The Gift of Crisis

Bridgitte Jackson Buckley, is a freelance writer, author and ghostwriter whose focus includes spirituality, transformational documentaries, and in-depth interviews. She is a former contributor to General Religion on the National circuit of Examiner.com as the National Spirituality Examiner. In this capacity, she interviewed New Thought luminaries such as Eckhart Tolle, Iyanla Vanzant, Deepak Chopra, Radhanath Swami, Elizabeth Gilbert, Penney Peirce, James Van Praagh, Paul Selig, Gary Zukav, Marie Forleo, and several others including American singer, songwriter and guitarist Trevor Hall. As a freelance writer, she has written online articles for Examiner, Tiny Buddha, Recreate Your Life Story, Thrive Global, Medium, Gaia and Patheos’ Spirituality Itself. Print publication includes: Awareness Magazine, January/February 2017, “An Interview with Megan McFeely: As She Is Honors the Feminine Consciousness” Awareness Magazine, March/April 2017, “Global Warming: A Crisis of Consciousness” In addition to the aforementioned work, she was the lead writer to launch the following projects on behalf of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN): Oprah & Deepak’s Guide to Whole Health: ‘Seven Days to Restful Sleep’; Oprah & Deepak’s 21-Day Meditation Experience: Become What You Believe; SuperSoul.TV Website Launch Bridgitte was born in Los Angeles, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (B.A., Psychology).She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) from Honduras, Central America. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and has traveled extensively throughout Central America including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Additional travels also include Hong Kong, Malaysia and (her favorite adventure) Thailand. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, three children and Miniature Schnauzer. Janet Conner is a prayer artist, writer, radio host, and mystic field guide—but first and always a deep soul explorer. Her books include the bestselling Writing Down Your Soul, The Lotus and The Lily, Soul Vows, Find Your Soul’s Purpose and more. In addition to writing and teaching, Janet hosts rich conversations with spiritual leaders on her weekly radio show, The Soul-Directed Life. She lives in as much silence and solitude as possible in tiny Ozona Florida.

Gift of Crisis Introduction Excerpt #1:

Within each of us there is a higher part that goes beyond our conscious awareness. This part

of us, the Higher Self, communicates with a higher, more expansive and intelligent Divine

Consciousness that some refer to as God, Goddess, I AM Presence or something else. The Higher

Self is a part of the Divine Consciousness. It is part of you, yet more than you. Within the

practice of quieting the mind to connect with our Higher Self, we can access unconscious

information from the highest part of ourselves. Meditation is the “doorway” through which

information can be brought into our conscious awareness, to identify the highest course of action

towards the highest outcome.

I began to notice the ways in which meditation helped me become aware of how I blocked

the flow of inner guidance with constant thinking and worry, and my resistance to let go of that

which I no longer wanted. I also began to notice how grace appeared in my life in simple, yet

miraculous outcomes. These experiences pushed me to thoroughly examine my self-sabotaging

habits, beliefs, emotional patterns and ways of perceiving and being in the world. I had to make

an effort to uncover the hidden parts of myself that kept me attached to financial disarray and

problematic situations. I had a lot of “un-learning” to do. Overtime my mind began to interpret

fewer situations as stressful. I was able to remain more centered and be less agitated by external

events. I wasn’t as susceptible to emotional triggers. As I continued to meditate and pray, there

was less fear and agony and more openness to new possibilities.

I share this with you because I have come to see that although the guidance was for me and

came through me, it was not solely for me. It is also for those who find themselves in similar

situations of distress, and are willing to cultivate a connection with a higher consciousness to

better discern where life is trying to lead you. Knowing that we see ourselves in the stories of

others, it is my sincerest wish that the guidance from these meditations is as helpful to you as it

has been for me. It is my wish that you will grow to trust yourself; that you will trust the inner

guidance that is available and within you. It is my hope that you will seek out opportunities for

personal growth that lie in mundane long-term struggles, and come to know that nothing we

experience in this life is futile. With hindsight it becomes clear that struggle and triumph both

serve a higher purpose for personal growth. And finally, it is my greatest hope that you will have

the courage to let your crisis become the catalyst that leads you onto your highest life path. So

often it is said that “meditation helps” until it almost seems like a redundant Hallmark-ish cliché.

I can honestly say this is absolutely true. Meditation does help. Meditation can help.

