the other side of sorrow is healing

Those of us who have been in long-term recovery understand why anyone WOULD NOT want to do an inventory of their past mistakes. There’s too much sorrow. Too much pain to remember and feel again. Honestly, who wants that?! I know I don’t. I don’t want to experience the pain of my past. But. And it’s a powerful ‘but’…on the other side of our sorrow is healing.

“We need to accept the sorrow that will be a part of the inventory process.”

The Life Recovery Bible, Step 4 Constructive Sorrow devotional, p. 1489.

On some level or another, most of us have experienced physical pain. In general, after we’ve gone through the pain we experienced the healing. Whether it’s a small cut on our hand, a broken bone, or even a really tough workout on the other side of the pain is healing. Even in our jobs many of us experience challenging moments which require our mental focus and energy, and when the job is done there is a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes, we experience the “pain” of stress or the “pain” of meeting a deadline. But when it’s all done, we feel good about what we’ve done. There’s a sense of accomplishment, which is akin to “healing”.

Despite the familiar feelings of stress (pain) and accomplishment (healing), we avoid facing our emotional pain. We tell ourselves it’s easier to stuff the emotions down and forget about it. But eventually, we all have to face our repressed emotions. We can never escape them. Not if we want to be a whole human being. In order to be whole, we have to be healed. Healing from emotional pain is no different than other kinds of pain you’ve experienced or experience on a regular basis. Yes, it does feel like it hurts more. But on the other side of that pain is healing. On the other side of your emotional turmoil is emotional peace.

The journey of recovery is not always an easy one. But ask anyone whose been on the journey for 10+ years and ask them if it’s worth going through the pain of healing. I for one will tell you yes, it’s worth it. It sucks. You won’t like it while you’re going through it. But once you’re on the other side, you’re gonna love it!

“We can learn to accept our sorrow as a positive part of recovery, not as punishment.”

Ibid.

An important part of healing is doing an inventory of past hurts and resentments

#embracethejourney #theothersideofpainishealing