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Articles by Adele McDowell

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99 articles by Adele McDowell · showing 49

Browse every published article connected to Adele McDowell, or search within this exact expert archive.

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Are you going through health challenges hell?

Bad diagnosis? Very bad diagnosis? Are you trying to keep it together for family and friends? There are days when you are so freakin’ tired and scared out of your socks. You beg and plead with God, “Please let me see my daughter make it through high school.” You hold on to every slimmer of hope, every promise of possibility. You believe in miracles. Other days, you say, “Ok, God, just do what you need to do. Let me learn the lesson and if it is death, then, make it peaceful. I am tired of trying so hard.”

Primary topic: Hope

2,236 views4/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***The stuckness of spiritual depression

Every have one of those seemingly endless stretches of time, when it feels as if all your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went? You are not sick, per se. You just don’t give a damn anymore. Nothing matters much.

Primary topic: Hope

3,745 views4.5/5 (4)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Are you ready for a life review?

When we pass over, we are welcomed by loved ones. We are also given the opportunity -- in the presence of a guardian angel type -- to review our life. I imagine the the angel says something like, "Let's roll the videotape" and every frame of our life unfolds before us. We each get to see where we acted with grace and where we fell short.

Primary topic: Hope

2,781 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Got Prayer?

Recently, I have been thinking about prayer and, more specifically, the human aspects of prayer. I am of the opinion that there is no right or wrong way to pray. I find prayer to be unique and idiosyncratic because prayer is predicated on our very human, one-to-one relationship with the divine. And, as we all well know, relationships may have similar patterns but they are forever individual

Primary topic: Hope

2,939 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Overworked? Seven strategies to help you cope

A practical article connected into the broader SelfGrowth topic graph.

Primary topic: Hope

5,287 views4.5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

St. Germain and doing the "Up Spiral"

This piece was written with through the generosity of St. Germain. All of us would all agree that life is going faster and faster by the minute. We can’t stay on top of everything, much less get everything done. And there is change everywhere. Much of what we have been taught as real is being shown to be anything but real. And we have learned that when we disengage energetically – in other words, unplug from our connection with Spirit - we feel as if we are in free fall. And when in free fall, we get overwhelmed. We doubt. We wonder if we are doing the right thing.

Primary topic: Hope

1,503 views4/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***A psychologist’s suicide

The word came last week that a friend and colleague, a clinical psychologist, had committed suicide. She had suffered a hammering of profound losses and fell into a deep hole of depression. She had placed herself in good professional hands, was hospitalized for two weeks, and released with medications and a discharge summary that she, herself, could have written. She, later, took her life by overdose.

Primary topic: Hope

5,558 views3/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

You lost hope

Years ago, a shaman looked at me and said, “You lost hope. You should never lose hope.” He was right -- and, boy, did I hate that. I have a long history of unflappable optimism. I’m able to make copious amounts of lemonade. I pride myself on my out-of-the-box thinking. But the shaman was right; at that moment in time, I had lost hope. I was standing smack in the middle of a dead-end with no openings in sight. My world had become small and limited. I was in a dim, airless box and I saw no way out.

Primary topic: Hope

3,882 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Gratitude, it's good medicine

Gratitude is not a one-serving meal relegated to Thanksgiving and plates full of yummy traditions and comfort. Gratitude is an all-round accompaniment, perfect for gatherings, holidays, and quiet solitude. Gratitude travels well. It works in all kinds of weather and is never out of season, too early, or too late. Essentially, gratitude is the perfect gift to give as well as receive.

Primary topic: Hope

1,545 views4/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Robin William's, the whole trip to Oz

The shocking news of Robin Williams’ suicide has left us all heartbroken and reeling. Robin’s death seems so antithetical to the Robin we saw brimming with life. He took on the world with his cutting-edge humor and supersonic mind. He was a trip unto himself.

Primary topic: Hope

1,440 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

How do you make sense of a sudden death?

The question, itself, must be a Zen koan, because, really, there is no answer to sudden death. There is no making sense of the unreal, surreal, or unbelievable. Yet, it happens, day in and day out. Unfortunately, this week, I have had two poignant reminders of this very fact.

Primary topic: Hope

8,142 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Are you or someone you love going through health hell?

