Suffering to Serenity!

Children are so innocent. They are also so vulnerable and impressionable. Many of us had good childhoods, loved, accepted and set on the right tracks. Others, unfortunately, found themselves subjected to direct abuse in their growing-up years, be it mental, physical or sexual. Any abuse or mistreatment has consequences but mental abuse can last a life time. Even mild abuse as a child can carry long-lasting affects into adulthood. Serious abuse can thwart normal mental development and even change personality traits. Many adults live with a permanent sense of failure and a mindset of inability to attain normal standards of achievement.  Parents have a huge responsibility in the influence of their children and teachers likewise. The children look up to them for guidance, for learning about life and especially for love and acceptance.

As humans none of us are immune to suffering. At some point in our lives we all are confronted by obstacles and opposition. Most of us are touched by misfortune, illness or the death of a loved one. Some face physical in-capacities from birth.  Our lives are marked by the passage we have passed through. Our personalities reflect the influences thrust upon us during our journey of life, some good, others not so good. People and situations have affected us, some positively and others negatively. Some of these adverse influences have left us with low self-esteem, self-blame and a distorted self-view. If this is you, take comfort because there are answers.

The answers to our predicaments are sometimes found within us. Other times they require us to seek help from outside, especially if the abuse was over a time span of years. Naturally we think negatively of ourselves because the words were sharp and painful and left a deep impression on our mind. Sadly we believed the words spoken and the sentiments they expressed. Yet when we look more closely at that which has hurt us we see that although those occurrences are long gone, we still allow ourselves to be affected by them. We continue to suffer from adverse relationships of long ago. We need to change that.

The people who hurt us have moved on. They probably have long forgotten the pain they caused. Therefore we find ourselves holding on to the hurts allowing the past perpetrators to continue their grip on us.  We have to break that grip. We have to step back and re-examine the cause of our emotional imprisonment. Often we will discover they were lies which we accepted as truth. Once we recognize the truth and the falseness of the accusations then we must deliberately let go of the pain. We see how detrimental the situation has been to us and we discard the whole past issue. It takes strength, determination and motivation to rise above the issues which have held us down, but the effort is worth it. It will allow us to break free. The sensation of freedom will be like a bird released from a cage.

Any number of causes can hold us mentally imprisoned. In Discover Your Hidden Self we look at some of those issues. The book highlights the uniqueness and significance of each of us. It shows how special we are as a valued and worthy human being. For more information on the book click on to https://jmurray.ca/product/discover-your-hidden-self/