The reasons people act the way they do are murky, painful, and sometimes unreasonable. We humans learn that sometimes, “Life’s not fair, and people don’t do right.” Situations in our lives can leave us feeling put down and kicked to the curb. Maybe we get teased mercilessly as children because of being physically different or even fired for making a mistake at our job.
So, what to do?
Well, we could spend our days banging our heads against the wall, wailing, “Why me, why did this happen to me?” Or we could go into denial and pretend it doesn’t matter. Or we could use these events as a reminder from our Soul to step into our innate ability to heal the wound.
Our Work is Sacred.
Promise me you’ll always remember: you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. (Christopher Robin to Pooh)
A.A.Milne
To heal the wound, we must first become aware of it. I have found that the easiest and most direct way to begin is through being acutely aware of the physical sensations within my body. If I pay attention, my body always tells me when I am at ease and experiencing inner peace or when I am in reactivity, experiencing resistance and pain.
I strengthen my ability to be aware of my inner state of being by practicing Body Awareness Meditation daily.
The next step is accepting how we feel, which begins with exploring our emotions and asking ourselves, “What is really going on?” and “What is at the core of these feelings and emotions?” It’s okay to feel.
Self-Inquiry Journaling is an easy way to facilitate this exploration.
Awareness, Acceptance, and Healing
Life is a journey filled with storms, rainbows, ruts in the road, blue sky sunshine, and clear sailing. We are not responsible for the storms and ruts, but we are responsible for how we handle the problems we face. We have a choice to either be victimized by the problems or to reclaim the parts of ourselves that have been wounded.
Awareness, acceptance, and healing aren’t always easy and will likely take time, patience, courage, and a strong commitment to living a life free from suffering. Clearing away the debris of the past offers a place for a deep inner joy to grow.
When I started on this beautiful path of reclamation and awakening, I began exploring my emotions, asking myself why I hurt so much. I began to identify the wounds I carried around and asked how could I stop that pain. So often I wanted to give up, but a sweet small voice inside kept whispering, “Keep going, you’ve got this!”
Healing the wounds is a multilayered ongoing process. I begin to feel good again, then life offers up another opportunity to peel away another layer of the onion. Does this work ever end?
As long as I’m alive, life will continue to offer opportunities to heal and grow, there will always be more layers to the onion to peel away. Each layer I meet and heal gives me the growth, courage and strength to meet the next task, the next wound, the next round of healing.
This is what it’s like to be aware as a human, a soul giving voice to being wholly present. Here we are. Another beautiful day in paradise.