Day 178: Acknowledge What You've Avoided

We all avoid something in our lives. Something we natural turn our minds away from and mentally walk the other way. There is something living within us that we do not want to acknowledge and therefore, we ignore it as if it didn't even exist. And the thing that came to mind just now that you pushed away? That would be what you're avoiding.

Avoidance is in our nature, it is so much easier to avoid anything slightly uncomfortable. We do our best in life to avoid pain, embarrassment, and sorrow. It is how we function and will be ingrained in us for the rest of our lives. That is why we avoid that particular thing so delicately.

But what good does this avoidance do us? If we were honest with ourselves, we might come to realize that avoiding this particular thing does no good in our lives or our minds. Instead of protecting us from pain or sorrow, it increases it tenfold without our conscious knowledge. We've managed to bury something so deep that it undermines us completely, tearing away at our mental fortitude.

We know it's there, we know it isn't good to keep it hidden, but we know it will cause pain to uncover it. It is be uncomfortable and unbearable which is why we avoid the very thought of whatever it might be. It is poison on our tongue, and yet it is poison in our minds.

There will pain and there will be sorrow and there may be embarrassment, but it should never be left to the point of it hurting us even more. Avoidance leads to more pain and core damage that may take years to heal. When we avoid something, it creeps into everything we do and say. The pain becomes part of us when it was simply a part of our lives.

There must be a point we reach when we say enough is enough. We have to come to terms with our history and realize that no matter how much we avoid one point in time, we can never change what's happened. The past is in the past, it cannot be undone or reverted. Because of this, there needs to be a point in our timeline when we realize we have to come to terms with everything that has happened.

We may never escape the pain of something, but it is better to feel it and accept it in order to let it dull over time than to avoid it and allow it to build. Avoidance will only lead to more heartache than you have already experienced. We desperately need to come to terms with ourselves and our past. Forgive yourself, forgive others, because when you forgive someone you release yourself from the burden and the pain. It may not heal it on the spot, but it will begin the process.

Do not avoid that which is painful and uncomfortable. All emotions and feelings have a right to be felt, they all do. Anger. Joy. Fear. Pain. They are part of us yet when we ignore them they do not have time to dissipate. Emotions must be felt for the extent of their life. Even the pain. There is no getting over the simple fact that life will bring pain and we must learn to take it in strides.

Think about the thing you are avoiding, hold it in your mind and experience all the baggage that comes with it. It will hurt. It will be uncomfortable. Nothing will be harder than acknowledging that which you have avoiding for a considerable amount of time. But in the end, you will begin to heal. If you allow the poison to be left in your system, you'll never be able to recover fully.

This is an opportunity to forgive that which needs to be forgiven in order to start you on your journey of healing. Come back to yourself and allow that which you have been avoiding to grow dark with the passing of time and acknowledgement.

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt