-Stacy Sully-
How do we dissolve fear and confusion into the love that already exists within us? When illness strikes it becomes even more challenging to stay calm and optimistic. Our inner voice can seem far away as cynicism and anger arise to meet this often unwanted change in our plans.
Chronic illness and stress can lead to greater self awareness if we choose to use them as tools for healing. The challenge is to have faith in our innate ability to heal our minds. We can dissolve fear, panic and anger as they emerge to sidetrack our healing process. The misery cycle of self-limiting thoughts is not inevitable!
Our fear-based and limited self, the ego, immediately wants to control the situation with familiar and outworn patterns it learned from the past. Be glad; the sooner we recognize them the faster we can show them the door!
Our ego has taken over our minds like a virus. We don’t always know its habits until it tries to be in charge of our functioning. By acknowledging that a disease lives in our mind, it can be brought to light by the power of self-awareness. Our unlimited Self knows exactly how these foreign ideas and fantasies can be dissolved. An inward focus will assist our innate wisdom to point towards our own personal healing journey.
The antidote to fear is forgiveness; not the kind of forgiveness in which our ego likes to be judgmental and self righteous. Rather, we advocate self-forgiveness and encourage you to let yourself off the blame-shame-guilt hook and move on! Staying stuck in the patterns of the past is hurtful and keeps us locked in cycles of pain. It is more helpful to say ‘I forgive myself for believing that this is real’. Say it every time your critic jumps up like a noisy, yapping puppy!
To learn more about forgiveness you might like to read the bestselling book Love Is Letting Go of Fear by psychiatrist Jerry Jampolsky. He has guided millions of readers toward the realization that by releasing the restrictive thinking imposed by our own minds we can embrace a life in which negativity, doubt, and fear are replaced with optimism, joy, and love.
Meanwhile, start to notice when attack thoughts arise to discredit, minimize or ridicule your efforts. Be happy! This is an opportunity for forgiveness. Willingness to develop self-awareness is the first step to dissolving the ego’s thought system.