The Wisdom of Healing

Let’s face it, life on this planet is hard! And try as we may, no one makes it through without experiencing some sort of emotional wounds. The one thing that binds every human together is the fact that we will all experience hardships, broken hearts, traumas, and loss. Regardless of color, creed, orientation, how you identify or express yourself in this world…we all experience wounds. And for those brave few that seek their healing journey, well that can be a whole other story.

The journey back to the whole self can be quite the ride. We sometimes think it’s a straight shot from Point A to Point B, but then feel discouraged when we see old wounds rise up after we believe we’ve moved on. So often I hear from clients saying, “I thought I already dealt with that,” or “I’m tired of this same thing coming up over and over again.” I too, have experienced the frustration of seeing an old wounded part of me rearing its head, coming back for another round. It can leave us feeling pretty worthless, broken, and faulty. We will look back at ourselves with criticism, wondering what’s wrong with us, blaming ourselves because we must not be good enough to get through this painful pattern.

But here’s the truth of the truth. Healing isn’t linear. It’s not a straight shot between points. It’s an up and down, topsy-turvy, roller coaster dip of a ride. We can think we’ve uncovered our deepest, darkest wound only to see a new level we never knew before. Because that’s how we are formed. We heal in layers so that it’s supportive to our nervous system. We pull back little by little to reveal a new shade of an old color because that’s do-able. We never heal in one swoop. It takes time.

Over the years I’ve come to believe that there is an inner wisdom that watches over our healing process. A wise archetype, or higher version of our typical waking human self. This “being” is different than that of our Higher Self, but could be akin to what we call the Sacred Observer. I tend to lean into the Wisdom is its own unique consciousness within our system of many layers of the self. The Wisdom watches over how much we can take on while walking our healing journey. It witnesses the willingness we show for stepping into the work. If we are afraid and choose to avoid, the Wisdom will not uncover any more information to us because we are essentially saying “no, I’m not ready.” In times when we are brave and step forward into the unknown and try to understand, that’s when insights come to us and healing occurs.

This beautiful relationship is available to everyone simply because we all have an internal wisdom. It’s part of the deal. And to me, there is a comforting thought associated with this being. It means I don’t have to have all the answers. It means that as long as I’m willing to take steps on my healing path, even if they are baby steps, I will be shown the way. The Wisdom is the conductor of the journey, showing you what you need, when you need it. Your job is to claim it. The journey becomes more of a spiral staircase experience where you may come around again to the same issue but now you are seeing it through the eyes of someone that has a higher perspective. This new perspective allows you to see the issue but with a new lens, seeing what you might have missed before, or seeing a brand new facet that wasn’t present last time.

So the point that I’m coming to is your healing journey is unique unto you. And you can’t plan it, you can’t map it out and expect that it will go a certain way. The fact that it is so uncertain is why a lot of people never dare go there. But if you do, know that you are among the brave ones willing to want more for yourself. But you aren’t alone in that journey. The Wisdom is guiding the way. As long as you’re open and willing it will show you what you need when you need it. And when you feel like you’re circling back around to the “same ol’ problem” my suggestion is to take it as an opportunity to see it with fresh eyes and know that if you weren’t ready for this next level it wouldn’t be happening. The Wisdom will not give you more than your nervous system can stand. It’s a complement of sorts when you discover a new layer to an old wound. It means you’re ready. That you’ve done important work to get here. It means you are healing, even if it feels like you’re just going in circles. The old saying “coming back full circle”…no, you’re coming back full spiral. And you’re doing great! Keep going. Walk when you can. Run when you’re able. And rest when you need.