Dealing with many internal issues can take us into some tough stuff. It can feel like grinding our way through an iceberg, and whenever we get into these old pains, this is when we hear the ego screaming the loudest. It shouts, “I never should have done this spiritual healing thing,” or “Why did a spiritual awakening have to happen to me?”

And it has many other shouts, threats, fears, and additional issues that it piles on top of whatever issue you may be working through at the current time. It often comes with threats that this is hopeless or impossible, and of course, those are absurdities. In a universe of infinite possibility, only the ego can be so bold and arrogant to say that there is no possibility or possibility of hope.

While a little motivational support can be coddling the unconscious ego that doesn’t believe in what is going on (or perhaps only partially so), I realize that we’re human. We can get caught up in these doubts, and it’s nice to have a little outside motivation and encouragement from time to time. So here it is. Hopefully, these five motivational tips remind you how important what you are doing is and that no matter how dark and bleak the ego thinks things are and no matter how intense the energy, emotions, and physical sensations, this healing and spiritual growth is totally worth it.

#1 When You Heal Yourself, You Are Healing Others

We are all interconnected. We are all one. So it is impossible for one of us to heal without influencing the greater whole. While we don’t look for external validation of our inner changes from others, we trust that moving into deeper awareness naturally helps and supports others. Many of you will get external validation with others commenting on some wise thing you said or feeling more connected or supported by you as your own inner space of love expands. But don’t hang onto this. Because healing yourself also can drive up pain in others. Or rather, the healing space within you calls to the healing space within others, and that inner movement another feels can be greatly upsetting.

But as you are discovering, this is the best kind of upset. Because it is temporary and meant to heal you and free you from pain. So when you are down in the dungeon of inner pain working on an issue, simply know that you’re helping all of us become a little more free in the process.

We Are All One: The Law of Interconnection

#2 No Pain Lasts Forever

Let me be clear; there are surprisingly intense emotions, energies, and physical sensations that can come up as we heal. When we’re in the midst of it, the unconscious ego always seems to assume that it will never end. But no pain lasts forever, and that temporariness truly is a blessing. If pain never went away, there truly would be no hope. But the gift of the divine in all of you is that pain is not your natural state of awareness. It may be your habituated form of living. This simply means you’ve been in pain for a long time, and it’s built into how you unconsciously live and think everyday. But the awakened state is a relaxed state while pain is an agitated state. It takes energy to maintain pain and suffering. When you relax more deeply into yourself, you are moving through that agitated state so that you can drop into a deeper and more natural state of peace and relaxation.

The Relentless Embracing of the Awakened State

#3 Momentary Discomfort That Heals Is Better Than A Lifetime of Repeated Suffering

Building off of motivational tip number two, momentary discomfort is far better than suffering for a lifetime. It takes a lot of energy to keep ourselves agitated. In turn, we tend to self-medicate in some way because we feel bad and we don’t want to feel bad. This leads to all kinds of issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, constantly being stimulated through media, sex-aholism, work-aholism, and just about any form of diversion you can probably think of. This is the path of pain and suffering, and it takes people down self-destructive roads.

Furthermore, living in so much pain and self-medication inhibits people from living the lives most meaningful to their souls. They generally cannot hear what their spirits have to say about the lives they’re living. The worse pain someone is in, the more pain they’re going to have to process to get out of it. It is always possible that someone will drop all pain in one big awakened moment, but that is EXTREMELY rare. Most people who awaken go through years of inner churning to work out all that built up pain. But in so doing and embracing all that inner discomfort, they free themselves from a lifetime of suffering. Isn’t that worth it?

Cycles of Pain and Suffering

#4 Breaking Yourself Open Allows You to Live the Life that Matters Most to You

Building off the third motivational tip, the more whole you are, the clearer it is to live the life that your soul most wants to live. In traveling that path, there tends to be a whole lot of growing pains. This has a different quality of intensity than healing your initial issues. Think of it like learning how to sprint after healing a broken leg. Healing a broken leg is one set of intensity and rehab. Learning how to sprint is another, and it happens after you’ve healed the broken leg. But if you are meant to be a “sprinter,” then this type of intensity is also easier to handle. Unlike other things you tried to do because people told you should do them or you thought they’d make you happy, doing what you love has a natural ease to it along with the growing pains. And the further you grow into the path that is most natural to you, the more joyful and full of gratitude you will be that you were broken open in the first place.

Working in the World From Your Awakened Self

#5 Dealing With Tough Inner Issues Allows Us to Mindfully Deal With Tough External Issues

Let’s be honest; this world has some pretty big issues. Crime, poverty, hunger, war, sexual abuse, torture, and so much more are only a few of the major issues with which we are confronted. But if we want to be able to engage with such powerful problems, we have to be at peace within ourselves. This is also why your inner spiritual work is so crucial to being able to serve others, if this is something you are called to do. The less pain and suffering that is in you, the less the world around you can trigger you and get you to act out irresponsibly and unconsciously, which typically causes more suffering. In dealing with your inner issues, you become what I like to call “heart-strong.” From this place, you can choose your emotions and your actions. That allows you to better engage in any external issue and find healthier resolutions from dealing with an upset mother-in-law to a rancorous diplomat in peace negotiations.

Becoming Heart Strong

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

At no time do I want to emphasize getting to the “end” of healing. That type of attitude tends to forfeit some of your most needed attention from the present moment by looking off into the future. The present moment is always your greatest ally and doorway to the future, and a “just get through it” mentality will cause you more difficult because you aren’t fully embracing the issues at hand. I know this can be hard. I’ve walked my inner roads and seen my inner darkness. But this is what must happen to truly walk the spiritual path. When you fully embrace your darkness and your light, you cannot be touched. I do not mean that the physical world can’t physically harm you. I mean that you know the truth and you are peace with your own inner space. No one can take that inner peace from you without your choosing.

As I said earlier, peace is your natural state of awareness, and in your love and clarity, you can find all the connection, joy, inner safety, and freedom from suffering that you could ever want.

Author

I'm a spiritual teacher who helps people find freedom from suffering.

1 Comment

  1. Hi, Jim:

    Thanks for this blog. I started down the path consciously about a year ago and have been making quite a bit of progress I'd say "growing up" – I'm becoming a more mature person in my everyday life. However, I am plagued by this dread about all the work I have that lays ahead…as you write here, wondering when I will get to the "end" of all of this. I have been stuck in this place for a long time. Any idea on how to move out of it? Especially since I've read a lot of what you say about your path and some spiritual teachers who say they are fully embodied and healed…my ego goes "What's the point of starting if it's so unlikely to reach the end? How do I know I have what it takes?"

    Any thoughts on moving past this very stuck and scary place?

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