An Eagle Sighting - It's a Sign!

 

It was a picture perfect Autumn day for Saturday's run. The temperature was moderate for late November and there was a head wind but when the wind stopped, the sun was warm:

The Universe is always sending us messages once we pay attention! As I turned the corner around the Reservoir on yesterday morning's run, a person with a powerful zoom lens on his camera had it aimed at a tree. People gathered and looked up. I stopped in my tracks to see a bald eagle perched on a tree. The photographer said it is very rare to see an Eagle near an urban area. I tried to capture a photo with my iPhone but then I paused just taking in that majestic and sacred moment. I made eye contact with the Eagle.

I knew it was a sign. As soon as I got home I google'd quotes and information about the Eagle as a spirit animal.

The Eagle spirit animal is an inspiring messenger. With the ability to soar to heights other birds merely dream of, the Eagle is a powerful animal totem that offers lessons about looking closely at the most minute of details in order to see life from a broader perspective. When this graceful hunter comes into your life, it’s time to look inward with a careful eye. Allow your heart to guide you, and opportunities you never dreamed were possible will present themselves when you least expect it. Eagles have feet with four toes. Four is a symbol for having a solid foundation and being grounded. Those who are guided by the Eagle spirit animal are grounded. Even though the Eagle can soar to great heights, they are still strongly connected to the earth. Among being grounded and connected to the earth, those guided by the Eagle are also resilient and in complete harmony with the spiritual aspects of their lives. Unafraid of the unknown, these seekers accept life’s challenges with unshakable courage, determination and confidence. Source: https://www.spiritanimal.info/eagle-spirit-animal/

I got goosebumps. Sixteen years ago, I was diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, a condition that is considered to be a progressive neuromuscular disease. I was told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I was experiencing the dark night of my mind, body and soul that was the antithesis of what an Eagle represents.

But I refused to take the diagnosis sitting down. After going through the initial stages of shock, fear, anger and grief, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance. The diagnosis was given to me in December of 2006. In January of 2007, I met a master magician of a physician, Dr. ElAbd who told me that he could partner with me to eliminate the pain in my cervical spine of a disc pressing on a nerve by using trigger injections. He then referred me to an earth angel of a physical therapist who disagreed with the traditional view of Post-Polio Syndrome as a progressive neuromuscular disease. 

After the initial trigger injection and before my first appointment with Allison, as I got still and asked for Divine Guidance, poetry poured out of me. I felt my Spirit soar whenever I wrote poetry expressing gratitude, forgiving the people from my past who harmed me and imagining myself dancing in puddles without the leg brace, running free and feeling whole and healed.

I literally felt no pain as I wrote poetry harnessing the power of the mind/body connection to unleash the body's natural capacity to heal!

The Eagle sighting was a sacred moment for me; a connection to the Divine to let go of the past and anything that limits me and allow myself to feel fully free soaring with the Eagle continuing to heal on deeper and deeper levels. It was validation from Source about my courageous journey. In that moment of eye contact, Source communicated to me to fully open my heart to go forth with confidence as I continue to share my journey of transformation, and my books that speak to the power of possibilities after enduring unspeakable trauma after contracting paralytic polio at age 5.

Eagle totems appear to inspire (push) you to reach higher and become more than you think you are capable of. They tell you to be courageous and really stretch your limits and see what you can do. They bring a sense of courage and a desire to explore and grow.

I am excited to see how this manifests in my life.

From my heart to yours,
In health and wellness,
Mary

Be sure to visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to learn about my journey to health and wellness in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma

Visit the News and Events tab to listen to my inspiring and uplifting interviews

My books to motivate, uplift and inspire you are available on Amazon 

 

 

What if today we were grateful for everything?

 

During this week last year, our oven stopped working. It's one of the essays in my newly released book, "Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic," which is how I know it was during this week last year. At first I panicked. It was two weeks before Thanksgiving. We were experiencing supply chain issues as I looked for a replacement oven believing the oven was over 10 years old. We initially couldn't get an appointment to see if it could be repaired. All worked out as a technician appointment "magically" opened up a week sooner than anticipated and it was an easy fix. The oven was only two years old and we were able to enroll in a Service Protection plan. I expressed heartfelt gratitude to the technician, the customer service representative who helped us with the Protection Plan and to the Universe.

