Often, we might feel like we want to be more "normal." Whatever "normal" means.
We are tired of carrying all the feelings, all the thoughts around. They weigh us down like bricks. They are heavy. We want to be someone else, someone more "average," someone who fits in.
The people who surround us are likely going trough different things than us. The probability of us having someone in our lives who has a similar internal world is low. So we can Easily feel alone with what we carry.
But remember this: Whatever you're feeling, thousands of other people in the world are going through the exact same thing. You might not know them, but they are out there. You are never alone.
What we have inside is like a sword--it can easily cut us if we try to Push it away, unknowing what it really is. But if we learn to wield it, it can make us the greatest warriors.
The thoughts in our heads don't define us. We are not our thoughts.
The feelings in our bodies can't control us. We are not our feelings.
What matters is who we choose to be despite of them. That's what makes us great. When we are scared, but we go forward anyway. When we are angry, but we choose to be kind. When we smile to our sadness. That's when we wield the sword without cutting ourselves.
We are not the fear, the anger, the sadness and all the intrusive thoughts that come with them. We are the ones who smile with peace, who choose to be kind, the ones who go forward anyway.
The very thing we try so hard to put down, to push away, can make us something great, something that is truly and uniquely us. Inside of every one of us, there's a potential for a strong warrior.
So instead of working on pushing away what makes us uncomfortable, maybe we can try going deep into it instead. See who we will be once we come out the other side.
A guided meditation on the topic can be listened to here.
“So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even one, that's the journey of the warrior.” - Pema Chödrön
This post first appeared on The Miracle Forest: The Zen Smile Of Mindfulness, please read the originial post: here
