There are so many facets to my recent hero’s journey that I wanted to write several blogs about my healings and the twists, turns and discoveries of the journey. I’d like to go back to the beginning when I sat in Costco just having received my diagnosis of a torn retina. I sat with the knowing that I would have to tell my husband that our weekend was going to be a little different than we anticipated. My mind raced to what seemed like a million things I would have to do before leaving for Oahu. I was being chased by a saber tooth tiger and I was most definitely in survival mode.

This lunge into survival had nothing to do with my spiritual intelligence, but was the very instinctual mechanism that takes over when we are threatened. In short term spurts, it is actually a good thing as it helps us to escape an impending threat that could cost us our life. Thus, it is called “survival mode.” When in this frame of mind, the first thing that occurs to us is our safety and the very protection of our lives.

So, there we were in survival mode. We were in the company of a very good doctor and his assistant who took care of us, who did the things we were incapable of doing in this moment. They made our reservations for our hotel and our air travel. (If you are not familiar with living where there is not always adequate medical attention, let me inform you. Sometimes, you have to leave where you are to get the medical expertise you might need.)

So, we turned our life over to the helpers who were offering their assistance and we went on to do the dozens of things that needed tending so we could leave the very next morning at 6am.

When we landed the next morning, we were whisked by Uber to my surgery. We were still in survival mode, our only mission was to get to the doctor. All went well and the next step was to get me to a hotel, the one that had been reserved for us. We found ourselves at the lowest end of Honolulu in a hotel that was reminiscent of those hotels you see in films where drug deals are made or the escapees get a moment’s rest while they are being pursued by the villain. Needless to say, although we are not five-star hotel goers in most cases, this was quite a dip down. The reality of where we were suddenly woke us up and we began to climb in consciousness.

We came to realize through a series of ah-hahs that we couldn’t stay here for the healing that I needed until my follow-up appointment. Ernest Holmes once wrote, “YOU CAN CHANGE THE TREND OF CAUSATION ANYTIME YOU DECIDE TO DO SO.” He wrote it in all CAPS to let us know that this is the Truth and we better get it. We got it in that moment and within one hour we are on our way to a beautiful and spacious hotel suite.

It happened because we jumped out of survival mode and raised our awareness to our neo-cortex, thinking brain and consciously chose our path. The Universe stepped in to support our journey putting all the pieces together to make the change complete for our highest good.

This is the way God/Universe/Source works. There is a Law of our Being that says yes to us at all times. When we are in survival mode, we are subject to the Law of Averages, which merely gives us the random Universe. When we are in victim mode, which we were up to that point, we are thrust into the hands of the nearest perpetrator. When you take conscious control of your life and align yourself with the forces of the Universe, your life shifts.

There is so much more to this journey, but I wanted to share this important discovery. I trust that you will find something helpful within its message.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita Andriello-Feren, Spiritual Director CSL Kaua`i, Spiritual Coach