We have all faced moments in our lives when the pressure mounts beyond what
we feel we can handle, and we find ourselves thinking that we do not have the
strength to carry on. Sometimes we have just gotten through a major obstacle
or illness only to find another one waiting for us the moment we finally
catch our breath. Sometimes we endure one loss after another, wondering when
we will get a break from life’s travails. It does not seem fair or right that
life should demand more of us when we feel we have given all we can, but this
is the way life works.
When we look back on our lives, we can see that we have survived many trials
and surmounted many obstacles, often to our own amazement. In each of those
instances, we had to break through our ideas about how much we could handle
and go deeper into our hidden reserves. Think of it like a frozen lake: it
appears impenetrable, but when we break through it, we find a deep reservoir.
When we break through the thought that we don’t have more to give or to even
fall back on, we can find a well of energy and inspiration trapped beneath.
Sometimes we break through by cutting a hole in our resistance with our
willpower, and sometimes we melt the ice with compassion for our predicament
and ourselves. Either way, each time we break through, we reach a new
understanding of the strength we store within ourselves.
When we find ourselves up against that barrier of thinking we cannot handle
our situation, we may find that the kindest choice is to love ourselves and
our resistance too. We can simply accept that we are overwhelmed, exhausted,
and stretched and offer ourselves loving kindness and compassion. If we can
extend the unconditional warmth of a mother’s love to ourselves, before we
know it, the ice will begin to melt.
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