Growing from Pain (part 1)
During times of emotional pain, people often tell us to "forgive and forget", "bury the past" and "move on".
All very good and well-meant advice, but truly moving forward from pain is more than just forgiving and forgetting. Moving forward is learning from your pain, your mistakes and your past to create a better future. It's self-improvement, while moving on, is simply self-preservation.
Simply denying the pain will probably lead to the same mistakes being repeated, the same lies being told.
There are a few important things to remember if you truly want to move forward from your pain and grow into a more resilient person.
First, accept that everything in the past happened for a purpose. Seemingly "bad" events, like relationship breakups, job lay-offs, and health scares are understandably tough to bear at the time, but looking back, weren't they really blessings in disguise?
Think of the major "negative" events that happened to you over the past years. Looking back now, isn't it clear why they happened? Think about how you are in a better place now as a result of the chain reaction they catalysed?
You can emerge either defeated or stronger from every painful experience. We all have that choice. The person you are today is the result of your past experiences, and in those experiences, no matter how horrible, lies the key to you becoming a better person.
Great gifts do not shine forth brightly under the grime of pain, but they are there. Until you can seek out and embrace the gifts hidden in those times of despair, you'll never be able to fully let go of the negative emotions surrounding them. Suppressing the hurt, denying the pain, simply gives them more power.
Adapted from 'A Slice of Life'
All very good and well-meant advice, but truly moving forward from pain is more than just forgiving and forgetting. Moving forward is learning from your pain, your mistakes and your past to create a better future. It's self-improvement, while moving on, is simply self-preservation.
Simply denying the pain will probably lead to the same mistakes being repeated, the same lies being told.
There are a few important things to remember if you truly want to move forward from your pain and grow into a more resilient person.
First, accept that everything in the past happened for a purpose. Seemingly "bad" events, like relationship breakups, job lay-offs, and health scares are understandably tough to bear at the time, but looking back, weren't they really blessings in disguise?
Think of the major "negative" events that happened to you over the past years. Looking back now, isn't it clear why they happened? Think about how you are in a better place now as a result of the chain reaction they catalysed?
You can emerge either defeated or stronger from every painful experience. We all have that choice. The person you are today is the result of your past experiences, and in those experiences, no matter how horrible, lies the key to you becoming a better person.
Great gifts do not shine forth brightly under the grime of pain, but they are there. Until you can seek out and embrace the gifts hidden in those times of despair, you'll never be able to fully let go of the negative emotions surrounding them. Suppressing the hurt, denying the pain, simply gives them more power.
Adapted from 'A Slice of Life'
