Man.....the same proud, egocentric being who once thought the sun revolved around him, is surprisingly withdrawn when it comes to issues of the self. An unlikely paradox, but understandable with a moment's thought. The inner self is by far the most preciously guarded aspect of all human existence. And why not? The greatest gifts we possess in life - who we are, and what we truly are (or what we percieve ourselves to be) are all held within. So prized is our inner self, that we often refrain from speaking about it, or try our best to mask all that it truly contains.
But let us for a moment break that fear of revealing self...and delve into the depths to examine the matters that lie within. I’ll show you why:
When we are in harmony with ourselves, and with the environment around us, we acquire a state of inner peace. This peace allows us to engage our full potential IN and OF life, and it is there that we find the confidence and security to fulfill our greatest dreams and aspirations without fear, doubt or harm. But along our journey through life, we all face problems, stresses and adverse circumstances that affect the innermost core of our being. What becomes of us in future depends on how we choose to treat with these influences.
Like our physical self, the intangible inner self has an amazing capacity to adapt to various stresses and harsh circumstances we face on a daily basis. It is not surprising, then, that our inner self responds in a similar manner to our physical body when these stresses go too far…and that brings us to a critical factor in self existence – self injury.
SELF-INJURY
Often, we push the adaptive limits of our inner self way beyond the boundary of what it can handle. When we allow our inner problems – our fears, hurts, anxieties, lost hopes, disappointments, grudges, grief or anger to take hold of ourselves for prolonged periods of time, we disappoint God, taint our future and deprive our inner selves of life. Eventually, our capacity to adapt to such inner hurt is exceeded, and the hurt itself becomes a poison to our being – a phenomenon known as self injury results. Think of self injury as an inner reflection of physical harm - inflicting damage to the flesh with a sharp knife. Whenever we choose to retain our hurts, we slash ourselves. The more hurt we retain, the more we inflict injury to our delicate inner core, and if left untreated with time, these wounds become deeper and wider…morphing into gaping gashes. But of course, no one takes pleasure in looking at an open wound – it’s unpleasant both to the victim and the observer. The result of this is self masking. Fearing that the inner wounds we bear would be exposed for the world to see, we desperately attempt to “bandage” these wounds. Some try to bandage by changing the physical self – the outer appearance and the material things of life. Others try to bandage by changing attitude, “wearing” it for all to see. Sometimes it is necessary to bandage, but for short periods of time, bearing in mind that a bandage does not fix the underlying cause of the wound itself. It only provides a nice dressing for elegant appearance, and is meant to assist the healing of a wound that has already been appropriately attended to. Why, then, do we place so much trust in the “bandages” we use to cover our inner wounds? Perhaps we sometimes feel powerless to face our injured self, or to conquer the cause of our wounds. Or perhaps we generate the false hope that our wounds will heal naturally with time…time that may never come.
But inner hurt is not all such a bad thing. The stresses we face inside can help us to grow stringer, to learn and to appreciate the greater things in life. There is no life without inner hurt, and at some point, we must all face the trials of self. But when unattended hurt goes rancid and morphs into our soul’s poison, we are starved of the very essence of life. The eventual result, then, is possibly the most critical phenomenon that affects the self – self death.
SELF-DEATH
Our deep seated wounds, left untreated, become inflamed and infected. When our internal capacity for repair and healing is exceeded, fragments of our injured self will die. As with many wounds of the flesh, these dead fragments of self will eventually heal over time into scars. It is most unfortunate that scarred fragments of our inner self cannot be renewed or revived – the process is irreversible. Meanwhile, we continue to trust in our bandages, unaware of the fact that we are self destructing. What will we do when our scars become so many, and our lives come crashing down? Where shall we run when we’ve got nothing left to absorb the pain within, and our souls whither away? And who can save us now, when we come to realize that the inner damage can’t be undone….when we lose all care for life, and nothing seems to matter anymore. It’s then that we shall see the truth…that we’ve allowed ourselves to die inside. But then, it’s obviously too late.
Our bodies are the medium through which achieve (or at least attempt to achieve) the greatest will and aspirations of our soul. We are the living self….a physical body has no purpose bearing a dead inner self. This is why the most explicit physical expression of self death is suicide. Anyone who has experienced self death will lose all care for life. A once cheerful individual suddenly becomes sullen, withdrawn, extremely angry or manically fearful. They may spontaneously lash out at others around them….even the ones they love, or may withdraw themselves into a surreal cocoon, attempting to isolate themselves from all life. In their world, all alone, they finally turn upon their physical selves, ending their physical lives and apparently deleting their own existence.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. The first step in healing our inner wounds is admitting to ourselves that there’s a problem. When we come to accept the fact that we are hurt inside, we can now take steps to do something about it. If only we would take a moment to accept and to find solutions to our problems, we can avoid self injury. If we have already sustained injury, then we must commit ourselves to finding the right cure for our wounds. No man is an island…..and often we need the support our friends, family and loved ones in healing our wounds, bearing in mind that there is no cure for a dead self - Then we won’t have to worry about covering up the unsightly wounds we bear inside.
