"Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know...if we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we find the very same problem waiting for us when we arrive. It just keeps returning with new names, forms, manifestations, until we learn whatever it has to teach us about where we are separating ourselves from reality, how we are pulling back instead of opening up, closing down instead of allowing ourselves to experience fully whatever we encounter, without hesitating or retreating into ourselves." - Pema Chödrön.
It is 2 days before we walk into 2016, and asides the excitement of having lived this long, there is this feeling I used to have in previous years that I don't have now. I noticed its absence, not because I miss its presence, but because I had somehow expected that I would feel that way, as always. I don't know how best to explain that feeling, but at the end of the year, I used to feel like I failed myself. Sometimes, as a result of something I would have loved to do but didn't do, or as result of something I did when I had decided against doing it. But for whatever reason, that feeling didn't come this year and I am more than happy with myself.
It takes a lot to realise that we have a problem, and even more to find a solution to the problem and/or do the needful to end the problem. It is human nature to run when faced with some difficult situations. Some call reflex action. I have met, and heard of, some people who had problems, but instead of solving the problems, they run to alcohol, some hard drugs, etc. But that doesn't deal with the problem. They always come back to the reality of the existence of the problem.
A lady once realised that she was always getting into abusive relationships. Rather than dealing with the issue, took to drinking alcohol. Whenever the effect of the alcohol wore off, she went back to crying and even more alcohol. Thankfully, she was one of the lucky few who survived abusive relationships. That was because she decided to stop running to alcohol and stay, find the source of the problem, and deal with the problem.
Pain doesn't just show up in our lives for no reason. It is a sign that something in our lives need to change. Running from the pain and the problem doesn't fix the problem, but paying attention to the problem, understanding it and yourself, is a step to changing. That change is not just good for dealing with the problem, but for dealing with life and for yourself. In 2016, let there be a difference. But that difference will only come if you decide NOW that you want to see a difference, that you want to see a change. You were born to make a difference.
Stop running...start living!
- The Lady
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
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