Miracles of Escape

11 Jan 2022 Leave a comment

by unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter in discernment, Hypnosis, Reiki, Dowsing and Self-Help, listening to your gut, mindfulness

A fellow dowser, Adhi Two Owls, told the story of how she escaped what should have been instant death in a vehicle accident. Her truck was totaled when it tumbled down a steep hill, yet she walked out without a bruise or scratch.

I find such stories fascinating. What was it that defied the laws of nature? Was it just not her ‘time’? Divine intervention? Dumb luck?

I  too have been faced many times with scary, dangerous situations in which I could have/should have died or been seriously hurt. Here are a few:

#1. A Last Minute Warning

As I was walking out the door to my first day of Kindergarten (those were the days when neighborhoods were safer), my mother told me not to accept rides from strangers. Ten minutes later as I walked by the vocational school, some rowdy students slowed their car along side of me and with leers and mocking tones tried to get me to take a ride with them.

Listening to my mother’s last minute warning saved me.

#2. The Disturbed Boy in the Basement

In grammar school, I went down to the basement of the two family house where my family lived. The basement was always left unlocked. There in the corner of our canning jars was a boy hiding, obviously terrified. I recognized him as the mentally ill boy who lived in the neighborhood. I talked him into coming upstairs for a special treat my mother would give us, and while it took a while to reassure him, he eventually did. My mother then called the police who took him home. I believe that paying attention and being alert as I entered the basement, staying a distance away, and calming speaking with the intruder whom I correctly identified as more scared than dangerous helped.

Being alert and aware of my surroundings, staying calm so that I could correctly assess a potentially tricky situation was vital in the safe de-escalation.

#3. Shrunken Heads

At age 14, I went along with my father on his business trip to Providence, Rhode Island. While he was going to be working, he thought that I would enjoy spending the day visiting the local museum and park. With the long day ahead of me, I started to more diligently looking around the museum by reading all the tags in the display cases. A worker approached me and asked if I wanted a tour. Before I knew it, he led me up to the attic and locked the door behind us. I kept talking as if nothing was wrong, but kept moving around the rows of shrunken heads, keeping my distance always a few feet ahead of him, and then calmly walked back down the attic stairs to the exit where I could have been heard if I screamed, all the while maintaining my cool before demanding that he unlock the door. He finally did, and I breathed a sigh of relief. 

While I stupidly had gone with him into the attic, what helped me was to rapidly assess my situation. I was intently aware of where he was and how he was moving as I stayed ahead of him without getting distracted by the objects stored there. I quickly scanned for resources of things I could use (the exit and how to get there), the most likely place people would hear me if I had to yell for help, furniture I could have used as a body block, things I could have used to throw at him or to make enough noise (ie. breaking a window) to bring assistance.

#4. A Few Inches Saved My Life

Just out of college, I was driving home from a friend’s house in my VW Beetle. It had rained, and for some reason, my car skidded across 3 highway lanes and was heading straight into the car in the oncoming lane. In what I thought was my last moment before certain death, a 3-4 inch concrete divider stopped my car and saved me from a head-on collision into the on-coming lane.

#5. A Time to Swim, and a Time to Float

The following year I was about to fly to Europe for a trip back to the ‘motherland’. After many years of sitting at my grandmother’s feet listening to stories of her growing up in Europe, I wanted to return to my roots. A few days before I was scheduled to fly, I went with some friends on an overnight camping trip to Fire Island, New York. We swam all day. After they got out of the water, I remained in the water thinking that it would be a long time before I saw the ocean again. But very quickly I got caught in a rip tide and was pulled out to sea. I tried swimming against the current, but I could not. I tried waving my arms and yelling, but my friends did not see or hear me over the roar of the surf. I was getting exhausted, taking in water. I knew I was in serious danger, but I also knew that I did not have the strength to fight the tide. I decided that the only thing that I could do was to flip onto my back, face the oncoming waves, and take a deep breath before each wave crashed over me. Staying calm and conserving my energy was paramount to staying above water.

I floated and floated for an unknown period of time before I was aware that several men were pulling me into shore. Somehow, I must have drifted out of the current and back into the natural incoming tide. I learnt an important lesson that day.

There is a time to swim and a time to float.

A time to do all in your power to take direct action, and a time to conserve your energy and ride it out when it is clear that there is nothing else you can do.

#6. Engine Trouble

Within the week, I was on a flight on Icelandic Airlines–the cheapest flight to Europe at the time. There was an hour long delay before passengers could board the plane in New York. Then another long delay on the tarmac. Next was an emergency landing in Nova Scotia for repairs. I asked a flight attendant about it. She responded that it was not anything serious like engine trouble, because if it were, we would be there for 4 hours. We were there for 4 hours. Continuing on the flight to Iceland, I saw one of the propellers sputter and stop, but we made it to land safely anyway. Many of the passengers decided not to get back on board while the plane was again grounded for yet another 4 hours of emergency repairs. But I continued. On the final leg of the trip, we flew only about 100 feet above the water where I watched the waves beneath us during the entire journey.