Bad diagnosis? Very bad diagnosis and you are trying to keep it together for family and friends. There are days you are so freakin’ tired and scared out of your socks. You beg and plead with God, “Please let me see my daughter make it through high school.” You hold on to every slimmer of hope, every promise of possibility. You believe in miracles. Other days, you say, “Ok, God, just do what you need to do. Let me learn the lesson and if it is death, then, make it peaceful. I am tired of trying so hard.”

Primary topic: Hope

2,345 views4/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Messages from the Other Side

Once upon a time, a woman, let’s call her Shirley, lost her husband to the ravages of cancer. It had been a long and arduous battle. Shirley was completely depleted on every level. After the funeral service, everyone returned to the house. The coffee pot was plugged in; neighbors brought in food. Shirley excused herself from the din of family and friends and retreated to her bedroom, whereupon she fell into their king-size marital bed. She was utterly devastated and was totally lost without her husband, Charlie.

Primary topic: Hope

4,598 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

St. Germain and doing the "Up Spiral"

This piece was written with through the generosity of St. Germain. All of us would all agree that life is going faster and faster by the minute. We can’t stay on top of everything, much less get everything done. And there is change everywhere. Much of what we have been taught as real is being shown to be anything but real. And we have learned that when we disengage energetically – in other words, unplug from our connection with Spirit - we feel as if we are in free fall. And when in free fall, we get overwhelmed. We doubt. We wonder if we are doing the right thing.

Primary topic: Hope

1,228 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***A lesson in grief

This summer, I had the opportunity to visit sunny, palm-treed southern Califo ia, where it kisses the blue, blue of the Pacific Ocean. It is a beautiful part of the world. I had the great honor and privilege of presenting my new work -- and still in-process book – Making Peace with Suicide at The 2012 Compassionate Friends (TCF) annual national and inte ational (once every four years, like Olympics) conference in Costa Mesa, Califo ia.

Primary topic: Hope

2,855 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Call back your spirit or die

Have you ever heard a story so powerful that it reverberated loudly through your interior landscape? Or it stopped you cold in your tracks and made you think – hard – about your life? I did in 1994, and it’s still with me today. For weeks and weeks after attending a professional conference where I first heard this story, I told everyone I encountered this tale. And I mean everyone.

Primary topic: Hope

10,817 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Does the Soul Remember?

There is much research being done around past-life memories and experiences. People undergo past life regressions with trained regression therapists or they have spontaneous memories. Perhaps, they have knowledge or a skill set for which they were not trained or a huge fear without any rational basis. Or they meet someone with whom they have a meaningful connection that feels timeless and familiar.

Primary topic: Hope

2,118 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Six struggles and coping strategies for the motherless and unmothered

Being without a mother is special kind of club. Only those that share the experience understand the profound ache for once what was or could have been. Mothers are lost for a myriad of reasons - be it childbirth itself, accident, illness, poverty, circumstances of family, culture, or fate, and the like. Mothers, though physically present, can, also, go missing by way of grief, addiction, depression, subjugation, psychiatric issues, and life doing life. These moms, for whatever set of reasons, are unable to mother. I call their children "unmothered."

Primary topic: Hope

2,359 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Too nice? Have I lost my edge?

I have been called nice – a lot – frequently. I know people mean well, but nice can be…er, well…nice. It is so fluffy, so sweet, so damning with faint praise. There is no bite in nice – and that is precisely the point. Nice is toothless and gummy. It leaves no marks. Nice lacks gravitas. There is no substance, and good God, it is certainly perceived as the antithesis of power and strength. As a child, my father called me the “one with balls” and my younger sister was described as “damn nice.” At the time, I inwardly howled, “But I am nice, too.” I thought I could be both.

Primary topic: Hope

2,236 views4/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Let's Talk Alte ative Healing

I recently returned from an inte ational conference on shamanism and alte ative healing. This particular conference has been going long and strong for 25 years. As with most things these days, it made me think. I wondered why we, and I include myself in that “we,” are so resistant to other ...I recently returned from an inte ational conference on shamanism and alte ative healing. This particular conference has been going long and strong for 25 years. As with most things these days, it made me think.

Primary topic: Hope

2,495 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

The Christmas Black and Blues

This year, the winter solstice is December 20. The word “solstice” is derived from the Latin for “sun standing still.” This solstice, a pagan precursor to Christmas and other seasonal holy days, denotes the return of the light and a decline in the darkness. And for most of us, that return of ...This year, the winter solstice is December 20. The word “solstice” is derived from the Latin for “sun standing still.” This solstice, a pagan precursor to Christmas and other seasonal holy days, denotes the return of the light and a decline in the darkness.

