You don't have to be on the planet for too long to figure out that we are here to learn. We are here to grow into the deepest most expressive part of our own joy. On our journey we are sent some pretty incredible teachers on the way and from what I've learned so far it would really be in your best interests to figure out who they are. One of the lessons I learned that bugged me the most when I first digested it was that the people who hurt you the most are often your greatest teachers. The person that broke your heart, abandoned you emotionally or physically, the person who intentionally or not went out of their way to make your life miserable is actually a divine messanger. Strange and annoying at the same time right? I thought so too at first but the more I delved into it the more I saw that it was right. The people who have brought me the deepest pain are the people who have, by sheer nature of their actions forced me to love myself more deeply. Sometimes I have had to love myself that much more in order to survive the pain but once I have taken myself to that place of self love and care I have never been able to take a step backwards from it.
When someone has hurt you it is easy to call them “evil” or a whole other host of names but to be honest, although I hold my hand and am totally guilty of doing it, when you start to recognize these beings as teachers you take your power back from them. You also stop giving them a status they don't want or deserve. That is why so much of my spiritual practice is based around the idea of forgiveness. When you forgive someone you allow the lesson to eclipse the experience, the lesson is more important than the pain it has caused you. This is why I advocate that you forgive everyone for everything. Once you are ready for the lesson the people involved in teaching it to you have done their job and nine times out of ten they no longer need to be a part of your life. Either that or their role will change dramatically. If someone right now in your life is causing you great pain try to figure out what it is that they are teaching you. What are you learning? Who are you becoming as a result of their interaction? Spend time in silence, phone off, telly off, quiet, and think about what they are bringing you. Is someone bringing you chaos to teach you to value peace? Is someone bringing you disrespectful behaviour in order to teach you about boundaries? Sink into the moment and pray, really pray and let the answer fill your being.
Take some time to journal about the people in your past who hurt you the most. Think about who you are today as a result of what they brought you. Have you taken the best of what they have brought you or have you sat in quiet despair feeling sorry for yourself? Have you blamed everyone, everywhere for where your life is as a result or have you forgiven them and accepted the light they brought you at the root of the lesson? Are you launching yourself into a cycle of drama after drama or have you taken the time out to find peace? Think about what you have learned, think about what you have yet to learn, think about how your life can change as a result of taking the best of everything around you, even the people who right now are showing you the weakest, darkest parts of who they are. You have a choice. You can choose to see the lesson or see the pain. See the drama or see the teacher. You can see the elevation or the despair. That choice has always been and will always be sat there right with you whilst you read this. Take time time to chew on it and see where it leads you.
Thank you,
Big Love,
Ryan James