Suffering is part of your life. No matter how much you change your situation so as not to suffer, at some point, it reaches you. The important thing is what you do with the suffering.
And why do you suffer? Your true essence is love. If your mind is full of thoughts of love, you will be at peace. If, on the other hand, the ego and thoughts of fear fill your mind, you will suffer, be it stress, anxiety, or any other emotion that arises from fear.
Suffering is an excellent opportunity to see what those thoughts are that take away your peace. They are usually part of your unconscious mind, so you need to play detective a bit. What you have learned so far is to look outside for the source of your suffering. So-and-so said such a thing to me, and it offended me. Or, that person did or didn’t do something to me and hurt me.
I invite you to do something totally different. When you are suffering, don’t run away from it. Stop and spend some time alone with yourself to see where the suffering is coming from. Search within yourself.
• What do you feel?
• What does that remind you of your childhood?
• What person from your childhood do you associate with that feeling?
•Once you manage to identify similar memories in your childhood, what decisions did you make about yourself? You may be seeing them outside of yourself and are now making you suffer?
Once you can answer all these questions, write them down in your notebook so that it’s easier for you to identify them in your future. Realize that the one reacting is your inner child, the part of you wounded from childhood that wants to be healed.
Give yourself a lot of support and love. Whenever a negative thought arises, repeat to yourself that it is not true and change it to a positive affirmation. This internal healing is a process. Little by little, you will realize that you no longer react to something similar with the same intensity as before.
The important thing is not to look outside but inwards every time something takes away your peace. Don’t run away from suffering. It can be your great ally in your healing process.