Cardinal Counseling Services

Takes courage to look at your own shadow and own it!

Self Care and practicing Gratitude is a great way to start the New Year!!

I am because we are!!

A Time for Deepening - By Henri Nouwen The period before Christmas has that remarkable quality of joy that seems to touch not only Christians but all who live in our society.... But Advent is not only a period of joy. It is also a time when those who are lonely feel lonelier than during other periods of the year. During this time many people try to commit suicide or are hospitalized with severe depression. Those who have hope feel much joy and desire to give. Those who have n...o hope feel more depressed than ever and are often thrown back on their lonely selves in despair. When a person is surrounded by a loving, supportive community, Advent and Christmas seem pure joy. But let me not forget my lonely moments because it does not take much to make that loneliness reappear. . . . When Jesus was loneliest, he gave most. That realization should help to deepen my commitment to service and let my desire to give become independent of my actual experience of joy. Only a deepening of my life in Christ will make that possible.

My Daily reflection on the 5th day of Advent To our Divine Creator of all that is LOVE, I know in my heart you are with us always, leading the way to truth and justice that brings us to peace, but are we listening? This Advent I feel so disconnected from those I love the most. Covid19 has forced us to separate and live in fear of what tomorrow may bring. Help me to stay present in the moment so that I can feel your love within me, flowing through me, coming to me from the mor...ning sunrise and the sounds of silence. Help me to trust the journey before us all, that no matter what the future may bring, LOVE will lead the way. It is up to us to chose to follow, to let go of the false sense of control, to useless anxiety, to unsettling situations in our lives. Help me to open my eyes to the ones in front of me, to the beauty of nature, to the gifts of love and peace that flow between us all. Give strength to the caregivers and medical personal and first responders and to those who are sick in body, mind or spirit. Give comfort to those who are grieving the death of loved ones. Give peace to those who are living in solitude, to those who feel forgotten or unloved. With every breathe we take, fill our souls with the knowledge of ONENESS with you. This Advent, slow me down so I can live in the presence of security and trust in the ever evolving new birth within us all. Amen