“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” —- Pema Chodron
Perhaps you’ve experienced this consciously, or repeatedly feel annoyed, embarrassed or hurt when someone or some set of circumstances reminds, refreshes or opens old wounds you thought were healed long ago. Evidently, at some level we pushed that specific lesson away thinking it’s over, done and behind me. When that particular lesson appears to repeat itself, sometimes through the same circumstances, and we resist, hide, deny, obscure or dodge the issue we simply prolong the inevitable. Acknowledging and engaging in the process, while moving through the pain will free you from the shackles of your own suffering. That conscious choice of will initiates the lesson learned and integrated, changing you at a depth of understanding through acceptance without further anxiety. Of course you could always take the advice of Ram Dass when he suggests . . . “If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.”
It takes an inordinate amount of energy to continually resist an unhealed wound, subconscious pain or imagined infractions of personal slights. Over a number of years which leads to decades, time is wasted leading to grave results which may be manifested via health concerns. It takes a great deal of courage to look at yourself honestly, and begin to make those changes necessary in order to embrace tranquility, serenity and peace. Unless and until you do the work . . . life’s journey will be a much more arduous, difficult and frightening experience. As Carl Young states, “There is no birth of consciousness without pain.” There will always be excuses to delay consciousness, and the part you played in making those choices. Assuming responsibility for making bad decisions which may affect the lives of others or yourself, is a necessary step in conscious awareness. We are all without exception . . . works in progress and process. None of us escape that step, although we may think we do. The Bhagavad Gita expresses a poignant quote that embraces a beginning for all of us . . . “If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred.” JLR