Primary topic: Hope

2,054 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Review: Medical Renaissance Series: The Secret Code (DVD) by C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.

Harvard-trained neurosurgeon and founder of the American Holistic Medical Association, C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D. has created a documentary film, “Medical Renaissance Series: The Secret Code.” It is well worth a viewing.

Primary topic: Hope

4,692 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

V Is For Vulnerable

Today, my friends, we are spinning, spinning, spinning the alphabet wheel. Can you hear it whinny and whir through its multiple rotations of 26 choices? And after the occasional stutter and stumble, it eventually settles and makes its home on the venerable “V.” Ah … “V”; it’s a letter that we ...Today, my friends, we are spinning, spinning, spinning the alphabet wheel. Can you hear it whinny and whir through its multiple rotations of 26 choices? And after the occasional stutter and stumble, it eventually settles and makes its home on the venerable “V.”

Primary topic: Hope

2,610 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Were you Cleopatra?

Or, maybe, Julius Caesar or William Shakespeare or Marie Antoinette? Discussions of past lives are often met with a bit of a smirk. Do you really believe? And the answer is, “Yes, I do.” I look at past life information in a number of different ways. It serves as a teacher; it explains talents, predispositions and interests; it illuminates personal archetypal patterns; and it expands our consciousness beyond the three-dimensional being we are at this moment and, thereby, enhances our soul growth.

Primary topic: Hope

3,937 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Welcome, Class, to Advanced Uncertainty

Is your world more down than up? Has sideways become your new vertical? Have your health, sanity, relationships, future plans, money, housing and/or employment conce s been in bucking-bronco states of flux? Have global warming, political warring, economic forecasting, ecological nightmares and cresting costs-of-living upped your blood pressure, lowered your sleep quotient and played havoc with your moods? Are you cranky, hypervigilant and more fearful than you care to admit? Is it mind-numbing to ascertain what is or what isn't dangerous in your food, environment or medicine cabinet?

Primary topic: Hope

3,862 views4.5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

The Tao of 007

I like James Bond. I like him for all the obvious reasons. He is dashing, witty, intelligent, sexy, fun, etc., but it's his less obvious qualities that make me a hard-core admirer.

Primary topic: Hope

3,894 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Have you read The Shack?

This is a book that has generated a great deal of conversation. Some love it; some hate it. For over a year, The Shack by Wm. Paul Young has been on The New York Times bestseller list. Young wrote this book as a Christmas gift for his six children. He also shared a few copies with friends and was urged to consider a wider audience. So, Young collaborated with two former pastors, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, and they tightened up the book and looked for publishers. None, neither secular nor religious, was interested.

Primary topic: Hope

3,458 views5/5 (3)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

The Seven Essential Questions

It's spring here in the northeast. The forsythia branches are showing their first spurts of yellow; the air is warmer; and the puppy dogs on the street are friskier because the world is a-w-a-k-e and alive and full of good things to sniff out and smell. These spring energies of rebirth and regeneration prompt feelings of clearing and claiming. So, with this in mind, I offer you The Seven Essential Questions.

Primary topic: Hope

1,380 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Soul Survivor: The Reinca ation of a World War II Fighter Pilot

Do you believe in reinca ation? Past lives? A regular, hard-working, church-going couple, Andrea and Bruce Leininger were faced with these very questions when their two-year-old son, James, began have unremitting nightmares and shouting the words, “Plane on fire! Little man can’t get out!”

Primary topic: Hope

4,305 views3/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***How are we changed by devastating loss?

It is a tender day here in Connecticut. My eyes well with tears at the memory of the senseless shooting of beautiful, bright-eyed first graders, teachers, and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Loss is never easy. Loss of a child is especially traumatic. Loss of so many children leaves us speechless and shaking with emotion. How do any of us walk through this miasma of agony? As you well know, we just do … one foot in front of the other. Life does continue, day after day.

Primary topic: Hope

1,395 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Stalled? Change One Thing

Stalled, stuck, and procrastinating? Take heart, there is always a new day. There is always a new door to try. We, humans, want to be our better selves, we really do, but sometimes we get in our own way. Or we are just too comfy to let go of the old patterns. Or, like shiny things, everything else grabs our attention.

