Blessings In Disguise

Dr. Rita Louise
copyright 2004, excepted from Avoiding the Cosmic 2x4

When we resist changing, our problems don’t go away. Resistance is the personality’s way of holding onto an old self-image instead of letting it go. It is only when we let go and stop resisting that we can change and grow. We can try to fight change, suppress change, ignore it or deny it, but in the end the underlying issue will rear its ugly head again, in another way or another form. These problems are lessons provided for us by the soul to help us heal an aspect of our personality. Ultimately the choice is this: we can make the changes required of us, or we can choose to learn the same lesson over again, re-experiencing the same hurts, pain or confusion as before.

Many of us will only change when we feel as if we have no other choice. This occurs when we have reached a point in our lives where our problems have bothered us for so long or created so much pain and discomfort that we just can’t stand it any longer. It is through personal and professional crisis, extraordinary circumstances, profound suffering, broken promises, missed opportunities, life altering events and even the diagnosis of a terminal illness that we can become clear about who we are.

It is at these times that we can typically experience the most profound, life altering changes. Each of these life crises has the ability to rock our world and shake us to our very foundation. The self-image created by our personality begins to break down and we can begin to see that our view of our self is no longer working.

The trick to bring changes into our life, is to start paying attention to the signs and signals our body is receiving and honestly interpret them. It is only when we have succeeded in observing our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations that we can begin to know ourselves. By paying attention to all aspects of ourselves we will begin to see the lessons our illness holds. It will also give us the opportunity to discover how our illness came into being in the first place and why.

Change isn’t hard but it does take time, commitment and courage. It can be scary and can create confusion, but if you think about it, most of our pain comes from our digging our heels in the sand as we fight it. Change doesn’t happen all at once, but in small, almost undetectable ways. As we work to change, we will stumble, fall, experience setbacks and failures. Each of these experiences will help us as we move forward because they cause us to grow. They help us become conscious of what is and isn’t working for us, giving us the opportunity to become aware of, practice and integrate new ways of being.

On physical levels, we achieve awareness by listening to our body and paying attention to its needs. This includes a proper diet, regular exercise and relaxation.

On emotional levels, it includes paying attention to how we feel and expressing our emotions as necessary. It is important to express our feelings and let them out. The larger the range of emotions that we experience, the happier and healthier we are. When we express our emotions we are allowing energy to move through us as opposed to suppressing it within us, even if the emotion we are experiencing is anger, pain, frustration and even rage.