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Dr. Lauren has published her newsletter since 2000. Here's a back issue.

Dr. Lauren's eNews 4
--Leading you toward Knowing your way in the world
©2000-2004

"Make your life a mission, not an intermission."
            --Arnold Glasgow

Welcome to my July-August newsletter, the last one I'll write this year from the loft space of my cozy summer rental cottage in Lily Dale, NY. Mediumship is being 'discovered' again so it's been very busy here with thousands of visitors weekly to what my husband calls Psychic Summer Camp. If you've ever watched medium John Edward's TV show Crossing Over on Sci-Fi, you know what a message service looks like. Here, we do those three times daily, using many psychic mediums as message-bearers. There's a healing temple and daily lectures, not to mention well known speakers (and some not-so-well-known speakers, too!) such as Wayne Dyer, who was here today. While there's no website up right now, you can call Susan Glasier at 716-595-8721 for details about Lily Dale or to get on next year's mailing list. Tell her Lauren sent you.

IN THIS ISSUE

1. Finding Peace in Loss
2. An Alternate Serenity Prayer
3. Wild Wisdom
4. Book Pick: Secrets of the Signs
5. Websites to Check Out
6. Wise Words & Sage Sayings

1. FINDING PEACE IN LOSS

by Lauren Thibodeau, Ph.D. ©2000

In my work as a medium, I spend many hours weekly with people who have lost loved ones to death. Imagine how it would be for you to hear the story of a widow in her early 30s who never had the chance to have children with her beloved. Or a parent whose 13-year-old son chose suicide as a way to cope with horrendous teasing at school. Or a woman in her 50s who witnessed her mother fade away slowly from Alzheimer's or cancer or Lou Gehrig's disease. Or the parent of an infant who died from infection after life-saving heart surgery. Or a man who witnessed his wife's murder at the hands of her ex-husband. Finding peace in loss, which never makes sense, isn't easy.

Losses of other types can be equally as challenging. Financial reversals, injuries, and illnesses also force us to grieve what might have been as we move toward a deeper understanding of what is. Finding peace in losses such as these is a challenge to our faith and our spirit. But finding that peace is the first step toward understanding, in a profoundly spiritual way, that losses can be our teachers, our guides, and even our gifts. Even if they're fleeting, moments of peace during the process of grieving remind us that life continues, both here where we live, and on the other side, where our loved ones now await us.

Seeing my fleeting moments of peace during loss as if they were pearls on a string, creating a long and lovely strand, has helped me come to terms with grief in my own life, such as the death of my only brother of a heart attack at 34. Over time, I've come to see these moments as true gifts, as points of connection. While they won't replace the physical presence of our loved ones, by being open and aware of signs and subtle signals, we can find peace, moment by moment, in loss. Take the journey a step at a time, at your own pace. Choose to piece those moments of peace together like a quilt until you can imagine yourself wrapped in the comfort of the love of those who've gone before you. And remember how many of us share your journey, each in our own way.

2. AN ALTERNATE SERENITY PRAYER

Let's all pray we never reach this place, but if we do, this is a good prayer to have at hand: "God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones that I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference."  -- Senility Prayer

3. WILD WISDOM

A friend sent me this thought-provoking and rather amusing collection of folk wisdom:

1. Love is grand; divorce is a hundred grand.

2. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

3. Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good.

4. Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.

5. Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

6. Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason.

7. An optimist thinks that this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears that this is true.

8. It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

9. It hurts to be on the cutting edge.

10. I have kleptomania, but when it gets bad, I take something for it.

11. You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

12. The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

13. You don't stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stopped laughing.

4. BOOK PICK

My buddy Stacey Wolf, author of Stacey Wolf's Psychic Living, has a new book ust out. Secrets of the Signs is designed for teens & 20-somethings, and it's a great basic guide to astrology. Order your holiday gift-giving copies (hey, it's almost September!) at www.drlauren.com or through your local bookseller.

5. WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT

NOTE: THESE MAY BE INACTIVE NOW AS THIS NEWSLETTER WAS WRITTEN SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

Oh, this is one I KNOW I'll use (am I psychic or what?): If you have a grievance against an airline, car rental company, cruise line, or hotel, this site can inform you about your rights and help you cut through the bureaucracy to file a complaint. The site contains information about consumer rights and offers an online complaint form http://www.passengerrights.com/

I'm long past my spelling bee days, but still enjoy adding new words to my repertoire. Here's a great site if you're also a wordy type: http://www.oed.com/cgi/display/wotd

Build up your vocabulary with help from the Oxford English Dictionary, which presents each of its "Word of the Day" selections complete with a pronunciation guide, etymology, quotations, and more.

6. WISE WORDS & SAGE SAYINGS

This month I've found some thought-provoking quotes on the future to share.

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time." --Sir Winston Churchill

"Light tomorrow with today!" --Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"None of us knows what lies ahead....The important thing is to use today wisely and well, and face tomorrow eagerly and cheerfully and with the certainty that we shall be equal to what it brings." --Channing Pollock.