Pain

Pain

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Pain is part of our journey and something we will all experience. Suffering, however, is optional and not a requirement. Jesus did not suffer on the cross. He experienced pain, but he knew how to forgive and love unconditionally. The ones who suffered were his accusers and attackers because they lived in fear and hate.

Every experience of pain brings opportunity with it; we only have to look for it. Pain teaches us all how to live a better life when we are willing to listen. Once we do, our suffering melts away, leaving us with a stronger connection to who we really are, the Divine clothed in humanness.

Free Yourself from Pain and Suffering

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Pain and suffering do not come from letting go; they arise out of fear and our inability to be present in the moment. We are resisting what is, and trying to avoid feeling our pain. By doing this, we mistakenly think we will suffer less or not at all when in truth the opposite becomes our reality. This resistance is automatic and originates out of our conditioning. When we acknowledge and embrace our pain and suffering, and we bring our attention back to the present moment, we have the opportunity to release whatever is causing our discomfort.

We can recognize what this moment looks like because we become sick and tired of being sick and tired. At that very moment, we step back into the present moment with the truth of what we are feeling, and this is when the door to infinite possibilities opens up, and healing becomes possible. We now have a choice to step through the door or close it by falling back into resistance. Do not worry if you close the door, even more than once because the opportunity will always come up again.

Remember that as long as you stay in resistance, you will continue to experience pain and suffering. Your willingness to be present with your painful feelings needs to be greater than your fear of stepping through the door. Through the experience of this process, you can build a strong foundation of trust and faith something greater than yourself or in the realization of how the universe works energetically.

When we are willing to feel our feelings and be present in the moment with them and the truth of what is happening, life presents us the opportunity to let our pain and suffering go and experience joy again. This may occur instantly or over a period as it becomes clear that you must let the energy go. The next time you feel lost in your pain and suffering, know that the door to healing is open and waiting for you to walk through it and to the other side, where joy and peace are waiting for you.

Allow Healing

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Pain

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“If we do not transform our pain, our pain will transform us, and we will in turn transfer this painful energy to those around us and the world.”

The Transformational Power of Love

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When the windows of perception are cleansed, everything appears… as it is. You will see that love is the foundation of all creation. This means all your upset, fear, worry, anger… come from love. When we stop resisting and surrender to the truth of our feelings, we begin to see that only love could create such a gift of transformation. Furthermore, only love can help you release your upset, fear, worry, anger… allowing you to connect with your True-Self and release you from the bonds of your False-Self. Only love can heal your pain and suffering. This is not about feeling the love from another person, but feeling love for yourself, just as you are and especially when you do not like what you are feeling.

Obstacles (Part 2)

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I wrote in part 1 yesterday how searching for an obstacle-free life will cause you to suffer more. Social conditioning can cause many us to look for perfection in our life. What does that mean anyway, a life without pain or obstacles? As I said in part 1, this is not possible; furthermore, even a blessing can turn into an obstacle.

The following line is from Richard Bach’s book “ONE” which says, “There is no disaster that can’t become a blessing, and no blessing that can’t become a disaster.”

This is very profound and when we recognize that all things have the potential to be good and bad, right and wrong, we begin to see life from a different perspective.

Obstacles are not something that you can avoid, resist or ignore, but something that must be acknowledged and seen. When we bring obstacles out of the darkness and into the light, they can no longer hide in the shadows and cause suffering. Therefore, the next time you are faced with an obstacle, remember you have a choice in how to be with it. Try something different, look for the possibilities hidden inside, and see what happens.

Obstacles (Part 1)

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Once you begin awakening, you will realize that obstacles are part of your journey. Living a peaceful life is not about avoiding obstacles, because the perfect life, your life, will not happen without them. This is simply not possible.

Moreover, if you continue searching for an obstacle-free life you will suffer even more. Once you recognize this, the obstacle can become your greatest gift for transformation. When we see our problems become possibilities, the perfection we seek unfolds before our eyes, because we are no longer resisting what is, but embracing the truth of our life. Within this truth is the power to let go, to heal and to be at peace, even in the midst of an obstacle.

Part 2, which will be posted tomorrow, is about seeing blessings and obstacles from a different perspective.

In Times of Uncertainty (Part 2)

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In yesterday’s post, part 1, I talked about how we can be upset emotionally and physically by what someone else does. I mentioned taking a different perspective on that person and their actions. Now I will share some steps to take to stay peaceful in times of uncertainty.

