Carrying Pain

Want to let go of something? But it seems no matter how hard you try, you just keep clinging to it? Angry toward someone or something that happened? Can't seem to forgive? Remember the hurt like it just happened?

It helps to consider that you are not alone. It is your nature and you are wired to remember this way. Healing is not synonymous with forgetting. The pain you remember is yours forever. Do not resist it. The beginning of peace is to accept your own pain.

Some people are afraid that the pain they feel will kill them. It will be too much to bear. Remember that it is not the pain that kills you, but trying not to feel it. Think for a moment about what you do to avoid feeling pain.

Rejecting, avoiding and resisting our pain takes a great deal of effort, and is so frustrating that it creates its own additional pain, compounding the problem. You are going to carry this pain. Why fight it?

It is like walking in the rain. Your clothing is soaked and your hair is dripping. What good does it do to wipe of the water? What's the point of shaking your head? I knew a man who was a runner. He lived in a city where it rained most of the time. He said it didn't bother him because "there is just so much water you can carry," he said.