Fighting for Your Heart

We hurt sometimes. There is no need to justify or rationalize it. Life can get messy, and we hurt. And when we hurt, we can either acknowledge it and feel it, retreat from it and pretend it isn't there, or wallow in it and let it take over our lives. It's interesting that we can know what we hurt about, and we can see hurt in others, but we shuffle past it within ourselves and in our interactions with others as though it is a discarded picture frame we have grown used to on the shelf.

Pain is a part of our journey, however pain is also a part of our story and therefore a part of our growth. For if we do not allow it to grow and mature us, we have labored over our grief in vain. As difficult as thinking about our pain becoming something more positive can be, we must consider how we can turn our grief into something valuable and share our life lessons with those who can learn from us. In this phase of my life, it is often times all I can do to put on a smile and get through the day. It isn't pretending, it is just functioning to so that I can continue the process of living amongst the process of grieving and accepting. And that is OK.

What grieves you? Are you frustrated with an illness, a bad relationship, or your lack of will power to make changes in your life? One of the greatest problems with grief is that it coaxes us to withdraw and become self-focused. On the other hand, in order to hide from our pain, we may withdraw from our own body or life in order to cope. This is so dangerous, because the more we place everyone else's needs before our own, or ignore our needs, the more we disconnect from what is the truest thing about us- our hearts. I challenge everyone to take time for themselves everyday. A part of this self-reflection is to check in with how you are doing. What are you feeling? What is true for you today? Compare what you feel is true to what your reality really is. Often times our emotional reality and our true reality are very much at odds with one another. To get in touch with this, we must give ourselves the space to listen. As the voice of truth comes through, will you honor it? What will doing what your heart truly needs bring you? If it is more peace, more love, and more grace for yourself and for others- then ACT.