The Path of Self-Healing
Of all the advice that’s available on the Internet, there’s no shortage of information on the subject of self-improvement and self-healing. It’s such a popular subject because it reinforces the assumption that we’re all somehow in need of being rescued from our pains. We hear a little too often that we’re all wounded and thus we surrender our freedom and adopt the role of suffering and victimhood. It’s an attitude that denies our power and our potential to rise above our circumstances. Empowerment involves recognising where we’ve come from yet being willing to chart a course that is not dependent on the past. But since everyone is experiencing some form of emotional pain, the subject of self-healing deserves a wider appreciation.
One of the greatest challenges that we face is the need to release the past. We are, of course, largely defined by our upbringing, by our social conditioning, by the events that left their imprint upon our hearts, by the need for acceptance and our hunger to be loved. These are the foundations of our personality. Yet these are also the framework of our insecurities. The painful episodes are woven into the fabric of our personal identity. We are in many ways the expression of all that we have experienced. Letting go of the past can feel impossible because we fear losing a part of ourselves. But none of it is real. We recreate the past from the loose strands of our memories and mistake this collection of emotions as a true representation of what took place. Once we appreciate the ephemeral nature of our memories, we loosen the connection to what happened. We discern something truly astonishing. Whatever happened is only important because we add our personal, emotional value to the event. It happened. But so did breakfast. Every event in our lives becomes relevant according to how we judge it and place it in a very personal order of importance. This critical element of choice transforms how we connect to everything that has led up to the present moment.
In letting go of your attachment to your stories about the past, you release aspects of yourself that turn out to be quite superfluous. You no longer need to feed your appetite for pain. The past no longer represents who you are. Whatever you experienced no longer casts a shadow on your future. Things happened. But you are no longer emotionally-engaged with your history. Detachment breaks the chain of repetition that drives people to repeat their errors over and over again. Freedom and the power of healing flow naturally from the act of letting go. This is how your life can chart a completely fresh and exciting course that will better reflect your potential for happiness, wellbeing and fulfilment.