Primary topic: Hope

1,481 views3/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Is Being Sensitive a Blessing or a Curse?

There is the almost eye-roll and rather superior voice that announces to you, as if you were not aware, that you’re so-o-o-o sensitive. The implication is that this is not a good thing. You are somehow defective For years, I felt they were right. I was the one feeling all the bumps in the road, and they were cruising along in shock-absorbed comfort. What was wrong with me?

Primary topic: Hope

8,509 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***The Forgiveness List

There are days I feel like I am treading as fast as I can and barely can keep my head above water. Glub, glub, glub. Technology is wonderful, and, equally, it can be exhausting for me. My email in-boxes are full of great things I want to read and way too many good intentions on my part to respond with substance and depth to many meaningful emails. As the saying goes,” I am dancing as fast as I can” and yet, I am still not getting the job done. This makes me feel yucky. I hate this about myself.

Primary topic: Hope

2,004 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Attention: Hell and High Water Ahead

I have recently been working with a wonderful, young woman who has been struggling mightily with her recovery from addictions. She had relapsed after some good, solid sobriety. Relapse is like any kind of breakdown on the path. It is where things fall apart; traction is lost, and chaos reigns. It is akin to a scary drop down the rabbit hole. You have no idea where you will land, who you will meet in the fast, free fall, and how mangled your body and soul will be when you finally hit bottom.

Primary topic: Hope

2,576 views3/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

50 Ways to Feed Your Soul

Remember Paul Simon’s song, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”? It’s a catchy tune, right? In fact, can you see me humming? I am loosely, very loosely, borrowing the concept. Instead of talking about ditching your lover, I am going for a gentler, happier thought and want to consider: 50 ways to feed ...Remember Paul Simon’s song, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”? It’s a catchy tune, right? In fact, can you see me humming? I am loosely, very loosely, borrowing the concept.

Primary topic: Hope

11,518 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Your Cosmic Backpack for 2009

2008 has been a roller coaster kind of year -- lots of ups and downs, twists and bends, ramped-up runs at full speed, then, fast, breath-taking drops into thin air. Clearly, 2008 has not been dull. And, with that in mind, let’s review: What have we learned – or, at the very least, been ...2008 has been a roller coaster kind of year -- lots of ups and downs, twists and bends, ramped-up runs at full speed, then, fast, breath-taking drops into thin air.

Primary topic: Hope

2,465 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Hey, it's scary out there

Eating tranquilizers, pounding Jack, inhaling carbs? Do you need to be sedated before you watch the evening news? Do you come home from work black, blue and bedraggled, feeling as if you have done a few rounds with the great Muhammad Ali? Has your relentless job hunting evolved into Groundhog Day revisited? Has chronic CNN and MSNBC watching given you PTSD? Is your life an episode of Survivor? Have you been known, from time to time, to take refuge on the floor of your closet?

Primary topic: Hope

3,318 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

The Three Toms

Recently, a very dear friend of mine lost three relatives -- her 30 year old nephew, 96 year old uncle, and 62 year old brother, in that order. They died within a mere six weeks of one another. All were named Tom. The causes of death: murder, the complications of old age, and a sudden heart ...Recently, a very dear friend of mine lost three relatives -- her 30 year old nephew, 96 year old uncle, and 62 year old brother, in that order. They died within a mere six weeks of one another. All were named Tom. The causes of death: murder, the complications of old age, and a sudden heart attack.

Primary topic: Hope

2,706 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

How To Hang On Through Uncertainty

The dentist, knowing my profession, teased me this morning and asked if people were ready to jump out of buildings. Yes, it’s scary out there. We, as a nation, are treading unknown territory. We have collectively spent more than we earned. The government is bailing and bailing to the tune of ... The dentist, knowing my profession, teased me this morning and asked if people were ready to jump out of buildings.

Primary topic: Hope

2,619 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Tired and cranky? Time for a vacation?

