We are rapidly moving forward with ping-ponging planetary activity. Our world course is hurtling towards a new consciousness. These shifts, changes, and transformations on both the micro and macro levels have not always come easily. Change can sometimes feel counter-intuitive, wrongly timed, unasked for, and just plain bothersome. “Really, me, you want me to do this now?” Or “You want me to deal with this, again?” Or “Come on, God, how much can one person handle?”

Even if we are ready, willing, and open to the idea of growth, change, and ascension, we still are called to walk through the doorways that take us, step by step, to the new platforms of being. All in all, it can be a wild ride, and as you know all too well, a wild ride for which you raised your soul hand and said, “Yes, please, include me.” And, et voila, you are here.

The going has been tough. You very tenacious lightworkers and healers have been wading through the muck and mire for a very long time. You have been brave and stalwart. You have been misunderstood, judged, and even outlawed by some that you love. You have been afraid … and you did what needed to be done anyway. Brava … and thank you.

To aid and abet your process and, hopefully, provide you some support and perspective, let’s look at some of today’s challenges.

LET’S REVIEW TODAY’S CHALLENGES.

The big picture is often helpful. I have identified five main challenges. Most everyone on the planet is facing a combination of some of these. However, for lightworkers and healers these challenges are viewed from a slightly different angle.

1. OVERWHELM

There is sensory overload. There is so much, so fast, and it is hard to absorb and integrate everything that is coming your way. As a highly sensitive person (HSP), you find yourself frizzled and frazzled. Sometimes, it is hard to even breathe. You reach a place of overwhelm that you are unable to take a step forward. You become paralyzed and ineffective. This makes you none too happy with yourself and out comes the whips of self judgment and criticism. You want everyone to please back off and leave you a-l-o-n-e.

2. EXHAUSTION

You are bone tired. You have been on this path a very long time. And it can feel like the challenges are never ending. You are ready for a rest – or, at least, a week or two of doing nothing but stare into space. At this moment, you laughingly say to yourself that consciousness is overrated; you are ready for the deep oblivion of napping and being mindless.

3. NOT ENOUGH TIME

The world is faster, literally. This is not your imagination. There is more and more to do and technology makes our world a 24/7 event. There are personal challenges — be it health, money, loss, housing, job, relationships, loneliness – where everything is on the line — and changing fast! It feels like there is no time to make order and create balance; much less, problem-solve and see the bigger picture and higher perspective.

4. HEARTACHE AND TRAGEDY

Way too many of us as well as our neighbors and friends (next door and global) are facing an inordinate number of heartache and tragedy. Their lives make The Book of Job look like a musical comedy. These are frequently not single events, but clusters of heartache and tragedy that feel of mythic proportions. The family usually gasps, “What more could go wrong?” and then they are slammed again. These are very tough times and it requires a steadfastness of perspective, compassion, and high vibration to be of service.

5. STRESS, FEAR, AND HOPELESSNESS

Due to the beneficence of a fabulous friend, I spent the summer of ’72 in Tokyo. While there, we listened frequently to the English-speaking Armed Forces Network. We laughed a lot to the tales of Chicken Man and his assistant, Miss Helpinger, who was forever saying, “It’s everywhere. It’s everywhere.”

And so it is with stress, fear, and hopelessness; those energy fields have flooded the planet. It is difficult to move out of the warps and into places of balance and equanimity. These energies take a toll, especially for all of you empathic types.

So, now we have identified those pesky challenges, that is step one. We are clear about what is grabbing our attention and pulling on our energy systems.

Stay tuned for

Part II: What are some of today’s portals of initiation?

Part III: Core exercises for today’s brave and stalwart lightworkers and healers

Author's Bio: 

Psychologist, Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D., is the author of Balancing Act: Reflections, Meditations, and Coping Strategies for Today’s Fast-Paced Whirl. Adele’s next book is Making Peace with Suicide: A Book of Hope, Understanding, and Comfort (2014). You can learn more about Adele, her writing, and her thinking at www.adeleryanmcdowell.com and www.adeleandthepenguin.com.