Embrace your Wounds

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey

There is an old saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter the problems, hurts, betrayals or grief you may be undergoing, the misfortune doesn’t lay in the depth of the painful experience... the real tragedy lies when we simply give up and lose Hope.

Yes, bad things do happen. But you’re not alone in your grief. It happens to everyone. Just look around you...and I mean really LOOK around. Everyone is hurting. Physically, mentally, emotionally...at all levels pain is existent. But it’s how we respond to the grief that defines our moral fibre and ultimately determines the outcome of our life.

Our generation has been brought up to be very disapproving of showcasing our negative emotions. If we think they’re too painful or boorish, we try to dress them up with affirmative thoughts and make them more respectable. When we manipulate our feelings, consciously or unconsciously, we’re trying to fit into social decorum...but that’s just another way of losing our connection with our inner spiritual energy and wisdom.

Running away from and evading our emotions is futile. The fear of facing pain may temporarily take us away from feeling the hurt...but unfortunately escapism takes us only further away from being human... a holistic lively, animate, feeling human being. We can choose to sit in bewilderment, immobilized by the depth of our wounds, or we can choose to rise from the ashes of our pain and treasure the most precious gift we have – Life itself. 

There’s nothing wrong with having feelings of grief and facing our emotions. Dark emotions are a fundamental part of who we are — an expression of our basic intelligence, evolution and creative energy. When we connect with the core essence of our emotions, they can become a great source of wisdom and compassion. Our emotions can open up our heart and mind. They can teach us the noble qualities of selfless love, compassion, kindness, tolerance, and valour.

Feeling our pain and working through our dark emotions is a progressive part of our multi-faceted life journey... accepting this is important for our growth.  Identifying the painful emotion and working through it will be hardest thing you will ever do. Experiencing the grief will become the most valiant fight you will ever face. Allow yourself to feel it. Releasing these dark and painful emotions are illuminating, cleansing, and healing. Face bravely pain’s cleansing blaze, for you will emerge on the other side at some point, stronger and more complete. Let go of old feelings and obsolete chapters in your life, so as to let in new and more powerful emotions and pages in your book of life.

Just as we don’t discard money or masterpieces in our garbage, we must realize that all our emotions comprise our valuable resources. To become free of the confusion and unhappiness they can cause in our relationships and life, we only have to respect and accept our emotions, moment by moment, and be willing to work with them till we become capable of channelizing the wounds and darkness within into creative strength, light and wisdom. This will not only make us stronger, calmer and wiser beings, but also help us live more complete and fulfilled lives.

As Kenji Miyazawa wisely observed, “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”