Second Half of Life: Growing Up Personally and Spiritually

We're back after a two-month hiatus with the start of our four-week summer season. Recent unexpected changes and life experiences have felt challenging and prompted reflections on personal growth, trauma integration, and the journey towards personal and spiritual maturation.

In the first episode of season two, I'll discuss: 

• Moving from the first half of life (focused on success and achievement) to the second half (internal journey and becoming a wise elder)
• Exploring Richard Rohr's concept from his book Falling Upwards and the call to grow into elders both spiritually and in the world
• Questioning how we process challenging feelings, thoughts, and experiences
• Tools for feeling, dealing, and healing through difficult life moments
• Accountability practices for maintaining spiritual health and personal reflection
• Examining our relationship with Higher Power/Source/ the Divine

Also, I'm working on a free Welcoming God ebook coming August 1st for email subscribers - sign up at WelcomingGod.com to receive your copy. The ebook contains open-ended questions to help integrate teachings from the first season of the Welcoming God podcast.

Music by Song Channel Music.  Listen at SongChannelMusic.com

Go to WelcomingGod.com to subscribe to our email newsletter and receive updates about all things Welcoming God.  

Check out Thomas Hubl here.

Check our Richard Rohr's book, Falling Upwards, here.  

Check out Douglas Tsoi here.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, sarah here, just to let you know.
Sometimes I do use swear wordsin these episodes and we may at
times discuss adult content, incase you happen to be listening
around, little ones or peoplethat won't appreciate that.
Thanks so much for listeningand let's get right into it.
Hi, and thanks for joining meon Welcoming God.

(00:28):
Hey everybody, sarah Haeckelhere, your host for Welcoming
God.
It has been a while.
We have not been together forsome time now and this is the

(00:52):
beginning of our four-weeksummer session season.
I am curious about what's beengoing on for you, I know, since
May end of April, through Maygosh and into June it has been
an interesting journey.

(01:14):
Some things happened that Ididn't expect.
I felt challenges in ways thatI didn't expect and challenged
by things that I didn't expect.
I felt some rough patches andfelt some hard, difficult
moments and experiences that Ijust did not expect.

(01:36):
And I found myself asking againlike how am I here?
How am I dealing with thisstuff?
Again, how am I here, how am Idealing with this stuff?
Again, like I thought I didenough work to process through
some of these difficult,challenging feelings, thoughts,
experiences, impulses, fears,etc.

(01:58):
And what I'm realizing.
I work with online teacher whosename is Thomas Hubel and I'm in
his mystic cafe and he talksabout how, when we really
integrate trauma, when we reallyintegrate something that's
happened in our past or in ourlives that felt really

(02:20):
challenging, we don't go backthere anymore.
We don't have to go back thereand what I am experiencing now
is a maturation of myself as ahuman being and that God life is
really calling me to grow upand to be my full self as a full

(02:44):
grown adult.
And that may seem funny, youknow, because I am not in my 20s
anymore, 30s even but it's true, and I'm actually also
listening to Richard Rohr's bookFalling Upwards, which is all
about the two halves of life.
Calling Upwards, which is allabout the two halves of life.

(03:07):
The first half of life, whichis really about our success,
financial success, our successin the world, making a name for
ourselves.
You know, all of those thingsthat we really work towards in
that first half of life is whereand I also read this in Douglas
Soy's email newsletter aboutRichard Rohr's book, where he

(03:30):
framed it that you know thesecond half of life is where
we're supposed to become eldersand grow up and mature and begin
to live out a different purposethan in the first half of our
lives, where we're justgenerating and accumulating and

(03:50):
growing things and a lot ofoutward things.
In the second half of life, itseems like it's more an inward
journey, an invitation to godeeper into ourselves and go
deeper into what is really therefor us, what's really present

(04:11):
in our experience.
So I am definitely experiencingthis right now and I'm wondering
how you're doing, what's comeup for you in the past two or
three months.
I know we finished the firstseason of Welcoming God at the
beginning of May and it's beenalmost two months since then.

(04:36):
So what have you been up to?
What have you been up against?
How have you been feeling?
What are some of your tools toprocess, feel, deal, heal?
I heard that somewhere and Ilove that.

(04:58):
What are some of your tools tofeel, deal, heal?
Where do you get your supportfrom and how's your relationship
with your higher power, godsource, krishna, allah, buddha,
life force, energy, universe,whatever you call it?

(05:21):
How's your relationship goingwith that one true source?
So I think we'll leave it atthere today as an inquiry to
walk away with, and the lifecoaching part of me will ask you
some accountability questions.
How will you hold yourselfaccountable to checking in with

(05:45):
yourself, answering thesequestions that I've offered, or
other questions that might cometo mind that support you on your
journey to feel heal and deal,to mature and grow up into the
full adult that you're here tobe, to become the elder that you

(06:07):
are being called into?
When will you reflect on this?
What time of day?
How many days in a row?
What do you need to remindyourself?
So these are all ways that wehold ourselves accountable to,

(06:30):
or can hold ourselvesaccountable to, doing something
that is helpful for ourselves,is healthy for ourselves.
For myself, how does thisaffect my own personal wellness,

(06:51):
health, mental, emotional,spiritual, et cetera, well-being

(07:13):
, wellness in general, with thework that I'm doing in the world
, with the rest of the world,with the wholeness of life?
How does committing to takingtime to check in with myself and
see how I'm doing on the pathsupport the well-being of myself
and all of life?
So I'll leave you with thistoday.

(07:36):
Thank you so much for joiningme here today on Welcoming God,
and I have an e-book coming outfor Welcoming God.
All you have to do is sign upfor the email list.
Go to welcominggodcom and signup on the email list and that

(07:56):
ebook will be coming out byAugust 1st that will be my goal
date to get it out and you willbe emailed a copy of that book.
And basically it's a simpleebook that goes through the
first season of Welcoming Godwith some open-ended questions,
so that you can re-listen tothose episodes and really take

(08:18):
some time to digest andintegrate those teachings and
learnings, to create more of aspiritual life for you and move
forward on your path in a goodand healthy way that's sound and
truly connected with a higherpower, for the greater good of
all.

(08:38):
So keep an eye out for theWelcoming God ebook and I will
see you on the next episode nextweek.
We'll do one episode per weekfor the next four weeks, so stay
tuned and I look forward totalking with you then.
Take care for now.
Hey everyone, sarah Haeckel herefrom Welcoming God, a podcast

(09:03):
for spiritual seekers.
This is a legal disclaimer tosay that this podcast is not a
substitute for therapy orprofessional help.
I am not a trained therapist.
I also have not studiedtheology in a formal setting.
This podcast is professional,purely for educational,

(09:23):
inspirational purposes, to sharethe goodness of welcoming God
back into my life and all of thethings that I'm learning on
this journey.
So thank you for joining mehere and I look forward to
seeing you on the next episode.
Thanks for joining me onanother episode of Welcoming God

(09:52):
.
Please subscribe to thispodcast wherever you listen, and
consider leaving us a review,as it helps more people find and
benefit from this show.
Music by Song Channel Music.
You can listen and hear more atsongchannelmusiccom.
Until we meet again, aloha nuiloa, take care and God bless,

(10:21):
thank you.