I told Lily the whole spiel about my faux-pas the other day and she said, “It’s the cycle of suffering. Part of our purpose in life is to see our way out of our suffering.”
She explained that part of our “stuff” is the way we react to things. We’re not really reacting to the actual incident but to the emotional trigger behind the incident.
Remember what she had with her boyfriend and the towels? It wasn’t the towels that drove her crazy. It was the feeling behind the towels, that she wasn’t worthy enough to have a boyfriend who’d buy her new towels.
Often times, we’re pre-upset about things. We often live our lives as a sequel to things that already happened. Then the incident becomes the trigger.
So what do we do?
Face it, trace it, erase it.
Face the feeling. Trace it to its source. What is behind what you’re feeling? What is the real pain? The deep, deep childhood hurt that needs healing? Then when you know that you can release it, erase it.
Our purpose in life is to bring ourselves out of that suffering. We can do that by awareness. From awareness, we can say, “Ahhh.” Then comes acceptance. Then peace.
Face it. Trace it. Erase it. Let it go once you know it’s an old hurt.
Don’t you love Kathy Bates? She’s one of my favorite actresses, proving that you don’t have to be a Botoxed boob to be good! Here’s her yearbook photo here.
DIANA BLETTER 
Hi Diana! I really needed this today. I had a big eye opener this week about just this. You’ve always told me that my feelings are not facts. Actually, there are a lot of untruths that I convince myself to be true. My husband does love me but I constantly tell myself that he doesn’t. I guess that’s why it’s so important that we run these ideas of ours by the other person. Xoxo -Erin
Along this line of thought is a book written by Dr Sarno called The Mind Body Prescription. The theory being that if you can find the deeper pain (the source of your anguish), the actual physical pain in your body will go away. Your body uses the physical pain to distract you from the real (emotional) pain. Once it is recognized your body doesn’t need to distract you, and it goes away.
Hi Diana – didn’t realize to leave my name with my comment- so here it is. I found the book worth reading and was helpful in relieving my back pain.
Hey Ellen, I will check out the book. I heard that there is a website that links pain in the body with specific emotional ailments on squidoo.com but I haven’t yet found it.
Glad your back is back on track!
Excellent insights into a situation I was facing. The steps are simple yet profound. Thanks for another helpful post.