Some Final Thoughts & Blessings for Whitney Houston

I want to start by saying I never realized how special those musical childhood moments were with Dad and Whitney.  With many things in life, we don't. We are living in the now and many times we forget to be grateful for the people we are blessed to have with us. At the end of the day, a huge part of our life is about relationships and we must learn not to take those around us for granted.
Another important piece is recognizing our gifts and not taking those for granted either.

One of the most powerful things that I have learned from my mentor, is to take stock of your strengths. Very often the things in life that we are best at, are our gifts. Sometimes, we can fail to recognize them because it's the stuff that comes most easily to us.

But if we look at our talents as a gift (voice, drawing, any skills....) it's kind of cool to recognize that we have an amazing power to cultivate them! And then it enables us to share it with others, if we choose.
We also have the unfortunate ability to destroy them. Yikes!. This is not a great secret we see it everyday....

How would you feel if you felt like you had destroyed your most precious gift?
Or if people accused you of having destroyed your most precious gift? And then they publicly criticized you for it....?

Spiritual Traditions call it the Law Of Karma. Every action = a reaction. Every decision we make affects us, our career, our families, our friends.... Every step has an impact. YIKES! That's a lot of responsibility. So instead of making ourselves crazy by thinking about every move we make? I like to consider the idea that all we can do in every moment? Is to try to do our best.

One of our most sacred responsibilities in life is to learn to be the Best YOU. That's a job that no one else can do for you. It's important to recognize that your Best changes from day to day and varies depending on our circumstances.

It's hard to do your best when you are at your Worst
And it's twice as hard when the world is watching

I know that people are up in arms about the personal responsibility of our 'stars.'  I get that,  because often they are setting an example for fans, most especially our youth.
Let us please also remember that they have an extra load because everything they do is in the public light!

Contrary to what we want to believe, we don't really know our icons personally. We admire and respect them, but we only ever really know what they choose to share & what the media portrays. It goes without saying that the media is so very often skewed nowadays. That's how TV ratings rise (reality tv and news!) and how papers get sold. Keep that in mind, the color of sensationalism is kind of catastrophic & often very dark.

Addiction is a demon that brings out the worst in people. It is such a dangerous destructive force that it warrants an entire field of medicine!  It way too often misunderstood.   How can we possibly completely grasp it's impact?
Everyone is very quick to propose theories, but no one can ever know another persons internal struggle. And there's no way we can really "understand," Most especially if you've never wrestled with that monster.

Perhaps we can learn something here....??
Part of our responsibility in life is to uplift and hold up each other.
No person is an island. If you see someone in trouble, try to reach out. Maybe this tragedy will shed light for others and encourage them to get help?

I am acutely aware that at the end of the day our safety and wellness is our individual responsibility. But the support we have around us is of the utmost importance in any journey

My only hope now is that Whitney will find peace. (and that the negative media will please shush up!) She is a much brighter star that what our world has showed of her in recent years. We all deserve love & joy. Unfortunately it's not for other people to judge what we do with our talents. It is is our responsibility to hold our gifts sacred. No one can do that for us. The tragedy is that no amount of money or fame can reverse mistakes. Even when people offer a hand, only the individual has the power to change the course of their journey

At the end of the day. What matters most is our humanity. Never judge or suppose until you've walked at least a mile in another woman's heels....  ;-)

Maybe we can also start to think about the repercussions of our words on ourselves, our relationships and those we care about.

Take a moment to bless your gifts and give a hug to those you love  
Meredith

**Painting entitled "PO's Angels" by Patty Sheehan & Ona Matulic**