Very shaken, I arrived in Luxembourg and the youth hostel. While showering, all of my money and traveler’s checks were stolen. The next day, I went into town to report the theft to the police and the American Express office. I was stung by some flying insect that caused my entire arm to swell up as if I had elephantiasis, and gave me a fever that persisted for a few days. Back into town the next day for medical treatment. Bad omen for what was to come. 

Lesson: While I safely reached my destination, that was pure luck. I should have paid attention to all the obvious and done as so many other passengers did, which was to take another flight.

#6. A Premonition

Yet another time I was all packed and ready to leave central Virginia in my motorhome to speak at a hypnosis conference outside of Chicago. At the last minute before leaving, a neighbor called. And I was about to say “if I don’t see you again, I just want to say goodbye.” And I immediately thought, “what was that about?” This neighbor lived across the street. Of course, I am going to see her again, unless….something happened to me. Was I going to die on this trip? 

With a premonition of danger, I drove only 25 miles/hour over a long, windy, narrow mountain pass that goes up 4000+ feet and over the Appalachian Mountains. As I was coming down my brakes gave out just as I was going around a sharp curve.  This made it impossible for me to prevent hitting the tall boulders that lined the entire right side of the road. The side door of the motorhome was crushed, and I had to exit out a window. When I examined the damage, the impact missed the propane tank by only a couple of inches. Had I been going any faster, it would have exploded.

Paying attention to a premonition saved me .

#7. A Last Minute Thought

Again all packed and just 30 minutes before leaving for yet another conference half-way across the country, I had a last minute thought to make up the bed because I would be exhausted after driving all day. And it was paying attention to a last minute thought that saved me. This bed lowers from the ceiling. As I was tucking in the sheets, what was between my hands half-way under the bed, and looking eyeball to eyeball with me was a copperhead snake (very poisonous).

I dropped the mattress, ran outside and a neighbor to help me. Unfortunately, the snake escaped from his snare and was able to get into a floor vent and from there anywhere in the ventilation system. A State Trooper who raises poisonous snakes came to my aid. But we were unable to find and remove him. However, we found 3 more snakes in various areas of the storage bays. No surprise that I stayed home, put mothballs and glue traps everywhere, and didn’t drive that thing for a while. The thought of me driving at high speeds on the highway with these critters moving around, or me crawling into bed later?…..Scary!

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I invite you to write to me about your own stories of escape to remind us all of those moments of grace, divine intervention, or whatever made the difference.

Copyright 1/2022 by Roxanne Louise. However, this article may be shared in other free online sources only if this copyright notice and links included with the content

Learning from Bad Relationships – Part 2.

31 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

by unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter in discernment, Hypnosis, Reiki, Dowsing and Self-Help, listening to your gut Tags:

The below is the second  part of a series of real life examples. For Part 1. see https://unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter.com/2021/12/30/stuck-not-knowing-what-to-do/

In Part 1, I said that your gut might be telling you that something is ‘off’, but you don’t know what is off or how, whether those feelings are trustworthy, nor how serious they are, and what you should do about it. 

I gave you a real life example of circumstances that pushed me to get engaged to someone before really clarifying or knowing how things might change once we were married. And once I got a clear gut level warning that something was wrong on the eve of the wedding, I was so heavily invested that extraditing myself was going to be painful and humiliating. Consequently, I went ahead with the marriage only to break up a year later.

Here are other reasons why you may be stuck not knowing the right thing to do and why you are having difficulty in taking appropriate and timely action in a relationship – 

  • not considering or correctly knowing in advance the likely consequences of your choices or decisions, 
  • not having an older, wiser, more experienced person with whom you can confide for good advice,
  • not feeling comfortable in discussing certain matters with others who might be able to help,
  • low evaluation of your own self-worth,
  • difficulty or inability to stand up for yourself,
  • ignorance of your own power to make your dreams to come true on your own, and
  • fear – fear of making the wrong decision, fear of the other person, fear of being alone, fear of not making it on your own, fear of humiliation, fear of ___. 

Even with friends or loved ones, you might feel that some matters are too personal or embarrassing to discuss. Some topics are taboo especially with those who might judge you like your parents, teachers, or minister. Or you may think or find that others are as clueless as you and unable to help.

Perhaps you think you can choose one option, and if it doesn’t work out, that the other option will still be available for you. For some things that will be true. But other things are an either/or. Knowing that making one choice will forever close the door to the other option/s might be precisely why you are stuck and afraid to make a decision that may turn out to be a big mistake.

Too Young to Go Steady

My first love was in high school. His name was Donald. Donald was an aggressive pursuer who went after what he wanted, which was me. I was a twirler and he played in the band, so we were at all the school games together. We started going out every week, which usually meant the movies, sitting in the balcony to watch the first showing, then necking during the second. Then his father drove me home while to my embarrassment, Donald wanted to continue kissing me as his father saw us in the rear view mirror. 

