Stopping, calming, and resting are preconditions for healing. When animals in the forest are wounded they find a place to lie down and rest completely for many days . . . They just rest and get the healing they need. --Thich Nhat Hanh
We hurt. We suffer. We wrong our loved ones and they do wrong by us. Reaching desperately for an answer will not help us. Pretending we're not hurt doesn't help either. When we are wounded, the wound needs rest in order to heal. So it is with our souls. If we poke at our hurt, pick at the sore, rub it in the dirt of others' opinions, we do not allow it time to heal.
If you've been hurt, accept that. Feel the hurt. Be aware of it. Let it heal. Maybe it would be better if you didn't talk to that person for a while. Maybe you need to let go of the relationship. Maybe you just need some quiet time. Whatever the answer is, find a safe place and allow yourself to heal.
If you're feeling pain, be aware of it. Feel the pain, and then quit picking at the wound. Lie low. Quit fighting. Relax. Give your wounds time and enough rest to heal.
God, help me relax enough to stop, calm down, and heal.
Larry - this is so comforting to me.... I get sooooo wrapped up in the analyzing and running around and justifying in my brain and crap that I dont take the time to breath.... I know that I tell myself... all you HAVE to do is Breath In... Breath Out.... that is ALL I HAVE TO DO right now! Thank you for this reminder... I know it works.
I am the cause of my hurts. I am my worst critic. I have always been the one who has done me the most harm. I am right in the middle of me. 60 something days sober again for the umpteenth time and the pain I've run from is here. Confusion. The hideous four horsemen tromping in the edges of my brain. As much as I despise being a newcomer ya'd think I'd surrender instead of only conceding defeat. Pretending to be ok and acting as if gets tough when the truth is that I AM A MESS. I can't drink and i can't make my life any kind of manageable. Inventory just proves that even more. All my life skills are for naught. I feel like a real loser offering my wrecked life to God hoping He won't scorn me as I have Him. Here, God, I have totally screwed my life up and it ain't worth hardly nothing to me anymore... Ya want it? I hurt and it makes me sick to see all the self pity oozing outa my head.
Thanks Larry. Whenever I am hurt, I find that I am also tired as well. I go to a scripture reading from my bible which says: "Come to me all of you, who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." I find that if I do not rest, God forces me to rest. It's not so much physical rest, but spiritual rest. To know in my heart that God is actually in charge. That I need not worry. This world is making overwhelming demands on our human resources and therefore we need God's rest which is offered unconditionally. Then there is a "peace that surpasses all understanding." It requires me to "be still and know that He is God." Not easy to practice, but for me it has been the key to life abundant.
-- Edited by gonee on Saturday 20th of August 2011 07:38:48 PM
