July 12, Daily Drop

Processing pain in life.

We need to feel to heal. The pain we feel mentally or physically is almost always a warning or sign. When we ignore it and push it away, we neglect our growth.

Anything done in avoidance of the pain, is a form of escapism. We all do this to some degree, it could even be a survival mechanism, but it’s not productive.

Whenever we choose to numb ourselves, to block and ignore the signals we’re receiving, we choose to (metaphorically) bury our head in the sand like an ostrich.

What we resist persists. If we fight the pain and resist experiencing it, it will come back up. But if we acknowledge it, and do what we can to process it, we grow.

If someone has a physical injury, everyone knows the solution is not to ignore it and simply numb out by whatever means possible. That would only make it worse.

But how many people practice this exact method every day with their trauma or psychological pain? Never daring to look deeper, instead, hiding from themselves.

We need to learn to wrestle with the discomfort of our own minds at times otherwise we’ll always be seeking to numb out, always reaching for something.

If were always grasping for something soothing outside of ourselves, well never feel whole or complete internally. The solution is not external, rather it’s within.

When we look at our shadow side, we can overcome the fear and pain that we are always subconsciously running from. We can turn and face it, we become stronger.

As we all know this life has pain whether we like it or not. We can’t control that, we can only control our reaction to it. We can hide and run, or we can stand firm.

Have you been running from yourself in any way? If so, what’s one way to face some of that pain today? Because we really do need to feel it, in order to heal it.