Is There Hope When A Loved One Is Missing?

By Cynthia Caron

When a loved one goes missing it is important to always offer hope. Even when the circumstances may appear to look grim, who are we, as people, to decide for a family of a missing loved one that "things will not be good?" We cannot determine an outcome will for surely be a bad one.

Hope is what makes life bearable when times are difficult and more so when one is living with the fear of what has happened to their missing family member. It is important, that no matter how difficult it may be, to maintain hope. This can be achieved by surrounding oneself with caring people who are there to listen, comfort them, provide a shoulder to lean on and offer hope. Hope is a definite positive.

Love can create hope when families see none. This is such a profound statement and is most especially important for those having so many unanswered questions with aching hearts of needing to be able to hold and know their loved missing is safe. While nobody can change what may have already happened, we can help the family keep their stamina through hope. No, we cannot provide a miracle, but we can provide love. There are a number of ways that friends, extended family and colleagues can offer to help the family. One can offer to help hang missing posters in the community for the family or even simple offerings of bringing dinner to the family or help with babysitting. Every gesture is appreciated and the more love the family receives the easier it is to bear with their pain and fears.

Hope is expectation moderated by realization that nothing is certain. This is so true and we’ve all seen cases in which a missing loved was located safely that we surely thought was not going to have a good outcome, as well as those we felt would be located safely and were not. Again, we are mere mortals and nobody can guarantee an outcome with certainty.

The belief in a positive outcome, is hope. Therefore, nobody should ever tell a family of a missing loved one that hope does not exist and certainly not by law enforcement or any advocate who work with families of missing. Hope is an emotion, a needed bar to grab onto when one feels they may fall. It is what enables all humans to wake each morning to face another day. Nobody has the right to ever take away another person’s hope.

If you believe in miracles, then hope always exists. No matter how grim, no matter what the evidence may suggest it has happened time and again in which miracles have happened. Even those who may not be religious have to admit that they’ve seen, read or heard of miracles in which a positive outcome came from a very grave situation.

Hope is faith. While I personally believe hope is faith, not everyone holds a religious perspective and so I would like to say that for those who do not have the same belief as I, to think of your hope as a personal journey, within yourself, to whatever place in your mind that you can go that helps to bring out the positive encouragement for yourself and your family. Faith can be from your personal religious beliefs, or can be from your own self-positive comforting measures.

The light within us is hope that pierces the darkness of doubt, fears and discouragement. Think of infants that are just learning to walk. Do they have hope? Absolutely! They have doubt, fears of falling and even may feel discouraged but something within them, some may call it determination but I call it hope…hope and the excitement on their faces when they toddle a few steps with their arms raised and always with a smile on their faces. So when things look bleak, when all may seem ominous know that as long as you have hope…the days ahead will be more manageable.

Always hope. Should things turn differently there will be plenty of time for sorrow.

And The Next Step Is……..

courtesty of Moonstone Mandala




By Jillian Maas Backman

It would be remiss of me to dedicate this blog entry to an entirely different subject matter and leave everyone hanging from my December blog entitled “Year of Expansion.” In that blog, I specifically wrote about many colorful intuitive insights for the year 2011 - mainly the transitional energy of 2010 spilling over into this year of potential expansions in all areas of life.

When we think of the word expansion in regards to a person’s personal journey several thoughts come to mind for this year in particular. Even though we all follow the same basic linear path in a year like this, the possibilities for new energetic experiences are infinite. If you are one of those free- spirit types that thrive on creative and out of the box projects, this is your year! Whether you want to lose weight, stop smoking, or starting a new career this is the year to seize your eccentric side - unlike the energy of last year that put many of you into a perpetual holding pattern towards reaching specific goals. I hope that you were able to stay on the positive attitudinal side of the fence and took advantage of the transitional energy associated with 2010. If you did, expect doors to fling wide open up in all worldly fashion. The energy of this year supports the idea of trying new things. Things that you have always wanted to do but never had the nerve to try before. Expect the unexpected. This year will have its share of quick changeovers. Bouts of unpredictable sudden shifts in course and unavoidable feast or famine patterns. Your best bet to rise above these moments is to solidify in your mind the 2011 predetermined resolutionary goals. Have them firmly placed before you with solid intentions. Therefore, when the famine moments arrive you will intrinctaly know when to push through blocks on your path and know when to hibernate, regroup, and wait for the opportune energy to resume expansion. Use this time wisely. The perfect time for those of you, who did not lay the mental foundation for growth, you may have to back track a bit and cleanup unresolved messes from 2010.

