In fact, just the opposite.
When things get tough, when pressures get high, when you feel stress, that is NOT the time to quit doing all the things that are good for you.
Eating well, exercising, singing, dancing, practicing daily gratitude, repeating mantras or affirmations, listening to positive music, reading interesting and uplifting books, watching videos of spiritual teachers, connecting with people who support you, spending time with animals or in nature, going to therapy, getting extra rest, meditating, praying… whatever you do to feel clear and peaceful, to get centered and grounded, these are the things you should double-down on when times get hard.
And if you don’t have anything you already do, no practice whatsoever, now is a perfect time to start. There are thousands of free videos, meditations, mantras, and music on the internet. For less than $20 a month you can do unlimited yoga and other classes online, at home, with no equipment. You can walk in the sun, which is incredibly good for you (bonus if you have access to trees, bodies of water, nature, a pet to walk). You can call up a friend. You can do something to serve others (which is always nourishing to the soul!).
Stress just means that your inner resources are not up to the external challenges at the moment. Stress means an inner emotional trigger could be rearing its head. Stress means old negative patterns might be playing out. Stress means you might have got caught up in the crazy, busy mind and forgot about the ever-present calm center that is always available to you (if you know where to look).
Of course, I’m talking about negative stress. Not the ‘healthy’ kind that means you are stretching to reach goals and putting yourself in new situations. Negative stress feels overwhelming and makes you want to shut down or freak out.
‘When your own shortcomings in the eyes of others do not matter any more, when your humiliation does not matter any more, then you are detached—not when you avoid the things that bother you.‘ – The Pathwork
In this new Age of Information, we also must become selective with what we look at and take in. We are all being bombarded by more information each day than our ancestors experienced in their entire lifetimes. We have to use our intellect for this, but it is also critical to develop the inner senses and intuition– to be able to quickly separate the lies from the truth, what is worthwhile from what is programming and agendas, who is trustworthy from who is not.
There’s no going back from this intensification of information and general speeding up of everything, so we must adapt. And the positive side is a now global connection to others that is only possible through the technology that has become an integral part of our lives.
Here’s a secret few are taught as children, though they all should be:
External challenges are catalysts. They provide us opportunities to heal, to deal with old pain, to face our inner demons, to work out relationship challenges, to learn and grow into our highest and best selves. We never stop facing catalysts. When we go ahead and deal with them, then the ones that seem to repeat over and over again (like negative life ‘themes’) WILL decrease or stop all together.
Catalyst = Opportunity.
And all we have to deal with is that which is front of us right now.
Past pain and trauma patterns will rear up over and over again until healed. It probably doesn’t feel like it, but you are being given a gift, a chance to do things differently, to learn, to find compassion for yourself and others.
You may even be given the chance to learn to feel again. There is an epidemic of people who are shut down and emotionally frozen so they don’t know what they feel, or even that they can feel anymore.
The following are LAWS of this world. There are skills that go with each law. You can learn to move through pain— like walking through a dark tunnel— while at the same time knowing you are not the pain and that it is just energy moving. Then you come out into the light on the other side. It’s simple, though not always easy 🙂
Your sense of self creates your reality.
You are not your pain.
Your past repeats until changed.
Things happen FOR you, not to you.
Pain is the portal to transform back to wholeness.
Maybe you already know what you need to do take care of yourself and get back into alignment. Great, do it! Or keep doing it!
If not, then there is no time like NOW to start seeking what will help you. Seek and you shall find. It’s a law of the universe too 🙂
If you could use some support right now, check out these FREE RESOURCES FOR SELF-HELP.
Do you wonder if you make a difference? Then check out this link. (You do, far more than you know.)
I also offer online and in-personal therapy sessions that go beyond talk therapy and into personal transformation. My rate is ‘Pay From The Heart’. No one should feel abandoned when they need support the most. We all need to reach out a helping hand to lift each other up, now more than ever.
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‘The desire to know your own soul will end all other desires.’ – Rumi
