Last April my family took a road trip from northern Idaho to Kansas.
On the way, we blew a tire outside of Bozeman, MT, woke to 6 inches of snow and 90 miles of ice outside of Casper, WY and then, things got worse…
We arrived in KS only to discover the local army base was burning 100s of acres of grassland that very week. So… smoke… for three out of our six days…
Which got me thinking…
When on a road trip, it is usual to expect the unexpected. While it is annoying when breakdowns happen and frustrating when things don’t go as planned, we recognize that we are on an adventure of sorts. That we are doing something out of the usual and thus, unusual things might happen.
But, what about when we are on a healing journey?
When on a healing journey, there’s something that so many tend to get wrong…
Many make the mistake of thinking that the longer they are on our healing journey the better life will become, the less obstacles they will encounter, and that they will no longer feel triggered or upset.
They might even think that as they continue on their healing journey, they’ll become beacons of light and love, the proverbial calm in the eye of the storm.
So, when they discover obstacles or find themselves reacting to the same ol’ things in the same ol’ ways, they feel frustrated, resentful and might even give up on whatever healing path they are walking.
Here’s the thing:
No matter how much healing we’ve done, no matter how much we have learned, grown and changed, life is still life.
We will still experience our version of blow-outs, ice, and smoke (perhaps unexpected illnesses or accidents, abrupt schedule changes, family or friends going through hard times and not being their best selves…)
Depending on how resourced (well rested, nourished, supported…) we are in the moment, we might be able to respond from a place of calm and inner guidance.
And, we might not.
We might find ourselves back in that familiar place of responding from a nervous system that is perceiving imminent and life-destroying threat.
And then, questioning the validity of our healing path.
So next time you are feeling frustrated and resentful because your healing journey isn’t changing your life in the way you want, I invite you to remember that healing isn’t a straight line and that we aren’t in control of (well) anything, really.
Even further, Life/Spirit/Our Higher Selves are all here to support our deepest growth and transformation.
Which, unfortunately, often happens through conflict, through ‘bad’ things happening, through us ‘not’ getting what we want.
…all of which opens the door to further healing…
Just keeping this perspective in mind might reduce the intensity of your experience and allow for a new response to emerge.
One of the foundational understandings in the Witchy Healer Wisdom School is that healing isn’t a straight line.
There, we see healing as more of a spiral… Life will continue to bring us whatever is needed to bring forth all that remains unhealed within us.
Thus, the same issues or obstacles tend to surface again and again (until they don’t) which can lead to feelings of frustration and hopelessness.
And yet, with every loop around the spiral, how we react to that issue changes.
…perhaps we are able to maintain our own center and connection to our bodies and guides when before that was entirely impossible.
…perhaps an even deeper layer of that issue is revealed and we are a snotty, angry, depressed mess for a while until that layer has received the healing it needs.
…perhaps the issue arises and we are in it for a couple of hours (versus days or weeks as previously).
…perhaps the same issue arises and it simply is no longer an issue for us – we don’t even bat an eye.
This is the spiral path of healing that we walk within the Witchy Healer Wisdom School that allows us to encounter blow-outs, ice, and fire and know that we are still exactly where we belong.
With love,
Larisa
ps. do you feel called to the spiral path of healing? Reach out and let’s talk.
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