76. Little Signs it's Gonna be OK

(upbeat music) - Hello, welcome to Inspired Caring. I'm your host, Michelle Magner. If you are caring for an older family member, this is the podcast for you. Each week, I bring insight, tips, inspiration, and strategies to help you care for the people that you love without losing yourself along the way. Having cared for both of my grandmother's, I've helped manage everything from hospital stays, household full of belongings, to navigating senior living and end of life care. And I've worked in senior living as a result of that experience, serving my residents and their families as they've been on this journey too. Thank you for joining me today. And I hope you enjoy this episode of Inspired Caring. Today, I want to talk about something that is a little woo-wooly. I have heard so many thought leaders. I don't know if they've really spoken in these terms specifically, but with Oprah and her super soul, she talks about the universe and how the universe gives you signs and it's a tap on the shoulder. And then it smacks you around a little bit and then it's a ton of bricks that fall on you. So I'm wondering what are your little signs? Now, that reference is to you needing to make a shift or change. And perhaps you have been getting some little signs that it's time to change something up. And maybe it's worth whispering, ha ha, listening to the whisper. But the signs that I am talking about today are just those little signs that you're on the right track. I, years ago, made a decision that little butterflies are representations of my grandmother's. And the reason I came to that is literally the day that grandma masters passed away. We had just left the assistant living and gone home 'cause the nurse said, you know, she's in a good restful state. So this is a good time to take a break. And we had been there just for hours and hours my husband, my mom and I. And she passed away while we were gone, which is not uncommon. People that work with the dying will share that. Sometimes they do wait for you to leave the room or go away. So standing in my yard of the house that we had purchased from her was her home. And my husband and I had the opportunity to buy it and move into it. And I said, grandma, I just need a sign that you're okay. I just, I need that comfort and reassurance because I wasn't with you when you passed away. And so I just need to know that you're okay. And could you not butterfly landed on me? That butterfly landed on me. So fast forward a couple of years and actually quite a few years. My husband and I went to Sedona for a work conference that he had. And I had a raky session there. And that is, it's like a, you're laying on a massage table, but it's all energy-based. So they're not actually touching you. They're just holding hands over you. And it was a really powerful session for me because my other grandmother had passed away and donated her body to science. And I found out that my aunt, my favorite aunt had passed away. And two days later, my other grandmother's remains arrived at my house. So like within two days timeframe, I had learned of a loss of pretty significant loss in my life. And then my grandma showed back up on my doorstep. And so I'm having this raky session. And it was like this really cathartic release of energy. And the raky practitioner said at the end of it, by the way, there was another woman in the room. She was like a maternal figure. Like it just all really lined up for me. And her, oh, really by the way, was you were like covered in hundreds of little yellow butterflies. And that was just very satisfying to me. That made me feel very calm and confident that I was on the right path. And I had a really strong connection to my relatives that I really loved and missed. So fast forward again, my husband and I are looking for a house in the Omaha, Nebraska area. And we had been looking often on for four years, but we were finally serious about moving to the area. And we are standing in a house and it was not yet built. It was framed in, so it's just sticks. And the realtor didn't want to take us to the model. I don't know if it fall around the world, you have this as well, but we have model homes that are built and then the builders show those homes and then eventually someone purchases it as well. She didn't want us to stop at this one model that my husband and I were like, that house looks really interesting. So we ended up stopping, of course. The builder was like, oh, yeah, actually, I have a home that we're working on right now. I can take you over. And we got jumped in the car. It was like four blocks away. We end up in this model. And it's not even a model because it's just framed. And we're looking around and it just feels right. It just feels really good. The way the builder is talking, he could make some accommodations that we needed. And I go to the where the kitchen will be and I look into the backyard. And this just gives me chills. Like the whole field, the whole backyard and field are covered in just hundreds of little yellow butterflies. And I looked at my husband and I said, well, obviously, this is it. It just completely felt right. The house, the location, the timing on the move. Everything just felt right. And we bought it. Like right there on the spot. We knew that was, this was the right home for us. And this is where we've been for the last 11 years. So these little yellow butterflies for me are just a reassurance that our missions, our endeavors are universally supported. And these, I have two little yellow butterflies that chase me all over the world. Now you and I know that those two butterflies maybe didn't fly over to France. I say maybe because I don't know. But when I'm in France, you know, I see these two little dancing yellow butterflies. And when I go on walks and I'm really introspective and contemplative on something, I'll see the butterflies when I'm having a certain thought or feeling. And for me, it just brings peace. It just brings reassurance and peace. So I'm wondering for you, what are the little signs that you get that you are supported and that you are being encouraged by your source energy? Maybe it's it's God or the universe or whatever it is. And I'm familiar with the concept of the particular activating systems or the particular activating device, you know, energy flows where focus goes. So what you look for and what you focus on expands and we find what we're looking for. So if you think about a color, you will subsequently find that color just wherever you go throughout the day. If you think about a certain car, I test drove, I didn't test drive it. I had a rental car for an Infinity QX60. I didn't even know this car existed on the planet and I came home and I'm seeing them all over the road. So I just encourage you as a strategy to kind of lighten out and take the pressure off yourself that you are making, you are the one making all these heavy decisions to pick something if you don't have something that will be the sign from whatever source is meaningful to you that you are on the right track. And you will see it, it's amazing. I just feel like it's really consistent across the board with anybody I talk to about this kind of stuff. You know, my husband's father just passed away in February and by Gali, I've seen more red cardinals than I've ever seen before. But yeah, I wanna know that he's okay and I will take that as a sign that he is. And that's okay, you know, there's nothing wrong with having something. You don't have to talk about it publicly, having something private that gives you some centered reassurance that things are okay and that you're gonna be okay. In fact, I really feel like it brings me joy and makes me energetically a happier person so I can show up and do the things in my life that I wanna do. So those are my, that's my sign. Little yellow butterflies. I'm working up a tattoo of some sort. I don't know what it's gonna be like or where it's gonna go, but I'm excited about it. All right, my friends, we gotta lighten up a little bit. Things can get pretty heavy and we really hear, are here just for a short amount of time. It's not, it's not our long ride and as soon as you hit middle age, that time becomes even more precious and glaringly short. I love you. I see you keep doing great things in the world and I look forward to the next time we can connect. Bye. (upbeat music)