Today, I will remove the bandage that covers my inner self, and I will find the right medication to heal my inner wounds.
But let us for a moment break that fear of revealing self...and delve into the depths to examine the matters that lie within. I’ll show you why:
When we are in harmony with ourselves, and with the environment around us, we acquire a state of inner peace. This peace allows us to engage our full potential IN and OF life, and it is there that we find the confidence and security to fulfill our greatest dreams and aspirations without fear, doubt or harm. But along our journey through life, we all face problems, stresses and adverse circumstances that affect the innermost core of our being. What becomes of us in future depends on how we choose to treat with these influences.
Like our physical self, the intangible inner self has an amazing capacity to adapt to various stresses and harsh circumstances we face on a daily basis. It is not surprising, then, that our inner self responds in a similar manner to our physical body when these stresses go too far…and that brings us to a critical factor in self existence – self injury.
SELF-INJURY
Often, we push the adaptive limits of our inner self way beyond the boundary of what it can handle. When we allow our inner problems – our fears, hurts, anxieties, lost hopes, disappointments, grudges, grief or anger to take hold of ourselves for prolonged periods of time, we disappoint God, taint our future and deprive our inner selves of life. Eventually, our capacity to adapt to such inner hurt is exceeded, and the hurt itself becomes a poison to our being – a phenomenon known as self injury results. Think of self injury as an inner reflection of physical harm - inflicting damage to the flesh with a sharp knife. Whenever we choose to retain our hurts, we slash ourselves. The more hurt we retain, the more we inflict injury to our delicate inner core, and if left untreated with time, these wounds become deeper and wider…morphing into gaping gashes. But of course, no one takes pleasure in looking at an open wound – it’s unpleasant both to the victim and the observer. The result of this is self masking. Fearing that the inner wounds we bear would be exposed for the world to see, we desperately attempt to “bandage” these wounds. Some try to bandage by changing the physical self – the outer appearance and the material things of life. Others try to bandage by changing attitude, “wearing” it for all to see. Sometimes it is necessary to bandage, but for short periods of time, bearing in mind that a bandage does not fix the underlying cause of the wound itself. It only provides a nice dressing for elegant appearance, and is meant to assist the healing of a wound that has already been appropriately attended to. Why, then, do we place so much trust in the “bandages” we use to cover our inner wounds? Perhaps we sometimes feel powerless to face our injured self, or to conquer the cause of our wounds. Or perhaps we generate the false hope that our wounds will heal naturally with time…time that may never come.
But inner hurt is not all such a bad thing. The stresses we face inside can help us to grow stringer, to learn and to appreciate the greater things in life. There is no life without inner hurt, and at some point, we must all face the trials of self. But when unattended hurt goes rancid and morphs into our soul’s poison, we are starved of the very essence of life. The eventual result, then, is possibly the most critical phenomenon that affects the self – self death.
SELF-DEATH
Our deep seated wounds, left untreated, become inflamed and infected. When our internal capacity for repair and healing is exceeded, fragments of our injured self will die. As with many wounds of the flesh, these dead fragments of self will eventually heal over time into scars. It is most unfortunate that scarred fragments of our inner self cannot be renewed or revived – the process is irreversible. Meanwhile, we continue to trust in our bandages, unaware of the fact that we are self destructing. What will we do when our scars become so many, and our lives come crashing down? Where shall we run when we’ve got nothing left to absorb the pain within, and our souls whither away? And who can save us now, when we come to realize that the inner damage can’t be undone….when we lose all care for life, and nothing seems to matter anymore. It’s then that we shall see the truth…that we’ve allowed ourselves to die inside. But then, it’s obviously too late.
Our bodies are the medium through which achieve (or at least attempt to achieve) the greatest will and aspirations of our soul. We are the living self….a physical body has no purpose bearing a dead inner self. This is why the most explicit physical expression of self death is suicide. Anyone who has experienced self death will lose all care for life. A once cheerful individual suddenly becomes sullen, withdrawn, extremely angry or manically fearful. They may spontaneously lash out at others around them….even the ones they love, or may withdraw themselves into a surreal cocoon, attempting to isolate themselves from all life. In their world, all alone, they finally turn upon their physical selves, ending their physical lives and apparently deleting their own existence.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. The first step in healing our inner wounds is admitting to ourselves that there’s a problem. When we come to accept the fact that we are hurt inside, we can now take steps to do something about it. If only we would take a moment to accept and to find solutions to our problems, we can avoid self injury. If we have already sustained injury, then we must commit ourselves to finding the right cure for our wounds. No man is an island…..and often we need the support our friends, family and loved ones in healing our wounds, bearing in mind that there is no cure for a dead self - Then we won’t have to worry about covering up the unsightly wounds we bear inside.
Today, I will remove the bandage that covers my inner self, and I will find the right medication to heal my inner wounds.
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