Accepting Peace

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When we cannot accept our suffering we cannot accept peace either. Resisting our trials and struggling against them, holding ourselves closed in resistance, poised for battle we are blocking the peace that comes when we can open ourselves to and embrace not the pain in itself but the acceptance of the experience as a life lesson that has become our teacher. ~ A Zebism

This thought stemmed from a conversation with a friend who is experiencing some terrible pain and aguish…and caused me to ask the question "why do I not feel as though I am suffering"... the cognitive and emotional distress that I once did that was the impetuous for the many "diagnosis" I wore those years I was seeking my answers from the mental health providers.

And it came down to this zen-like idea of "acceptance".

In western style thinking it was "letting go of why" and making that mind-shift to ""it is" and it is something that I cannot control or change".

This is where that change happened for me.

Check back tomorrow to see the note I posted in my Facebook account titled "Paying Homage To The Past" and how letting go of being "mad at the world" freed me to grieve the losses of a lifetime.

In the meantime - check this article out over at Urban Monk about the denial and acceptance of suffering….and compassion.

And may the light shine for you today that you may find peace in your pain.

Namaste.

Another post you may enjoy -"I became the student who was ready" and this one from my tumblr blog "be dorothy do a nike" about that leap of faith it takes somedays.

Q: What is it that influences your level of peace when you are experiencing the suffering of emotional or cognitive (thoughts) symptoms of distress?

This Became My Truth

This was my "aha" moment 2.5 years ago...."If "mental" is thought. And "illness" is sick. That means that I can choose to learn how to recognize the thoughts that are making me feel sick...and change.

This was the turning point for me.

This became my truth.

For fifteen years I had believed that I "felt bad" because I had some hidden, mysterious "disease" or "illness" that was causing the emotional instability, the physical exhaustion and numerous complaints like chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, severe anxiety to the point of getting a new label - "agoraphobic".

But even though the sun was shining, my kids were doing well, I had no life drama going on outside of me - I still felt like hell.

I sat there in my car because I was so full of anxiety that I couldn't go anywhere near people and tried to think through this situation rationally.

I had a new therapist who had set a clear boundary with me and had said very directly that as much as she wished she could "fix" me....that she couldn't.

It was up to me to make my life what I wanted it to be.

Shit.

Yet awesome.

For the first time in my career as a "consumer" of mental health services someone was telling me there was a solution besides more "meds".

That I held the key to the life I wanted.

Within myself.

And this was the moment I stood at the top of that mountain, tears streaming down my face, my body trembling in fear...

And leaned forward into the wind

and knew

that something would be there for me to stand on or that I would

Fly.

Q: What is your truth? Where does your power come from? What is it that you hang your hope on for a better tomorrow?

My Theme Song: Sister Hazel and "Change Your Mind"...