In order to get some clarity, we need to stop blaming the other person for how we feel, and then we have the opportunity to look at how our incessant thoughts contribute to our unbalance. Yes, their actions caused us to feel uncomfortable, but the emotional intensity and the effects on the body are unique to each one of us depending on our perceptions, beliefs and past experiences. Noticing that we have unique experiences in similar situations, shows that the person we are blaming does not cause us to continue suffering long after the incident, we do that on our own. Otherwise, everyone would experience his or her feelings in the same way and for the same length of time and we know this is not what happens.

This shows us how important it is to start looking at why we are reacting the way we are. This is done through awareness, attention, and self-inquiry. It gives us the opportunity to shift from a reactive state into having a response that does not throw us out of balance.

Begin to pay attention to your thoughts and question them. Are you aware of any beliefs that come up because of what this person has done? Here are some examples of questions. What is the belief? Does it still hold true? Is your response right for what the other person has done or does it feel out of proportion or out of control? If it is, you will be out of balance and may experience discomfort in your emotional state or body. Are your thoughts supportive of your well-being or are they causing agitation? Thoughts will not cause agitation unless we have attached to them or ruminate on them.

As you continue the process of paying attention and bringing awareness to your thoughts and beliefs, you will start to notice what is not serving you. Over time, you will be able to let them go. Often it only takes the awareness of the thought to let it go and other times you will have to repeat the process until it shifts for you.

This is important to remember, the very thoughts that are not serving you will distract you from your intention. Each time this happens, gently bring yourself back to paying attention. You will find this easier to do with practice and over time, it will be harder for your thoughts to distract you.

There are times when working with your thoughts may feel impossible. In these times, working with the body is a more grounded process. Please refer to Body Scanning part 1 and part 2. These two short posts will give you direction in the body scanning process.

Do the best you can and remember to be kind to yourself, this is not about perfection. No matter where you are in life, you can have more balance and peace, you only have to look for them. They lie behind your thoughts, in the innermost recesses of your own being. Finding them anywhere else will only be temporary.

 

 

In Times of Uncertainty (Part 1)

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It is easy to be upset by someone who is doing things that we do not agree with and many of us could probably name someone like that now. They make us feel out of balance emotionally, physically or both. For instance, emotionally we might worry, feel angry, frustrated or fearful. Physically we might get a headache, feel nauseous, become ill or even experience pain in the body. Each one of us experiences these imbalances in different ways. Have you ever noticed or thought about how you experience an imbalance in your life?

It is important to recognize that when this happens it is not what the other person is doing that causes us to be this way. It is how we are reacting to what that person is doing. Our reaction is formed from our experiences in the past and other factors that influence how we experience and operate in this life.

If we are not aware and awake to these feeling and sensations, we will feel like we do not have control over them. Please remember that being aware and awake to them is very different from just experiencing them or being absorbed in them. We all have the right to feel our feelings. However, being awake and aware of them means that you able to be with them, not overwhelmed or controlled by them. You must come to a higher understanding of what you are experiencing for this to happen.

A different perspective is to know that no matter what someone is doing, that person is doing the best that he or she can do in that moment. That does not mean that what they are doing is okay or right. It just means that they do not know any better. In life, when we know better, we do better.

Look at your own life. Most of us have done something that we regretted or that was wrong. Once we finally realized it, then we made every effort not to do it again. If someone is still doing terrible things it is because he or she cannot see or does not understand what they are doing is wrong. In their minds, it is perfectly OK and they feel they do not have a choice, even though others see it differently.

Part 2 will be posted tomorrow and is about learning how to stop reacting and how to start responding so that you can take proper action when needed and stay more peaceful in times of uncertainty.

 

 

We are like the Rose

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When you look at a rose what do you see, are you looking at the entire rose? Where is your attention, only on the colorful petals? Part of the rose is its thorns, but how often do you look closely at them instead of the petals? Do you take in the whole plant or are you distracted by the colorful petals?

We are often distracted by what we perceive to be the colorful petals of others and do not see the whole person and yes we are like the rose in many ways. We have thorns, periods of flowering and times we are dormant in this life. Where we differ from the rose is that we often try to hide our thorns and do not want anyone to see them. This is because if they do, they may not like us or worse, not love us.

When our life is dormant, we can feel as though things will never blossom again. However, does the rose stop blooming because it has thorns or because winter came and went? Of course not, and our lives will bloom again if we stay true to who we are and do the best we can at each moment. It does not matter how many thorns we have because that is part of who we are in this life. Resisting our thorns, trying to hide them from others and ourselves only creates more pain. Embrace the entire you, because without the thorns you would not be you.