A number of years ago, I worked in the field of
behavioral health, supporting persons with a serious mental illness to get
their life back on track. I really
enjoyed the experience and learned a lot about life. What I found most often was that people were
“stuck” – their illness had so changed their lives that they had forgotten what
they used to do to enjoy life.
One example involved a woman in her mid-30s. Her mental illness was due to tremendous
abuse as a child, so she carried a very strong bravado – a football player
ready for her next tackle! Her mantra
was like Clint Eastwood’s “Go Ahead – Make my Day!” Unfortunately, there was no one she could
trust, so she led a very solitary life of fear. Each day, she dug in her heels a little deeper
and would not budge from her stance. What
I learned when she got the courage to become “unstuck,” was that it was like
taking a huge leap; however, the huge leap was all in her mind. This required taking a step away from her ego
to take a step toward trust; once there, she learned that taking this huge step
was not like crossing a chasm after all, it was more like stepping over a
thread.
As in her case, fear is what often causes us to become “stuck.” Perhaps we’ve experienced a bad relationship,
or we were abused as a child or we’ve gone through abandonment or some type of
loss during life. Often, we hang onto
what we think is a “life vest” for survival; however, unfortunately, this is
only an illusion, created by our mind to help us to feel safe.
Blame is another way to become “stuck.” There is a great statement related to this: “The
day you stop blaming is the day you take responsibility for your life.” Often we blame someone in our life for why
our life didn’t turn out as we had hoped or we feel we’re “stuck” in our
current situation because of what we experienced in life. However, as long as we stay in blame, we give
our power over to that person who hurt us or abused us or left us. Herein lies the being “stuck” part. Once again, we dig in our heels a little deeper
to strengthen our stance.
Our ego wants us to stay in fear because it has “control”
over us; however, this brings about a lot of suffering. Often the first step to getting “unstuck” is
to accept the situation exactly as it is.
This is a way to honor our life and who we are. From an “accepting” standpoint, we’re no
longer “resisting,” which then opens the door to seeing things in a different
light. This releases the struggle that’s
around the issue or the way of life and allows Healing Light to come in.
God has given us a tremendous gift – our life – it is
amazing just how intricate it is. I
think it’s important to take responsibility to unload all the hurts and the
pain, to let go and to allow only the positive juices to flow. By so doing, we honor our life, we then
become more open and gain more confidence in extending love to others, which is
the gift that God wants us to share here on earth.