1​

Gift of Crisis Introduction Excerpt #2:

After years of prolonged financial problems, I could no longer dismiss the repetition of these

problems in my life. The crises in my life eventually served as catalysts for me to understand

that I needed to make different choices to engage higher perspectives. In reading self-help and

personal growth books, I began to understand when there is a reoccurring problem, such as the

financial hardship we experienced, the underlying higher messages want to be revealed. They

will make a continuous unyielding effort to get our attention through repeated states of crisis.

The opportunity that lies within perpetual crisis is to be willing to look closely, and identify the

underlying patterns and message in what is happening around you.

The prolonged crisis, along with the hundreds of books I read and uplifting talks I attended,

encouraged me to be still to allow the deeper messages to make themselves known. It was from

this humble beginning that I actively began to participate in my personal unfoldment by means

of what would become my saving grace, going within and seeking clarity through meditation and

prayer.

During my meditations, in addition to periods of silence after prayer, I began to ask questions

to solicit clarity and guidance. I noticed that answers would indeed come into my awareness.

However, as soon as the meditation was over, I would forget what guidance came into my

awareness. The only way to remember would be for me to write it down. It was at that time I

decided to bring a pad and pen to my meditation and prayer sessions. At the start of the

meditation, I would first pray then move into a period of sustained silence. With my eyes closed I

would then say the following:

“I call upon my Higher Self to join me in my meditation. During this meditation, I ask that

you protect me from any and all vibrations, energies, frequencies and communications in all

directions of time past, present and future that are not of love, light and the highest good. Please

let this communication be clear. Let the answers be communicated to me in a way that is easy for

me to understand. Please let me feel your loving energy when you are ready to begin. I thank

you in advance for your presence.”

For more than one year, I sat in a meditative state and asked questions to help me navigate

the difficult and uncertain times I faced. The guidance I recorded helped me to move through

some of the most difficult and unsettling times with comforting reassurance that I was deeply

loved, there was no need to be afraid and that I was not alone. The guidance I received, however,

were not the answers I wanted. My posed questions and concerns were attempts to address the

immediate unfavorable conditions that surrounded me. The guidance during my meditation,

however, provided the larger context of what was happening in my life and the higher messages

that sought to make themselves known.​

Foreword

Introduction

PART I: THE CRISIS

Ch. One: The Foreclosure

Ch. Two:Notice-to-Quit

1. What is a Vision?

2. Let the Vision Reveal Itself

 Contemplative Questions

3. Hold the Vision

 How to Hold the Vision

 How to Nurture the Vision

 What Sabotages the Vision?

4. Trust the Vision

5. Surrender

6. Faith

Ch. Three:Change is Simply Change

1. Change

 Key components to accept change

 Key points to remember regarding change

 Contemplative Questions

2. Let Fearful Beliefs Disintegrate

 Key points to remember regarding fearful thoughts

 Contemplative Questions

 How to let fearful thoughts disintegrate

3. Let the Universe Support You

 How to let the universe support you

4. Let the Experience Flow

 How to let the experience flow

 Quiet reminders to repeat when having difficulty letting the

experience flow

5. Create the Pathway for Expansion

6. Maintain a State of Calm

 Suggestions to maintain a state of calm

7. Believe It, Then See It

PART II: THE CATALYSTS

Ch. Four:Hiding the Hardship

1. Nothing is Futile

 Key points to remember nothing is futile

 Exercise​

2. Importance of Being Grounded

 Key points about being grounded

3. Everything is Rising to the Surface

 Examples of negative core beliefs

 Contemplative questions

 Key points about everything rising to the surface

4. Speak from Your Heart

 Key points to speak from your heart

Ch. Five:Letting Go

1. You Cannot Escape What Needs to be Resolved

 How to release what no longer has a place in your life

2. Allow your Higher Self to Reconnect with Your Worldly Self

 How to allow the reconnection

3. Move Toward Growth, Toward the Life Force

4. The Pull of Old and Destructive Patterns

5. Let Love Express Itself

Ch. Six:The Role of Family in Spiritual Growth

PART III: THE PATH

Ch. Seven:Opening up to Grace

1. Welcome New Opportunities

2. Be Open to All That Needs to Flow through You

3. Embrace Courage

Ch. Eight:Willing to be Visible

1. To Look for it is also to Notice it’s “Not There.”

2. You Will Know Where and How to Serve

3. The Possibility to Create Greater Discomfort or More of What You Want

 How to encourage possibilities

4. Participate in your life

Ch. Nine:Living on Purpose

1. There is No Magic Formula, No Magic Sprinkle Dust

2. Take Another Step

3. Know Without Needing Validation

4. Soul Call

Epilogue On Morning and Becoming