At the end of junior year he asked me to go steady, but I felt too young to be in an exclusive relationship and never possibly date another person. So to let everyone in the school know that I was open to date other boys too, I invited someone else to the junior debutante ball. Don was hurt and broke up with me, taking someone else to the very same dance. I was sorry, but it was too late. 

Donald broke up with this girl after high school, and married someone he met in college. He became a surgeon and they raised a family together. I saw Donald again and met his lovely wife many years later at a high school reunion. He came up behind me, putting his hands over my eyes, then swinging me around to give me a big hug. He was my first love, as I believe I was for him. Donald finally died passing out from low blood sugar while flying his plane solo. 

What can I learn from this?  

I did not consider how my asking someone else to the dance would be seen by Donald as an unforgivable slap in the face in lieu of all the time we had spent together. Even if I did not want to go steady, I should have made my feelings of love clear to him , and have invited him to the dance.

He Says He Loves Me, But…..

With Donald clearly out of the picture, other boys asked me out. The next one of any importance will remain nameless. He was intelligent, genius level – so smart he was promoted a full school grade ahead although we were the same age. He was going to my father’s alma mater to become an engineer also like my father. I absolutely adored his family including his grandparents, aunts and uncles. In fact, I wanted to move out of my house as my mother and I fought a lot, and to be part of his family instead. 

This fellow like his predecessor was a fervent pursuer. We went out every weekend. He called me multiple times daily. He sent me letters although he lived close by. But he also was pressuring me more than I felt comfortable. 

One night as he drove me home after a date, he asked me to go steady. And like Donald before, I told him no. But this made him fly into a rage and he stepped on the gas until we were going 90 miles an hour down a residential road. He said that if he couldn’t have me that he would kill us both. 

I was now afraid to say no to him. Yet I told no one of the incident. Nor did I tell anyone that I suspected that his multiple daily phone calls were driven not just by love but to check up on me – to make sure that I was home and not out possibly with someone else (no cell phones in those days). 

I told no one either that a few times he waited at my car in the college parking lot. Was this love, obsession, or an insane jealousy to see if I was alone? If he was truly concerned, why not just meet me outside of class to walk me safely down the long hill to my car? It made me uncomfortable. Instead of feeling loved, I felt as if I was being watched or even stalked. But time would pass and my uneasiness would once more calm down. 

In my senior year in college, he asked me to marry him. I went to my father to tell him about the proposal secretly hoping he would say no. Yet still, I did not reveal the instances of periodic jealousy and temper of my suitor. Without knowing the details, my father gave me his permission to wed, and so I got engaged. I was unable to say no on my own.

As I said, the real draw to this man was his family. But in addition to that, my mother told me in a fit of anger that no man would want to live with or marry me. She said that only once, but it stung me so hard that it went deep into my psyche and I figured that no good man would want me, but only someone who needed me. This man wanted me. And all the girls my age were getting engaged and happily planning their weddings. I wanted that for myself too. 

In those days, a woman who had not snagged a husband [the phrase commonly used at the time] by a certain age was thought destined to be an old maid. The thinking of the time was that a woman needed a man to make it financially as well as it was the only socially unacceptable way she could have children, something I very much wanted.

Thankfully, an argument arose regarding wedding details. In front of his parents and sister, he flew into a rage, throwing a ring I had given him on the floor. His father drove me home. Having witnesses to his temper was precisely what I needed to finally have the strength to end the relationship. Once home, I called and told him to pick up the engagement ring I left in the mailbox. Now, it was finally over.

What allowed this relationship to continue for four years was that I lacked not only the inherent belief in being lovable and worthy of always being treated with respect, but I also lacked faith in myself to make my dreams to come true without a man there to support and love me. I bought into the current feeling of the times that a woman without a man was not just socially suspect, but unable to financially make it in the world, have a successful career, afford a home of her own, or be able to raise a family. I did not want to give up my dreams of what I thought was a good life, the American dream, nor did I want to be lonely. I wanted love and companionship. I wanted to belong to someone and make all the difference to their life. So I perhaps was fooling myself that I could have been happy with this person, or that I felt more for him than I did.

What can I learn from this? 

•Low self worth sets you up to accept or tolerate unacceptable behavior. Yet as your self evaluation varies for different aspects of your life, you can high self esteem in one area, and low in another.

•Not standing up for myself at the first instance of bad behavior set me up for more of same.

•Threats of harm should be reported. In retrospect, I should have informed both my parents and his of his behavior.

Tune in for the next in the series. Let me know what you think. 

What have you learned from your own unpleasant experience/s? 

Send any questions or comments to Roxanne@RoxanneLouise.com.

Copyright 2022 by Roxanne Louise. However, this article may be shared in other free online sources only if this copyright notice and link to http://www.roxannelouise.com and http://unlimitedpotentialhealingcenter.com  are included with the content.