Ever since the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, 16 years ago this December, I have practiced an attitude of gratitude. As I was loading our dishwasher on Thursday evening, I said out loud to no one, "I am so grateful I have a dishwasher." 

When I pushed the start button, nothing happened.

I checked to see if I had somehow blocked the doorway and moved dishes around.

Still nothing...

Tom was out running errands with Ruth Anne and he tried to start it when he got home.

Still nothing...

It was too late to get a dish drainer to empty the dishwasher and do the dishes. 

When we got up on Friday morning, I asked Ruth Anne if she would come to Target with me to get a dish drainer and do a little retail therapy for the holidays. Ruth Anne loves Target. Until recently, it's not been a place I've enjoyed shopping but since the pandemic, I  am so grateful to be able to go into a store and shop.

I knew we were going to go in for a dish drainer but come out with a full shopping cart because that's what happens at Target; very smart placement of items and layout of store! We had so much fun together making sure we remembered our dish drainer, choosing new Christmas decorations for home and the tree, and various other items that will bring enjoyment to Team McManus. 

When we got home, we emptied the dishwasher and had a dish washing party putting on our favorite music and feeling joy in the moment. I made the washing of the dishes a meditation feeling grateful for hot water, sight to be able to see what I was doing, that Ruth Anne and I are healthy and that we have abundance to be able to go to Target and shop with joy and ease.

The technician appointment is for next Thursday. I am focusing on a quick fix with replacing the control panel. Since the technician has the model and serial number and knows that it won't turn on, they will have the necessary part to install! 

If, however, we need a new dishwasher or it will take time to get replacement parts, we will share the joy of doing the Thanksgiving Dinner dishes together with my son and his wife. 

I learned wonderful soul lessons last year as we emerged from the pandemic. I did not panic or get upset when the dishwasher wouldn't start. I focused totally on an attitude of gratitude realizing how incredibly blessed and fortunate we are to even have a dishwasher, running hot water, food to put on plates that then need to be washed and most importantly of all a home and our health and well-being.

Just imagine how wonderful life can be if we are just grateful for everything!

From my heart to yours,
In health and wellness,
Mary

Be sure to visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to learn about my journey to health and wellness in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma

Visit the News and Events tab to listen to my inspiring and uplifting interviews

My books to motivate, uplift and inspire you are available on Amazon

postscript: 11/17/2022

Pat, our favorite GE technician came right on time. He told us everything he was going to do to run diagnostics to rule in or rule out certain problems. I had such confidence in Pat's ability to repair our dishwasher that I did not do today's breakfast or lunch dishes!

As he worked his mojo, I had total confidence that he was going to be able to diagnose and repair the dishwasher today.

Sure enough, it was the control board. He had one on his truck!

He ran further diagnostics to make sure there were no other issues with the dishwasher and did a software update. We had been having an occasional issue with the dishwasher not completing its cycle so in the morning, the dishwasher had to be run again. The software update fixed the problem!

I told Pat he was in my book, and told him that it was just a year ago he came to fix our oven and 'save Thanksgiving.' He asked me the title of the book and I signed and handed him a copy of "Into the Light: Emerging From the 2020 Pandemic." I put a bookmark on the page with the essay about his visit last year. I also gave him a copy of the 'prequel', "Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic." He told me how much he loved to read and looked forward to reading them!

We chatted a bit more while he made sure everything was working in the dishwasher's cycle. He has worked as a GE Technician for 35 years. His parents live near him and are into their 80's. His mother still cooks Thanksgiving dinner and he loves going to his parents' house for the holiday. I shared with him how my son and his wife are coming for dinner and while we could have easily done dishes by hand, it's a blessing to have the dishwasher repaired. He gave us a senior citizen discount and the total cost of the repair saved us about $500 from what a new dishwasher would have cost and that doesn't include the cost of having the plumbers come to install a new one! 

