We do this thing: 

We get really frustrated with ourselves. 

We thought we were past the pain. 

We thought we had transcended all the troubles. 

But we haven’t healed. 

We’re still healing. 

I love inspirational books, but I grow weary of this message that one day you will be 100% separated from the trauma of life. 

Frankly, that’s not how life works. 

(And anyone who tells you it is is trying to sell you something.) 

So, what do we do with the messy pieces that we have to daily tend to? The parts that may never fully heal? 

I think a few things can help: 

First, we need to stop running or avoiding the thing that won’t mend. Often, the idea of what we have to face is scarier than the thing itself. When you feel trembling inside, you’ll know you’re present with the pain. 

Next, we need to consider OUR place in the story. What was our part? What, if anything, would we do differently now? And what have we learned about our heart from that circumstance? 

Finally, and this is by far the most difficult, we need to commit to becoming better for having endured the hardest of life. 

I commit to not treating someone else that way. And I will do the work. 

I commit to no longer allowing myself to be defenseless in that environment. And I will do the work. 

I commit to not defining myself by who I was then. And I will do the work. 

Because we are still breathing, and we still have a chance to run the race well. 

And though there is no finish line in healing. 

Every day your heart can get a little closer to whole. 

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