Seasons of Joy: My Spiritual Journey to Self Discovery

By Jeanette Hunter

You will become swiftly swept up into this eloquent personal perspective of my month-to-month, seasonal exploration into my spiritual enlightenment and growth. Through humor and pinnacle Aha! moments, I find myself yearning to continue on my path of discovering my true divine self. My journey has brought me a sense of awareness and wakefulness, throughout my whole entire being. I feel I am finally on the cusp of fully comprehending just how marvelous this journey is, as a spiritual being having a human experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452516813

Jeanette Hunter

I have been writing and publishing my Spreading Joy column with the Lloydminster Source for the past six years. I began this column with the hopes of shining a light into the lives of those who read my work. I wanted to help people see that joy is all around us, and when we consciously choose to spread joy everywhere we go—one act or one smile at a time—it can impact our world on a mass scale. I reside with my amazing husband, Craig Hunter, in the beautiful community of Cold Lake, Alberta.

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Copyright © 2014 Jeanette Hunter.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1680-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1682-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1681-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014910615

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/7/2014

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Series Title

Introduction

Chapter 1 Spring

Clear The Passage

Daring Greatly

A Child’s Time Of Awakening

Steering My Runaway Locomotive Toward The Sunrise

Today’s Awakening—Gifts From The Divine

Everybody Get Aboard The Wellness Train—Choo-Choo

My Remembering—My Journey Home

A Gift From The Heavens

My Shining Moment

Joyful Good-Byes

Music’s Meditation

Chapter 2 Summer

The Profound Courage Of Three

Fulfilling Your Joy Barometer

God Lives Within Each Of Us

Wisdom Creates Spiritual Growth

Power To Open Your Mind And Understand Your Purpose

Happiness Series

Freeing The Mind, Body, And Soul

Relief In The Wake Of A Disaster

Rediscovering Your Zen

Chapter 3 Fall

Let’s Feed The World

Therapy Within Reach

Lead With Love

Transformation Of The World

Embracing Our Darkness

The Eighteen-Inch Journey

Manifesting Your Dreams

A Metaphysical Force

Chapter 4 Winter

Quieting Your Mind

Awakening Your Consciousness

View From The Park Bench

I Did It My Way

Immeasurable Understanding

Happy Family Moments

Wholehearted Living

Move Out Of Your Old Neighborhood

Wedded Bliss

I’m Coming Home

Embodiments Of Light And Love

The Bricks And Mortar To Building A New Path

The Half-Lived Life —Dr. Wayne Dyer

Under The Microscope

Chase The Winter Blues Away

Surrender And Let Your Inner Voice Guide You

Conclusion

Resources For My Research

I dedicate this book to all of us, every spiritual being who graces this earth. For we are all one—each of us who is traveling on this spiritual path to finding our own way home to pure divine love, to our source, and finally reconnecting to one another. God Bless.

I dedicate this book to the Laughing Buddha. You, dear sir, have always brought me such joy. Your spirit lives within me. Namaste.

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I dedicate this book to the love of my life. I prayed for you, I yearned for you, and through this, God brought us together. I will be forever grateful. I love you, Craig. Thank you for being exactly who you are. God bless you.

I dedicate this book to the countless inspirational leaders who helped to draw me out of the darkness and into my pure divine light. I am forever grateful. God bless.

I dedicate this to my younger self, Jeanette. I am so proud of the woman you are and the woman you continue to become. Always know you are loved and fully supported by the entire universe. There is nothing you cannot achieve, and you have nothing to fear, for you are a child of God.

The answer was sleeping in the question all along. Pharrell Williams

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Foreword

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

William Shakespeare

J eanette’s passion has always eked out through her pores at every interaction. Anyone who meets her can tell instantly that there is a fire burning within her that could put the fires of Hades to shame. When she found writing, I also experienced her passion at its full potential.

Jeanette’s ability to share her stories and experiences so openly and honestly has always amazed me. She has this innate ability to paint a beautiful picture that allows you to sit down beside her as she replays a memory. You can empathize with her emotions, all while she quietly feeds you a much-needed life lesson, a perspective adjustment, or lesson in gratitude.

Whenever my days are challenging, I can send her a text or give her a call, and she has a gentle way of dusting away all of the proverbial trash and helping me focus on the solution. And if there is no visible solution, I always feel heard and validated. I hope that with each column you read, you will feel the same—validated, heard, strengthened, and with a sense of camaraderie that the world needs more of.

You inspire me each and every day, Jeanette. Continue spreading joy.

—Kristin Percival

Preface

I Chose to create this book even before my first book, Spreading Joy—Live Life, Love Life, because It Is Your Gift , was printed. I envisioned the title Seasons of Joy at this time because I believe God had something profound in store for me.

