Learning to survive adversity

This month I wrote my newsletter about fortitude, specifically about how important it is to endure these times with great fortitude.  We need to have courage in the face of adversity.

I have been thinking about this thing called “COVID” and what I have noticed is how we are resilient.  Yes, things have changed. 

We are learning to accessorize with a mask now, but we have embraced it for protection purposes.

I also think we will need some form of healing from this.  Which led me to ask myself a bigger question, does one totally heal oneself from something we feel has caused us pain?  I think the first step towards healing is to acknowledge what we are feeling.  It is a huge step to admit what we have felt over a painful situation whether it was fear, shame or guilt or any other negative feeling.

It is ok to acknowledge that feeling – you have just placed your first step forward.  Healing doesn’t mean that it will go away it means that “Yes! I experienced all those painful emotions and maybe even physical pain, but I am not going to make my main life focus and I am not going to live my life like I am still experiencing that pain.”

The healing part is the acknowledgement and the letting go.  Yes, I felt what I felt, but I forgive myself and the other person.  Only you can know what to forgive yourself for.  Did you operate from a sense a fear? If so, why?  If one starts to analyze and work through the emotions felt then by validating what we felt we can then forgive ourselves and, if someone hurt us, them as well.

What came from that experience?  Even though it was an unpleasant experience where are you today?  Did the experience drive you to do something good or are you now at a better place in your life? It is time to let it all go and allow yourself to move even further forward. 

The road to healing is a personal journey and once we begin that journey I believe it will eventually lead us to share that journey to help others.  How can we help others when we feel like a victim? We need to feel like a champion!

And we are all champions!  Healing happens one step at a time. It is a powerful, but gentle process.