“When we come to realize that our journey is not an external one, we stop looking for validation outside of ourselves. We learn Love and Acceptance from within.
We stop getting lost in the confusion and chaos of the world, and instead find ourselves in the beauty of the flame that burns inside.
We come to realize that the world isn’t the cause of our suffering and that it isn’t out to get us. And perhaps we have been the cause of our own suffering, held captive by our thoughts and haunted by our memories. Thoughts that are stuck on repeat based on our past experiences and beliefs. Memories that hold us captive in a cycle of blame or shame.
Until we can shift our thinking and finally let go of the past with forgiveness toward others and ourselves, we cannot hope to end our suffering or the suffering of the world. We must find Love and Compassion for ourselves first, before we can truly extend that outward.
The journey we must take first is in fact the pathway to our own heart. A pathway that may be grown over, even buried, underneath years of pain and anger, sorrow and sadness. And until we can find the strength and courage to wade through our own murky waters and face ourselves head-on, we’ll continue in the cyclical pattern of suffering.
When we finally do climb out of the muddied waters, there is a river that carries us through our exhaustion and emptiness. A river of sacred tears that washes us clean.
We cannot escape what is within, for there inside is our greatest teacher. And when all is said and done, we’ll see that we have reached inside and extended our hand to a foe, now become friend, in the opening of our heart.”
~ D ~
Denise Anderson
