Wisdom
It’s the third week of gift-giving in December! Today’s gift is one I cannot give you; only you can give it to yourself. Whether you believe it or not, you are growing smarter and wiser by virtue of your hard healing work. Embrace that and know that your wisdom is the payoff you are giving to yourself 🎁. Like all gifts, use it, embody it, then offer it to someone else. Enjoy! ~ Lyn
Wisdom
〰️
Wisdom 〰️
The deeper I go, the more I get back in return.
In a garden, a plant grows from the roots buried deep below the surface of the soil.
In a relationship, lovers share their deepest fears, failures, and vulnerabilities.
In recovery, the deeper I’m willing to go, the greater my healing.I used to say that I knew more about myself than anyone ever wanted to know.
Most people go through life skimming the surface. They don’t need to understand the who, what, when, where, why or how of each emotion or thought. They act and react in the moment without giving each response much attention.
Not so for me when I was surviving in the face of fear, doom, suicidal ideation, triggers, and more. Recovery meant uncovering the past from the depths of my soul. Unlike most people, I examined every nuance before taking action, speaking aloud, or making a decision. (I didn’t want to make a mistake, after all.) More than that, I wanted to understand so I could change my behaviors, so I could grow in my capacity to live, so I could heal the very wounded parts of me. Since they live deep inside of me, I have to go deep.
Now here’s the curious thing about going deep. I felt out-of-control, incompetent, and afraid, but the process of going deep, then coming back to the surface, over and over again, made me smarter; it made me wiser. It wasn’t fun but, still, I learned who I was, what motivated me, the context of my suffering, and the contours of my fear.
I discovered my strength which grew out of weakness, a contradiction of terms that always boggles my mind. I began to live out Socrates’ admonition to “know thyself” as I embraced my many selves.
In understanding my life process, I began to heal and grow in all sorts of wonderful ways. Even more amazing, I noticed that people began to look at me as if I possessed some sort of wisdom. If they only knew where that wisdom came from!
Did you know that you’re a vessel of wisdom too? Each memory you dissect, each trigger you survive, each reaction you understand, not only helps you heal, but makes you wise. Over time, you’ll find that you have deeper insights than other people who haven’t had to go deep. Some of them may look to you as a mentor or guide who imparts wisdom.
Now, wisdom is not a gift I can give to you. Only you can give it to yourself by virtue of the hard healing work you engage in every day. You’re giving this gift to yourself, as we speak! So pat yourself on the back and say “thank you” for going deep and coming back to the surface with the gift of wisdom!
Speaking of Gifts
Share the gift of understanding with others …
Help your friends and family understand you. My memoir, Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory, may give them context for understanding who you are at a deeper level. Click here and Amazon will send it to your door! And while you’re at it, leave a rating or review 👍.
🕊️
The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight.
~ Proverbs 4: 7
Lyn