Relationships

This is your card reading for Friday, January 15th/16.  Your card today flipped over in 'The Spirit Messages' oracle deck, authored by John Holland (whom I had the privilege of being in a workshop with in Phoenix last November).  Your card is 'Relationships', and John's message for the card is this:
"Relationships are just mirror images of your own life---how you feel and treat yourself, as well as how you react and respond to different situations and people around you.  Be aware that every relationship is an opportunity for soul growth.
We bring you this card, for we feel that you may be questioning a certain relationship in your life.  This card also signifies that it may be time to evaluate and appreciate the relationships you have now or those from the past---good or bad.  Even a difficult relationship can be a surprising spiritual catalyst for you.  All relationships, whether they're on an emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual level, are part of the learning process and enlightenment of the soul.
No matter what category a relationship falls into, it acts as a teaching tool for the lessons your soul needs to learn.  It can help you understand, change, or enhance your individual qualities.  Ask yourself, if it was in the past, 'What did I learn from that relationship?" Of if it's a current relationship, ask yourself, "What am I learning from this relationship?"  Different types of relationships have an uncanny way of identifying which aspects of your life need attention.  At times, they reveal your vulnerabilities and insecurities, or your need for attention, approval, and acceptance.  Let this card be the catalyst to either heal a current relationship or attract more positive relationships for the future."

My message for you today is this:
How synchronistic that my son and I were just discussing this morning how our current life circumstance (my son and his wife, and my daughter and her husband living with my husband and I, while they transition to life in Canada after having lived in Brazil the past few years) MAGNIFIES relationship issues and patterns of behavior within our relationships. 
Spirit has placed the 6 of us in this situation---wherein MANY synchronistic events took place to bring us here---to bless us with this opportunity for gaining a deeper understanding of how each of us approach our close relationships and what individual qualities within ourselves we appreciate; as well as those we may wish to alter or change in how we interact.  We have, essentially, been thrown into an intense, experiential 'relationship symposium'!  What we 'get out it', is really up to us.  We can choose to use this gifted time together to gain insight into our patterns of being in relationship and if our current 'way of being' serves our Soul in best expressing ourselves in relation to those closest to us; and to consciously choose to 'shift up' old habits that no longer serve us.  
Notice that I am speaking here from the 1st person---the ONLY person you can change in relationship is YOURSELF.  There is the popular idiom that says, "When you are pointing at another, there are 3 fingers pointing back at you."  Take responsibility for how YOU show up in relationships---not from a place of 'self-judgment', but from an objective place of discernment.  Only then can you determine if this is the authentic representation of 'who you are'. This may mean asking someone that you trust and that you are in relationship with for their perspective on how you respond to certain interactions and situations---such as having your feelings hurt, for example.  Personally, I tend to respond by 'retreating', which can be interpreted as 'pouting', I have been told---yet, that is far from my intention!  To me, pouting suggests that you are seeking attention and/or apology; whereas my retreat is honestly about a desire to 'get away' and to go within myself, so that I can be in my own energy and process what happened. To get clear about my real feelings about it (as an empath, I take on other people's 'stuff' and it is necessary for me to be in my own personal space and energy to gain clarity about what is 'mine'---if you are also an empath, you will understand completely what I am saying here).  Yet, I need to be aware of how those close to me may sometimes interpret my 'withdrawal'... All it takes is my voicing that I am 'taking some time to think things over', or 'that I need some time and space'.  We assume, especially in long term relationships, that people simply 'know' what is going on in our head and heart!  Not always so! 
There are lessons and opportunities to learn more about yourself in every relationship that you engage in. In the year ahead, you will find yourself challenged to be authentic in self-expression.  Choose to be conscious and to take a look at how you are showing up in relationships. Are you showing up in an authentic way?  If not, what do YOU need to change? Take responsibility for yourself and how you want to be in relationship.  There will be those who will not be comfortable with these changes, and some relationships will 'fall away'. That is okay.  Bless the learnings gained there.  Understand that, as John shares in his message with us; ". . .every relationship is an opportunity for soul growth."
Blessed be...