You’ve endured enough suffering. It’s never too late to recover and experience an unimaginable level of fulfillment, so proceed with bravery and self-compassion.
Restoring physical health and eliminating suffering may seem to be the only aspects of healing. After knee surgery, the muscles and tissues heal, or a scab develops over a wound.
Restoring your physical health is one part of healing, but ignoring your inner wounds will prevent you from being completely healed. There is no assurance that you will feel better even if the cut simply leaves a scar and the knee bends again.
Why Does Inner Healing Matter?
The physical body is the focus of Western-style treatment, but there are other things that need to be cured. Spirit, mind, and body are all interconnected. The whole is impacted by what happens to one. For instance, there’s no dance in your step or glitter in your eye when you’re down. Even for activities you’ve always enjoyed, it manifests in your spirit as a lack of drive and zeal. Inner anguish silently impacts every part of your life if it is not cured.
Identifying the unfulfilled needs of the mind and soul, comprehending their causes, and coming up with constructive solutions are all part of holistic treatment. Repairing what is damaged is not the goal of healing. It’s about taking back your life. The entire self changes during this integrative process, which cannot be hurried.
We regain our life when we heal our inner suffering.
- It clears the mind of harmful self-talk and bad feelings.
- It disrupts harmful behavioral habits.
- It stimulates the spirit and brings back faith, hope, and trust.
Why Right Now?
Even if you might not believe that you require inner healing, everyone has experienced the debilitating affects of inner suffering at some point. According to the World Health Organization, mental health conditions like melancholy, anxiety, and trauma-related illnesses are at an all-time high. One in seven adults in Canada and 23% of adults in the United States are said to have experienced a mental health crisis at some point. The number of young people experiencing mental health crises has significantly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
These figures hardly scratch the surface of what’s going on. How many people do you know that are content and passionate about life? For many of us, the agony of anxiety and despair looms large even in the absence of a diagnosis of mental illness.
What Causes Inner Wounds?
Dr. Bruce Perry, a trauma specialist, is not the only one who thinks that the current mental health epidemic stems from childhood trauma. Situations that seem all too typical might be the source of internal suffering:
- Neglect due to inadequate attention, care, and emotional support.
- Unrealistic expectations that frequently reflect a parent’s needs rather than the child’s dysfunctional home, such as domestic abuse or parental addiction.
- Divorce-related instability and poverty depriving the child of basic necessities.
- A youngster with a chronic condition who feels helpless and alone.
In my situation, I’ve realized that, among other things, the trauma my father experienced as a 17-year-old kid during World War I is linked to my need for inner healing. He used alcohol as a coping mechanism in later life, just like many veterans. He was only able to discuss his pain in his later years because it was so deeply buried. I couldn’t relate to his suffering when I was younger. All I could see was that he could change from a kind parent to a monster in a single day. It has taken me decades to break the coping mechanisms I formed as a child.
Stepping Stones for Recovery
Treatment was dreadfully insufficient during my father’s lifetime. However, there is now a workable route to internal healing with compassion and understanding, which is symbolized by these steppingstones:
Steppingstone 1: You can’t repair what you don’t realize is broken.
Long-buried trauma loses its power over us when we give it a name. Consider this:
- Where is the source of the pain?
- What occurred to me that caused me to have false self-perceptions?
Honest self-reflection, journaling, and meditation are all useful tools for naming your journey.
Steppingstone 2: You are more than simply a body.
Spend time, effort, and, if necessary, money on self-healing. Investigate:
- What self-defeating behaviors do I employ to stay in my comfort zone?
- What new routines can I start to help my body heal?
- What new routines can I follow to help my mind heal?
- What new routines can I follow to help my inner spirit heal?
Breathwork, yoga, connecting with nature, mindful practices, and somatic therapies are some of the tools that can help you heal your full self.
Steppingstone 3: Have faith in the process.
Looking back will not help you go forward. It’s never too late to achieve fulfillment and healing, so put your faith in the process. Explore:
- Which of my strengths serve as a basis for my recovery?
- What can I learn from the obstacles I face?
- How can I honor myself?
Self-care routines, support systems, and expert assistance are tools that will assist you in moving forward.
Your senior year is your final opportunity to become the person you were destined to be. Take action and free yourself from misery that is not your fault but keeps you in the dark and prevents you from experiencing life to the fullest. Give your life purpose again. Believing that you can be happy can be difficult at times, but have faith in the process. and take small steps toward living the life you deserve.
SOURCE: ART OF HEALTHY LIVING
