Should We Take the News Lying Down or Get Up and Fight?
I encourage you to find the inner drive toward greater self-love
This is my advice and it comes from over twenty years of learning how to patiently meditate and listen.
I do not have your answers. I have my own. But I feel compelled to share what is working for me in the hope that it will work for you too.
Everyone has advice. I get that. Advice is important. I often need it myself, but sometimes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I receive advice. I have a bad reaction. I don’t always want someone telling me what to do, think, or even offer a solution.
Maybe I just want to wallow in my own disappointment for a while. Ever thought of that?
But wallowing gets old. Fast. I will admit I tend to wallow before I pick myself up and carry on, but while wallowing I’ll be damned if I need advice. I need you to see me wallowing.
And then when the wallowing is stale and I can put two feet in front of the other to get myself going again, I remember that the way forward only happened because I sat down long enough to listen. To myself.
Meditation acts like a private radio signal between yourself and your god, your consciousness, your holy mother…choose a vocabulary word. I won’t do that for you. It is a vehicle offering subtle re-programming. It is a way through the muck and into the light.
Ok, I will admit that’s a cliche. But it is true. And in order to write a truth, I have to use truthful statements. The way to get yourself out of wallowing is to find your way out of the dark, in the best way possible, and into the light.
Remember we love darkness. And difficulty.
We love for others to see our pain, and when we don’t get our fill of attention, we look for more pain. We create new opportunities to hurt. We get good at wallowing and showing ourselves off this way.
Maybe we think this kind of attention is good? That when we attract attention during our painful periods we will be loved? Respected? Admired for getting through it? I am not suggesting that pain is bad and should be avoided. No. Pain is real. But I do believe we create it, add to it, and demand more and more of it in our psyches by drawing attention to it.
Meditation helps me rewire my mind by reconnecting me to the light. By stepping away from the darkness of pain, of rejection, of loneliness, for example, I can begin to balance this darkness with light. I can stop the wallowing, pick myself up, and continue moving forward.
Meditation is not for everyone, I get that. But the more we wallow, the more we collect. And the more we double down on grief, the harder it is to put one foot in front of the other and go forward. The weight of grief is collectively turning us into angry knots. Angry somethings. Angry vultures. All this grief will sideline a nation if we don’t learn to deal with the grief and move it out of our bodies, our minds, and our collective discourse.
Please join me in a meditative moment. Take a moment to reflect on one incident that grieves you, that makes you angry, frustrated, or disappointed. Love yourself fully because you feel. You must tell yourself that you feel hurt, you feel exhausted, or you feel alone, for example.
Close your eyes and tell yourself, “I want to let go of anger. It is destroying the relationship I have with my mother,” as an example. Announce to the light surrounding you that there is room in your heart for light. That you can have the light too. Perhaps you will say, “Darkness will always be here, but to balance these dark feelings, I will bring in the light to help me heal my anger.”
Allow yourself a moment to attract this light by sitting in silence with the light.
Then breathe.
Light attracts light.
Becoming less dense will give you buoyancy and buoyancy lifts wallowing.
It is easy to attract hurt. We all do it. But it is on us to stop lying down and get up and do what we honestly do best. Which is to love.
Interested in a FREE guided meditation? Please visit my website at aliciachalanelewis.com
