Ever watched trapeze artists in a circus? Then you’ll know that, high flyers need strong safety nets. Sure, some people perform without one, but that’s a huge risk, that could result in paralysis.
There’s a big difference between self-responsibility (the ability to respond to your need for healing) vs other-responsibility (the ability to respond to other people’s needs). Most people flunk the first category because they’re so focused on the second. We’ve been trained since birth to give rather than receive, a bit like battery chickens. Unfortunately, this is an unsustainable cycle.
It’s ok if you like being a worker bee, but as soon as you try to take back your power, e.g. by starting a business or falling pregnant, you’ll be confronted with lots of spiritual homework. Your body is like a puppy dog, it can’t eat, drink, go for a walk, or toilet without your help. So be compassionate. Treat yourself well.
As a highly sensitive person who doesn’t block their feelings with drugs, alcohol or television, I have a life of high highs and low lows. That’s why I’ve cultivated a network of friends, who have saved my life. Their love has taught me the benefits of radical self-care.
Five Reasons You Need A Sanity Checklist
1) You often feel alone, e.g. because you don’t see eye to eye with your family of origin, or they live too far away to support you. Many ambitious Souls choose an intense or difficult childhood, to ensure that they leave the nest early, and have a burning desire to help and heal. After all, if it’s warm weather all the time, you never learn to shovel snow! This checklist strengthens your resourcefulness, so that you feel self-love even when others ignore you.
2) You want to be the best at what you do. The smartest people have even smarter teachers – someone had to teach Mozart piano right? Olympic athletes have coaches, because they don’t have time to waste – neither do you. A checklist helps you improve your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health over time. What we measure always grows.
3) You’ve had depression or anxiety in the past. Even the strongest antidepressants can’t beat a community of people who listen to you. This checklist reminds you to reach out. If you find socialising draining, this is a sign that you need to change friends. When we’re around people with clear hearts and no expectations, we feel energised, not depleted.
4) You’re planning major changes in the next few years*. My number one rule for success is, only ask for advice from someone who has the results you want. Why would you ask a baker how to fly a plane? Excuse the pun, but that’s a recipe for disaster.
*If you see 11:11 or other repeating numbers, your Soul may be asking you to swap a conventional lifestyle for an alternative one. I went from science and fundraising to psychic work and feel much younger as a result. This checklist will help you stay energised so you can achieve your goals.
5) You want to experience unconditional love. There’s strength in numbers. It’s not fair to expect your boss/ partner to be your counsellor/ life coach/ healer as well, even if that’s their day job. Having a checklist reminds you to spread the load. It could even save your job or marriage. Read some myths about Soulmates.
How To Create Your Sanity Checklist
Grab a piece of paper and answer these five simple questions. This process is an easy is an easy way to monitor your energy vibration or frequency. Coincidences like 11:11 suggest you are living at a high vibration. Think of yourself as a monkey climbing a banana plant. The higher you go, the more fruit you can reach. It’s ok to fall sometimes – that’s what happens when you stretch yourself (!)
1) 10 Signs I’m Happy. Mine are: singing to myself, jumping out of bed in the morning, spontaneously calling friends, feeling warm, laughing a lot, receiving many bookings at work, having positive dreams, saving 10% of my income, keeping my space clear (doing chores, laundry etc) and enjoying my meals.
2) 10 Signs I’m Unhappy. Mine are: not listening to music for more than a week, feeling exhausted in the morning, not wanting to answer my phone, suffering cold feet and a stiff neck, finding myself frowning, receiving cancellations at work or attracting weird clients, having insomnia/ nightmares, overspending, hoarding clutter and emotional eating.
3) 10 People I Trust. Mine change over time but include a mix of loved ones and people on this list of teachers and healers.
4) 10 Ways To Lift My Mood. Mine are dance, yoga, bushwalking, cooking a meal and getting a massage or healing.
5) 5 Affirmations. Mine are:
-‘The next step is always illuminated/ I know what to do next.’
-‘Rest is the best reward I can give myself’
-‘I go calmly in the midst of praise or blame’
-‘If it can be solved in an hour, it’s a task, a day, it’s a job, a month, it’s a dilemma, a year, it’s a problem’ (you guessed it, almost everything turns out to be a task or a job, not a problem!)
-‘Better done than perfect.’
How To Use Your Sanity Checklist
Stick this page somewhere where you can see it everyday.
Each morning, scan the page and notice if you relate more to 1) Signs I’m Happy or 2) Signs I’m Unhappy.
If you’re mainly happy, awesome – go to 5) Affirmations and read out some positive words for the day.
If you’re a mixture or mainly unhappy, take action! Call or meet someone from 3) People I Trust ASAP.
Also do one thing from 4) Ways To Lift My Mood, no excuses. Your vibration is at stake! Then, if it feels right, go to 5) Affirmations and read them out.
Feel free to update your checklist anytime you need to. This process works because you’re the creator, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. If you’re a visual person, why not add photos or pictures to the poster to make it more appealing? More on vision boarding.
True story: I’ve been struggling recently due to my friend Butterfly’s illness and passing. During the past few weeks, I ticked all ten of my unhappy signs. So I had several healings in a row to make sure I didn’t pass my gloom onto baby Forrest. Here were the results:
1 x Counselling with Simone Abrahams
– Shifted a block around absorbing other people’s pain
1 x Crystal Healing with Deniz Akan
-Dissolved a past life issues around persecution. I saw a woman in a castle hiding from a mob. They caught her because she was unprotected. After the healing, I saw her again surrounded by an army of helpers – the enemy couldn’t even enter the country. I knew this was a metaphor for my immune system.
1 x Coaching with Elissa Freeman
-Disappeared a past life phobia of getting married and hearing my children cry, related to a traumatic death as a healer where I was hung in front of my family.
1 x Counselling with Maha Laxmi Grace
-Finally connected the dots around a bullying incident in my 20’s with
1 x Craniosacral Therapy with Veronica Farmer
-Released significant tension and fear from my hips that I’d held since Forrest’s birth five months ago.
-Forrest also had an adjustment, which immediately improved his digestion.
2 x Lotus Healings with Vicki Haspels
-Extremely deep chakra clearing and balancing which brought dramatic relief from anxiety and insecurity.
-Mediumistic visions of my past, present and future that helped me understand my life purpose.
-Sense of rebirth and being upgraded to Sarah 2.0.
I also went to my regular yogababy class, had a Thai Massage and did personal past life regression clearings. Before I did psychic work, I never sought help for trauma. Even after the 2004 tsunami, I waited a year to get counselling.