Have you met anyone recently who isn’t tired? It seems to be a national, if not inte ational, pandemic. Most everyone is a bleary-eyed, caffeinated automaton who is putting one cranky foot down after the other. Even the kids with their over-scheduled days and burgeoning back-packs can ... Have you met anyone recently who isn’t tired? It seems to be a national, if not inte ational, pandemic. Most everyone is a bleary-eyed, caffeinated automaton who is putting one cranky foot down after the other. Even the kids with their over-scheduled days and burgeoning back-packs can relate.r

Primary topic: Hope

3,377 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***How can you be happy if you are never enough?

This is what I call my riff on happiness and self-acceptance. It came out of a maddening conversation with a client who has struggled with finding happiness and feeling as if he is never enough. How can you be happy if it’s never enough, not ok enough, good enough, successful enough, famous enough, good looking enough, rich enough, thin enough, pain free enough, firm enough, enough enough? How can you be happy if you are in a perpetual state of wanting, comparing, and judging?

Primary topic: Hope

2,440 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Pay It Forward

Someone wise once said, “If you have much, give your wealth; if you have little, give your heart.” And here is the perfect occasion: Thursday, April 28 is inte ational Pay It Forward Day. Based on the 2000 movie of the same name, Pay It Forward is the concept of doing a good deed for another.

Primary topic: Hope

4,115 views5/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Redemption in Joplin

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. I am back in Connecticut after three weeks of Red Cross deployment in Joplin, MO. I arrived in Joplin eight days after the tornado. Everything was still chaotic -- and my repeated response to viewing what was termed “the footprint,” the 6 x 1 mile area of total devastation, was “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God” over and over again. There are no words to accurately describe being in a disaster zone of such magnitude. This is my third experience in a disaster zone and each comes with its own specific horrors – and graces, as well.

Primary topic: Hope

2,467 views3/5 (1)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

My top 12 lessons of 2010

In 2010, I moved, attended one symphony, took two cab rides, read 39.5 books, watched 18 movies, visited seven museums, had a banner year with eight Broadway shows as well as eight train trips, travelled by plane 12 times, spent 38 nights in hotels, witnessed the death of a dear friend, mastered Skype, gained-lost-regained the same 10 lbs., started a blog, wrote a book, began a radio show (more on this soon), upped my flossing, lost my motivation for the gym and generally was blessed by the universe and loved ones in countless ways.

Primary topic: Hope

2,647 views4.5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

And the signs say, "Don't Push"

I am a woman who believes that there are messages in everything. In other words, everything is symbolic to me. So, what am I to think when 10 days before I head to my long-awaited, greatly-anticipated trip to the UK, I fall into a small well on uneven pavement – a hole, if you will – after a day full of clients? Grace in action, I am not. My fall necessitated wheelchair services at both JFK and Heathrow. Those are humbling experiences. A friend asked, “Why didn’t you cancel your trip?” I responded, “It never dawned on me.”

Primary topic: Hope

2,746 views3/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

The weight of wait

Like Oprah, I have spent my life dealing with weight and have recently regained once-lost avoirdupois. I hate that. I end up hating myself and then it’s that all-too-familiar battle of up and down, Monday is a new start, last hoorah Sundays and so forth in a addictive cycle that has its roots in both biochemistry and emotion.

Primary topic: Hope

3,524 views5/5 (2)

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

Fatherly thoughts

Over eight days in June, there is the trifecta of Father’s Day, my father’s birthday, and the anniversary of his death 36 years ago. If alive, my father would be 101 this year.

Primary topic: Hope

1,496 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

St. Germain and doing the "Up Spiral"

This piece was written with through the generosity of St. Germain. All of us would all agree that life is going faster and faster by the minute. We can’t stay on top of everything, much less get everything done. And there is change everywhere. Much of what we have been taught as real is being shown to be anything but real. And we have learned that when we disengage energetically – in other words, unplug from our connection with Spirit - we feel as if we are in free fall. And when in free fall, we get overwhelmed. We doubt. We wonder if we are doing the right thing.

Primary topic: Hope

1,193 views

By Adele McDowellRecently published1 topic

***Help, I fell off my yoga mat

Ever have one of those days? You are brimming with newly found motivation and re-aligned resolution. You haven’t even walked out of the door, yet, and the thought of what you are going to accomplish has you filled with button-bursting pride. You are puffed up with purpose. You are ready to course correct. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. By sheer force of will and determination coupled with the fact that you have crossed that ultimate threshold: your clothes have shrunk, you get up and go to the gym.

Primary topic: Hope

4,715 views4.8/5 (5)

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