The best part of the encounter, though, was being able to express heartfelt gratitude to Pat and for Pat, his expertise, his care for the work he does and his kind and gentle demeanor. We had the opportunity to get to know him a little better after many service calls he has made to repair our wall oven. I am so grateful he was the technician assigned to us today.

My gratitude in advance that the dishwasher would be fixed and expressing that confidence to the Universe by not doing today's dishes, created a wonderful encounter with a delightful positive outcome that we will be able to load our dishwasher after our Thanksgiving feast!

What if today YOU were grateful for everything that you have now and give thanks for blessings on their way. 

Serendipity and Synchronicity Flowing Across the Pond

One of my favorite persons, Dr. David Hamilton often comments on or likes Michelle Townsend's posts on LinkedIn. Michelle lives in the UK near London and David lives in Scotland. She has gone to hear him speak and has posted that "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body" is a book that influenced her healing journey. In his book, 'Why Woo Woo Works," David talks about a web in the Universe that can draw people together. Have you ever thought of a person you haven't thought about for awhile and hear from them "out of the blue" or experience chance meetings that inexplicably blossom into something more? You get the idea then. 

I enjoyed Michelle's posts that fill LinkedIn and Facebook with uplifting and inspiring quotes and messages in a beautiful setting for the text, and she enjoyed mine.

After I posted my blog, "Faith is Like Wi-Fi", Michelle shared that there was powerful synchronicity in my blog.

 

 

 

It inspired her to write her blog, "Writer's Block - Letting Go to Flow."

 

 

 

 

 

In very short order, we discovered a friendship was blooming across the Pond. We supported each other's writing endeavors and I was inspired to ask Michelle if she would have the time and desire to read my manuscript, writing an editorial review.

After Michelle read the manuscript, she sent me a tender-hearted email giving me feedback from the viewpoint of the reader. She said that the book is amazing and she understood if I didn't want to incorporate her feedback into a revised manuscript, but felt that it was important for her to send me the feedback. She felt a nudge from the Universe to share it. 

Her suggestions were spot on and it was easy for me to make the edits based on her feedback. I ordered another proof of my book, made sure that it read well with the edits and then, was finally able to hit the publish button.

Here is her review:

"Such an empowering book of transformation! “Into the Light” takes us on an amazing journey with an ‘attitude of gratitude’. A journey traveling through the pandemic, Mary shares her motivational, inspirational state of appreciation for the simple pleasures in life. She cultivated the power of gratitude through the difficulties highlighted during the pandemic following her healing from Post-Polio Syndrome, finding ways of maintaining Runnergirl along with husband Tom, and daughter Ruth Anne.

Mary finds herself navigating her beliefs and decisions, using her mind body connection to help regarding the vaccine after the memories of contracting paralytic Polio during the last polio epidemics in the United States. 

 

Mary’s wonderful words that flow through her journaling and poetry bring emotions forward with powerful guidance and appreciation, using the pandemic as a great force for transformation and growth, encouraging us to our own place of self-reflection." ~Michelle Townsend C.Hyp, D.Hyp, C.I.H, UKHR, I.H.A, CNHC Registered. Professional/Clinical Hypnotherapist. Founder of ‘Harmony Life Balance’ 

 

Coincidentally, as Michelle talked about in her blog, she is writing a book and was wrestling with her book title. One day, while out on a run, a possible book title for HER book came to me. She shopped it around with friends and family and they loved it. She then mentioned another phrase to me that she plans to use in an upcoming blog and I suggested she incorporate that into the title. No spoiler alerts here but I can tell you Michelle has an incredible healing journey that needs to be shared with the world and will be next year.

A few months ago, I did not even know who Michelle Townsend was. We are now dear friends, champions of each other's creative endeavors, feeling goosebumps all over as synchronicity and serendipity flow across the Pond.

 

From my heart to yours,
In health and wellness,
Mary

Be sure to visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to learn about my journey to health and wellness in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma

Visit the News and Events tab to listen to my inspiring and uplifting interviews

My books to motivate, uplift and inspire you with a powerful message of healing, hope and possibilities are available on Amazon