If the pain is going to be there either way, why would I choose to feel it?

If I feel it, I can actually heal it. If I don’t feel it, I can not know its true state, and I can not start to heal it.

Whether I like it or not, feeling my pain fully is necessary for my healing, for my whole-ing.

I can not reduce my pain when I don’t acknowledge it. I can not feel more whole and healed when I deny parts of my experience.

When I want to hide from my pain, I remember that in facing it, I start to heal it. Stuffing it down only guarantees I will hold onto these feelings longer.

My pain is inevitable but my suffering is optional.

So I practice feeling it and not fearing it. I practice believing I can face and handle my pain. And ever single time I do, I find I’m right.

photo credit: Lein C. Lau