I recently invited members of the Soul Speak community to share their Soul Stories – that moment in your life when you realized there was much more to you than just a human body, when you remembered that you had a soul, and when you felt on a deep level your connection to everything in the universe. It’s that moment when you felt completely loved and filled with light.

Throughout 2014, I’ll be sharing some of the amazing stories that I received. It’s my hope that they open your heart to what’s possible and help you feel how connected we all are to each other and also to the universe. Enjoy! 🙂

In July of 2011, I woke up in a hospital bed to be told my autoimmune system had gone rogue. My kidneys had effectively stopped functioning.

This was in fact my second near-death experience, the first having happened with being hit by a car when I was a teenager. But that’s another story.

One big difference was that this second time of dancing with the Grim Reaper, while recovering I got my soul message. It came to me in three parts:

1. It looked like I was here on the planet for a purpose.
2. I had better get serious about that.
3. It was all about self-love. 

And when I say “message,” I mean just that.

Here’s my story:

On July 16^th 2011, I found myself in bed at our public hospital in Tweed Heads, Australia. I was surrounded by a group of doctors and nursing staff. I have no recollection of the details, but the specialist apparently was sharing his diagnosis and prognosis and the action he was proposing to take. I had basically experienced a total kidney failure.

The specialist then said that only 25% of people recover fully from the condition, which meant that for the rest who actually live to tell the tale there is the prospect of a possible transplant or a life on dialysis.

The only option that appealed to me was to fully recover.

I said “Well, I will be one of the 25 %.”

I said “I am going to meditate and use my Law of Attraction tools to see myself home and healed.”

I think I was already so focused on recovery that some of the negative information was obviously not getting through to me. Looking back now I think that was not such a bad thing.

Fortunately, things from that Saturday morning on moved positively.

One week later, while I was sitting in the dialysis chair in the renal unit, I had a powerful experience. I was having what was to be my last dialysis treatment and the first of many plasma exchanges. I was in a meditative state, and I received the message after asking what this was all about. The very clear message was to take a new direction and focus in both my life and my business.

The message was: 

“Love – that is what this is all about, Suzie. It’s all about love. You will be healed when you see and feel only love for yourself first and then you will be all that you have to love and to give. 

When it is totally anchored in inner peace and the feeling of pure joy that allows the awakening that is already you to emerge. 

That’s the inspiration: that’s the ripple effect.” 

After receiving this message, I reflected on what had been going on in my life that could have caused my body to want to stop. And although this is hard for me to acknowledge because I pride myself on being a super multi-tasker, I believe it was basically overwhelm. 

At that time I was getting ready to expand my business activities, including launching a new program and extending the Change Warrior series I had begun a few months earlier. I had also just started to paint again. The list went on and on – I was completely overwhelmed.

My body stopped, which meant that all of these projects had to go on the back burner while I took time to heal and to address the issues of self love and patience.

I needed to rest. Especially during the time I was still spending on weekly treatments at the hospital renal unit. I had an abundance of time to reflect. And yes there was an amount of “So why me?” that would arise at times too.

Thankfully, all the indications showed that I was progressing well and everyone was becoming optimistic that I would recover. That optimism was short-lived though, because I ended up back in the hospital in November of 2011.

This was the real wake up call.

I knew that if I was truly going to heal, I needed to rest and really take care of myself. So I used the time in the hospital to watch documentaries like The Tapping Solution and movies like Eat Pray Love – and some comedies too: laughter is good medicine.

While in the hospital, I also spent time journaling, meditating, practicing Ho’oponopono (the ancient Hawaiian ritual of reconciliation and forgiveness, and specifically the mantra “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.”) and Emotional Freedom Technique. I continued to paint as well – mostly intuitive hearts. At the time I didn’t realize how significant these hearts were, both for my healing and for the way the hearts would lead me to get real clarity on my mission. This was my soul’s way of making sure I was listening this time. 

I took the time to heal, and this time it was so important to face my love for myself head on, which sometimes meant asking for help. Because I’ve always been so independent, this hasn’t been the easiest for me. It has not always been easy. But I have come to see that asking for help can be an expression of self love, and that feels great!

I’ve changed so much over the years since my hospital visit. I am so much healthier – I eat an alkaline diet. This I believe was a self-love gesture for my body, and I know it was a major factor in healing my kidneys. I have become softer, have more patience, and have a greater ability to ask for help. I am kinder to myself, and the self-love tools I have used and continue to use on a daily basis have been empowering.

I can see that the path I have been on since 2011 has changed me in many ways – changed much of my life, my health, and given me clarity on how I can live my dream of creating huge ripples of change in the world. I am excited to reach one person at a time by helping them learn to love themselves and their lives.

I still slip back into old patterns, but now I recover much more quickly. So my emotional resilience is also improving.

My really big learning from all of this has been the shift to listening to the whispers of my heart. It was my heart whispers, especially in that experience in the dialysis chair back in July 2011, that told me I needed to embrace my own love. The whispers come through, too, while I am painting.

My business has changed so much just by my listening to my heart and bringing that message into it.

I know that through my art I am releasing and embracing my own sense of self worth and sharing it with others who are ready to do as I did and cut through the disempowering mind chatter that so often takes over and tries to keep our true heart’s desires from shining through.

Telltale signs of “wandering off track” are just not feeling good and having more shallow breathing. I recognize those signs so much faster than I did previously.

What I do know now is that when I listen and trust the whispers of my heart I am in alignment with my purpose to be love and to share love.

It feels good. I experience more love, more joy, and more abundance on a daily basis.

***

Suzie Cheel is an artist, a certified Law of Attraction facilitator, Vision Board Coach, an inspirational author, and healer. Suzie has a gift for showing people how to cut through their disempowering mind chatter and listen to the whispers of their heart, where true wisdom is found. Suzie’s passion is helping you connect to the loving messages inside so you can truly Love YOU. She does this through her art , her words, and her coaching. http://suziecheel.com

Thank you so much, Suzie, for sharing your heart with us!

Hugs,