This month I want you to dig out the list that I asked you to complete in the December blog.(See "The Year of Expansion http://timesupblog.blogspot.com/search?q=the+year+of+expansion) In that post I specifically asked that, you write out several items that were conceived from last year and want to expand this year. I could follow suit like other teachers and request that you compile a set of parameters that will help you achieve success. To do that would simply be a redundant assignment and setting you up towards possible failure. As an intuitive life coach it is my responsibility to bring forth multidimensional alternatives you can do that will support traditional methods of reaching your goals. I want to share a unique task unlike one you have completed in the past. Provide an exercise designed to tap into the hidden strengths behind all thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The universal forces that can help you reach the finish line of completion this year, the energy of expansion.

Soul Exercise: 

Design your own 2011 sacred energetic icon.

As you are already aware, according to my own intuitive sensing Year 2011 will be infinitely expansive in all directions. This frankly means nothing if you do not understand how to capture the essence of this energy and transform it into a source you can relate to. I borrow an example from other cultures to demonstrate this thought. There are certain societies that literally plan their yearly undertakings to coincide with the Energy of the Year. They go as far as depicting a yearly image representing the energy in pictorial form. By performing this simple gesture, they now have made a physical connection that represents a bond between themselves and the energy of the year at hand. I want to extrapolate this creative expression and create our own ingenious dimensional designs.

A visual picture captivates our initial sensory attention, why? The majority of the people register the outside world through their vision sense first. If you can align your visual pictures with your resolutions there is a greater chance you will succeed and follow through with your ultimate goals. I want to apply this same kind of logic to our list.

First, pick a form that best represents your Year 2011, Energy of Expansion sacred icon. Will that be a triangle, a square, circle, or some kind of shape in between? Relocate the resolution list from the last exercise. If you will recall the statements were broken down into two pronounced segments. One before the semi-colon and one directly following the semi-colon. For this exercise, disregard the first statement and only focus your attention on the last part of the sentence structure.

We have all heard about using daily affirmation to confirm commitment to our resolutions. This method is truly effective if you are willing to recite continuously throughout the day. A task many start with anticipation and end with exhaustion after a couple of weeks. In this part of the exercise, we are going to let the unconscious mind take the lead. This is about letting your inner doodling do the non-verbal talking. We are all guilty of using this harmless physical expression on occasions. A non-threatening way our unconscious thoughts break through and communicate buried truths. How fun it that! Let us expand that brainy task to express what your Energy of Expansion looks like with symbols, words, and diagrams. By using this formula will be able to see for yourself what that inner core looks like and represents you.

Once you have decided on the shape, now is the time for your creative nature to take over. Find yourself a piece of paper, a size that will be portable. Draw your chosen iconic shape anywhere on the paper. Retrieve those resolution commitment statements and start writing them inside the shape. Feel free to overlap them if necessary. I prefer to start from the inside out with mine. Include words of affirmation, symbols, and colors if you chose. Also include positive words like YES, Today and your name. Overlap layer over layer if it feels right. This is representing your intentions, your starting point and your end results. If it is weight you want to lose, write it. Stop smoking; include the universal sign for no smoking. If you are in pain and you want to release it, write it out, draw it out, and force it out to see! Let your inner doodling be your guide. Scribble whatever comes up for you. The only request I have is refrain from using any negative connotations here. This is a sacred icon built around positive energy and self-talk. I know this sound silly but resolutions become laden with hardship. This exercise will interject some fun and joy into the process of change. The energy of expansion is arbitrary, how you express is absolutely your business.

Stop only when you feel completely positively empty and every crevice of your sacred icon is filled with abundant visions. Have it available at all times. Glace at it as much as you possibly can during your day. Post on the nightstand next to your bed. Look at it first thing you wake up in the morning. In the kitchen when you are cooking. Let it become your go to piece of work when you find yourself slipping back from wenst you came. It is a work of spiritual art! Let it perform its expansive energy on You.

In love and grace, Jillian Maas Backman

P.S. I would love to see your finish work of art if you are willing to share. Every icon transforms itself into a masterpiece.

www.jillianmaasbackman.com