 

Every human emotion was given to us for a higher purpose of some kind.  I believe we are trying to think our way through changing the human archetype we were heavenly blessed with from inception.  Impossible and a waste of human time.  My ability to feel fear is necessary for my survival in certain situations.  It is how you act upon those internal markings is a gift not a punishment.

Let us take the fear out of “being in fear.”

First, there is lots of wiggle room between using fear as a catalyst for expansion and creating a fear addiction.  As always, I am addressing a healthy dose of “fearness” herein.  This is not intended for those of you that feel you may have crossed into the danger zone of a “fear addiction.”  As with all addictive behavior, intervention prevention by trained professional is always advised. 

Please do not abandon your sense of fearing.

Fear, as with all other human emotions, will be present forever.  It is our natural sense indicator of change in the rawest form possible, an involuntary boundary sensor.  The minute you find yourself outside your comfort zone, that fear brain sensor will be busy transmitting all forms of warning signs.  Why in the world would you want to intellectually spend time fighting against this loving emotional companion is beyond me.  For goodness sake, walk with it. 

Years ago, I too was immobilized with my own fears.  My perceived options were either ignore the presence of it and force my way through or accept defeat and surrender.  Both seem ludicrate at the time.  Neither option was going to get me to my desired destination of transformation.  I trusted myself enough to know that fear was not my enemy.  I  was being guided to delve deeper for illumination on the gift of heavenly fear.  The answer was not about the elimination of it, more on how to manage my way through the consistency of fear.  How do you deal with the innate presence of emotional fear?

Which one are you;   Cliff Diver or a Rabbit Hopper:

Before I share the details, let me preface this by stating:  No one category is better than the other.  Each one has inherited advantages and disadvantages.  I use these labels as a fun way of stepping out from the wake of fear, observing how you personally deal with conflict resolutions, and possible modifications.

Cliff Diver:  Peaks of Fearlessness followed by Peaks of Fear

Now cliff divers are the ones that do exactly what the label sounds like.  Not literally, of course.  When they decide to make changes, they usually go big.  Not in the sense of crazy big, more like something out of the ordinary.  The opposite, they sit back, internally analyze, wait for the right moment to jump, and then jump long!  All the while, vacillating between moments of fear-ness and fearless-ness.  This reminds me of that old cartoon, Wily E Coyote and the Road Runner.  The coyote would chase the roadrunner off the end of a cliff.  His first reaction on his face described it all.  “Oh crap, what did I just do?”  Eyes wide as silver dollars, realizing his forthcoming quandary, flapped   his arms as fast as he could in the attempt to soften the blow with his eventual landing.  He always seemed   to survive another day of relentless chasing the Roadrunner.    

Advantage:  

-Fear instantly subsides.  There is immediate spontaneous resolve to the inaction of fear. 

-Go with the flow kind of people, flexible

-More times than not, this decision defines completion.

-  Meaning, you have completed a cycle in your life that has been festering for a long time and your inability for movement has stalled.  Your last bit of built up fears pushed you forward to a decisive action and possibly propel you to new territory of exploration.

- Feel your way through fears.  No intrinsic internal need to identify and label each fear individually. 

-Able to handle both conscious and unconscious pretara of “perceived fears” simultaneously.

-Insights always come from a multitude life lessons.   

Disadvantages:

-Be aware of compulsive fearless moments.  It is an incredible motivator but may also create lingering repercussions.

-Be conscious that you are a cliff diver.  The natural order of human fear will settle in again, but the configuration will definitely be different from before.  You will eventually decide to jump off the cliff of fearlessness once again and the cycle will repeat.  What measure have you set in place to reconfigure a new way of handling fears when it comes around again?  A good solution would be to adapt the ways of a “rabbit hopper…”  Therefore, when you decide to “jump” again the aftermath may have a softer landing.

Rabbit Hoppers:  Equal amount of fear and fearlessness

Bless them, for many do not understand their unseemly unassuming ways.  We are promoters of cliff divers in this country.  “Go Big or Go Home.”  Come on really?  Not every big way is the best way.  There are times when slow and steady is the best method to resolutions of all kinds.  I again reference a childhood story, “The Tortoise and the Hare.”  Even though the hare is portrayed in this parable as the one who lost in the end maybe both were correct. 

Advantages:

-Break down fears into workable “chucks of insights.”