Acknowledgments

T his is a bit of a long list, but with every name you read, take the time to look them up, and see if any of them resonate with you as they did for me. God bless Elizabeth Gilbert, Maya Angelou, Betty Dery, Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Brene Brown, Caroline Myss, Lilou Mace, Jennifer Mclean, Christy Whitman, Natalie Ledwell, Michael Beckwith, Iyanla Vanzant, Greg Braden, Jack Canfield, Anita Moorjani, Sonia Choquette, Nick Ortner, Ester, Jerry and Abraham Hicks, John of God, and so many more.

You have all played an intricate role in aiding my spiritual growth and my continued daily desire to expand to the highest level of my consciousness.

You have all helped me to visualize my dreams and to have the realization that anything is possible.

Series Title

S preading Joy-Live Life, Love Life because it is you Gift also written by Jeanette Hunter, printed by Blitz Printing and self-published in May 2013

Introduction

W elcome to my one-year journey of self and spiritual expansion and the evolution of my consciousness.

After overcoming a very difficult time in my life, I came to the realization that I was in the midst of a spiritual awakening.

My expansion began when I changed jobs and had an abundance of time to do research to expand the depth of my Spreading Joy columns. Through online research, reading, taking online courses, and watching a ton of inspirational and spiritually awakening videos, my quest kept taking me further and further into expansion.

I saw drastic changes in myself during this time and felt my life shift for the first time in a very tangible way.

I would like to first thank my loyal reader fan base of the Spreading Joy column, where the inspiration for my book has derived from. To my beloved children, our families and friends, and my beloved, loving husband, Craig Hunter. Craig, you have been the beacon of light, guiding us through the darkness. Thank you for choosing me, and thank you for being you.

I would also like to thank God, the universe, the divine, and source energy. I am eternally grateful for my time here on earth. Thank you for all the blessings you bring into my life on a daily basis, and thank you for all the adversities as well—they have been my greatest teachers. God bless you all. I send you all love and light and a life filled with abundance.

CHAPTER 1

Spring

2013 and 2014

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Clear the Passage

I f you are anything like me, you are someone who perpetually needs your space to be clutter free and organized. I have a fear that I will forget where I put something, so I am forever labeling and putting things in the most logical place—until that backfires.

I’ve taken on this behavior because I have a bit of a forgetful mind. I used to get overwhelmed quite easily when I couldn’t find something. So as a coping mechanism for my forgetfulness, I developed obsessive compulsive disorder. This made practical sense to me for many years, but after all the years of feeling it was my sole responsibility to take care of everything, I learned that I had chosen that responsibility, and it was time to relinquish this thought and lay that behavior to rest.

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I still go through my cupboards, drawers, and closets on a constant basis. I have been known to hold on to sentimental things for years, but I usually keep them tucked away in a box, out of sight, or only a few things displayed at a time. I find that the constant distraction of nick knacks, is not only a dust magnet, but it clutters up my space, which inhibits energy flow. So things get moved around in my house quite frequently or packed away until a time when I am ready to release them.

This practice used to be part of my former obsessive compulsive disorder. Over-cleaning was how I kept myself calm and tranquil—or so I thought. I learned much later that it was a coping mechanism for repressed emotions that I was not ready to deal with. It came from a deep-seated guilt pattern—as a wife and a mother, I thought that everything needed to appear perfect.

I realized, however, that the more I cleaned, the worse I felt internally because no matter how perfect the external was, it didn’t help ease the tornado within. So over the past few years, I have let go of much of that former behavior and focused on the internal work—the reality was that no one else would focus on it, and no one else knew the depth in which the rubble had accumulated. Only I knew what would work best for my spiritual healing and growth, and I knew for sure that it was time. The universe had been throwing pebbles at me for some time, and rather than dismissing them any longer, I faced them head on. Much of this type of behavior is like a double-edged sword.

I am referring to hoarding. This destructive behavior can cause so many life-altering affects. When we refuse to listen to our inner voices, we tend to get ourselves in a heap of trouble. When feelings are left repressed and not dealt with, we tend to take on behaviors and excuses to soothe those damaged parts of ourselves.

Often times when we refuse to take stock of what matters most to us in life, like our health and spiritual well-being, we end up adapting dangerous choices, and by the time we realize it, we are neck deep in them. We have replaced our love for ourselves with things. We have adapted a thought process that the ego creates to trick us into believing that one more of this and one more of that will make us feel better.

When we choose to look outside ourselves for love, contentment, and soothing, we are, more often than not, left empty-handed, and the perpetual pattern begins all over again, day after day, week after week. The next thing we know, years have passed, and not only is the rubble accumulating up around us, but the internal rubble is indescribable, often too much to bear.

We are lost in a sea of turbulent waves; we are lost, waiting for the answers to come to us, but we don’t realize that all we need is within is. We have covered it up for so long with actions and things that our true self can’t breathe, let alone fight its way to the top of the passage of pure light and love. This damaging behavior is due to the fact that we have been taught that we are separate from our source, that we are separate from one another, and that we are left out there in the great big world alone. We then go into what’s referred to as fight or flight mode.

Every breath is one for survival rather than peace. We feel a need to protect and guard ourselves, as we see those around us