ASK ABDI: WHAT TO DO WITH EXTRAORDINARY PERCEPTIONS?

QUESTION: I have had psychic and spiritual experiences ever since I can remember. For many years now, when I am talking to people I am able to see one or two small beams of light over their shoulders. I often am happy when I see this, I do not see the light around everyone that I meet though. What am I seeing? I once took a chance and told a coworker what I saw around her and she told everyone I was crazy… I want to share and help people with my gifts, but I am tired of getting these kinds of labels. My goal is to become a therapist, and maybe I can help people that way without seeming crazy.

ANSWER: You will learn from your experience not to share that kind of information so publicly. Unless you want a visit from people in white coats… The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer had a great saying on such matters. He had said that such experiences are at first ridiculed, then they are violently opposed, and finally they are accepted as self-evident. Many people seem to be waking up to having similar experiences right now. You ask me to tell you what you are seeing, and then say you want to use your gifts to help people. How do you know what you are seeing is something that people need? Or is a gift? One sees traffic go by, does that mean that one has the duty to go out there and direct it? Or be a traffic cop? Separate the two things: seeing such things and wanting to help people. If you want to be of service, dig down and learn a therapeutic modality that can benefit others. Then spend time exploring your psychic abilities so you can understand its imagery and language. Barbara Brennan’s book Hands of Light can be helpful.

One last piece of advice: just because one can observe something in someone does not mean that the other person is ready or willing to hear about what we perceive. Be conscious of honoring other people’s boundaries. Unless they come to you for healing or ask you specifically, allow people their process without intervening.