-Deal with fear as it comes along.  They live by the rule, literally, one-step at a time.  In this case, one hop at a time. 

- Extremely methodical in handling all aspects of fear- based experiences.  Goals firmly placed in front of them.  Set in their immediate intentions.

-Can only deal with single fear issues one at a time.  Multi-tasking lessons are not an option. 

-Keep internal fear/fearlessness in balance.

Disadvantages: 

  -Assume fearlessness as being out of control.

-Tendency to avoid situations of complete fearlessness and spontaneous decision.

-Inflexible.  Rarely deviate from the pre-set course of action.

- There will be times of urgency to make a fast decision.  Fear is an incredible activator for quick movements.  Many times rabbit hoppers avoid this kind of situations at all cost.  That itself can create potential  danger.  You must adapt and take the “cliff diver” approach and jump in.

In order for rabbit hoppers to continue to move forward, they must always keep a balanced perspective on both fear and fearlessness.  That is a tall order, for the demure rabbit.  Fear has a tendency to silently take over the rabbit hoppers momentum.

I presented this fun fear quiz to demonstrate how each one of us handle and manage the stress of fear.  Both represent the beautiful ways in which we assimilate our fears, transpose them into lessons, and share our well -traveled  wisdom with others.   

In gracious love, Jillian Maas Backman

Jillian Maas Backman is an Intuitive Life, Author (Beyond the Pews, spring 2011), and Award winning Radio Host.  She can be heard on her weekly Sunday morning program entitled:  “It’s For You” on-air 9-10am(CST)  Lake 961 fm,   Lake Geneva, WI, North Shore Chicago, Ill or by listening on-line world wide  at  www.lake961.com   

Hold On Just a Little While Longer

By Pamela Chapman

So, what do you do when you can’t find the words to explain to those around you that the circumstance, the situation, the grip of the condition is so tight you can hardly get enough air into your lungs to keep breathing? What do you do when you can’t stop the tears and every waking moment reminds you of the pain? What do you do when you can’t say a word and you’re so tired of the battle that all you want to do is lie down and give up? What do you do when the systems of this world fail you?

            These are some of the words I’ve had to remember and speak to myself in the past few months: “The Lord, You, are my Sheppard; I shall not be in want! You make me to lie down in green pastures. You lead me beside the still waters. You restore my soul. You lead me in the paths of righteousness for your name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4.

            And when the pressure increased, I remembered: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9.

            I have come to realize that my answer to the call or agreeing with my purpose has not come without a price. Neither does yours. I realize I could not emphatically encourage you or sincerely empathize with you if I, myself, did not experience life’s ups and downs. I could not teach you how to soar in the storm unless I knew how to soar in the storm. I could not teach you how to turn adversities into victories unless I face adversity and turn it into victory. I could not teach abundant living, if I did not know and understand abundant living—in spite of illusions in the conscious mind. I could not show you or tell you how to rise and walk, if I could not or did not know how to rise above my ill circumstance, pick up my bed of affliction, and walk.

            I wish today I could hand you a quick fix, honestly. I wish today I could make all the wrongs that life has brought you, right. I wish I could take away all of your pain, immediately. I wish I could turn your cards of life into a royal straight flush. But, I can’t. However, this is what I can do. I can encourage you to hold on. I can tell you and show you how to not give up and not give in. I can lead you toward love, light and healing. And, if you choose such, you will walk into abundant living—in this life, not just the next. You will see JUSTICE, in this world not just the next. You will experience JOY and HAPPINESS not just later, but now. Yes, in this life!

            Now, more than ever, you’ve got to hold onto your faith. And, when the systems of this world give you a resounding no, go to the center of you—tap into the very essence of you, and listen. Listen until you hear a resonating YES and hear how you’re supposed to proceed. I don’t care what your doctor has told you, it doesn’t matter what the judge’s verdict or sentence, or even what your mind-chatter or donkey talk is telling you. Today—Hold On, BELIEVE, DON’T GIVE UP, and DON’T GIVE IN. Remember this, if you want a miracle you have to be in motion. If you’ve done all you know to do, then STAND knowing there is a power greater and bigger than you, than me, and the system. And though sometimes it may seem as if all Creator doesn’t hear, He’s forsaken you and left you to go it alone, rest assured, He is right there—right in the middle of your circumstance. 

Hold on, just a little while longer.