"This is the time to heal."
You may recall this line from Joe Biden in his victory speech. Perhaps it’s quite obvious to see why we all need it, and why healing plays such an important role in getting us back on track with a good state of mental health, to take care of ourselves and our beloveds.
But do we know how?
As I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately, I caught myself drafting an endless list of 'how to heal' for this new blog post that I wanted to share with you last weekend: acknowledge reality, take a break, practice self-care, go at your own pace, lean on your support system, surround yourself with good vibes only, meditate, create your own rituals… you know, it went on and on.
However, my long list of bullet points made me puzzled. ‘What am I missing?’ I felt uninspired and stuck; there were so many things I had not mentioned that I could elaborate on and wanted to share with you but so did the Interwebs. Then I realized that I was just listing out all the doors that could take us to our healing journey. What I was missing was the key to open all of these doors.
I started scratching off everything I wrote last week and typing again. I believed I had found the key.
Forgetting all the ‘supposed to do’ and ‘supposed to be’ that we were told about healing, there is one question that I keep coming back to and asking myself before making decisions or reacting in certain situations, it is “Will doing this help me gain my inner peace?”
Healing can sometimes be mistaken for being selfish, but we don’t need to be selfish in order to heal. In fact, prioritizing our ego often harms us more than helps in the long run. That is why our healing journey should be focused on the gain in our inner peace and not our ego — not being right, perfect, or being ‘the best.’
If moving slower than you usually do helps you gain your inner peace, so be it. If letting go of people and things that are no longer aligned with your values helps you gain your inner peace, so be it. If staying disconnected for some time helps you gain your inner peace, so be it, but don’t forget to ask for help when you need it and reconnect when you feel ready again ;)
Embrace ‘nothingness.’ Get in touch with your own needs. Respect others. Imagine all your stress like your breath, comes and goes.
And what’s left, is your inner peace.
Take care of yourself.
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