On Suffering

It seems that since I've navigated my forties, I've become increasingly aware of suffering.

Sometimes the suffering is my own or my family's.  

Other times, it is friends who are fighting for their lives, or grieving the loss of someone near and dear to their hearts.  It has included the emotional turmoil of a failed marriage, and the difficult self-exploration that results from job loss.  Whether I have experienced it firsthand, or as the listener, the suffering exists and is debilitating to those in its midst. 

It seems that almost anywhere I turn, there is significant suffering.

It feels foggy and dense and hard to navigate.

As the listener, I try my best to offer support and encouragement and positivity and love to the one in pain. I see them in their dark season and want nothing more than to help them find peace or resolve. 

Often times, it's just not possible.

In fact, in some cases, these individuals I love have become so identified as sufferers that they are unable or unwilling to see themselves whole again. They have embraced their tormentor, and refuse to loosen their grip.  It has become more comfortable for them to do this, than to seek peace itself.  Their journey and their pain is very real.  

The struggle is so enormous that they forget to keep living, and their negativity becomes toxic to their well-being, as well as to those on which they rely for comfort.

Every breath is a reflection on the past, or lived in fear of the future, but the truth is that every moment of every day is intended to be just that:

A moment. 

Here at this time.

The next one, freshly following.

Our lives are made of moments.  Each one happening presently before swiftly moving to the next.

The choice to breathe and to welcome each present moment by saying, "Yes" to its circumstances takes practice, but in surrendering to this moment's lesson, we are free to move to the next one and begin to live again. The burden of resisting pain is lifted when we relax into the knowledge that the present moment is the only moment we truly have. 

What if we all started to view our lives in this moment solely?

What cannot be endured for just this moment? 

What light might the next moment hold? 

We will never know if we constantly hit replay on old wounds and hurts.

Past moments are but memories, both wonderful and devastating.

This moment has offerings of its own, if we're willing to shift our attention and give nod to its possibilities.

I wish you all moments of presence and clarity which deliver you from the hardships of your pasts and the apprehensions of your future.

Love, live and create with intention,

Kristi