They say time heals all wounds. The last couple of years have held a series of fissures for me, not quite deep enough to be permanent wounds, but deep enough to feel the pain. Cracks just below the surface that felt like they went to the bone. Just as one place healed, it seemed another crack would open. Was it because life is just a series of terrible events? Was life just so unfair for me that I should be singled out? Was every bad thing only happening to me?

I think the answer to those questions is simply “no”.

Pain is gonna come. We’re gonna be wounded from time to time, and yes, there’s gonna be some seasons where it feels like every bad thing is coming after you. And yes, bad things do happen, but the truth is most of what we go through is exacerbated and exaggerated in our own minds.

A friend and mentor told me just yesterday that I overthink things. He’s not wrong. In fact truer words probably couldn’t be spoken about me, especially right now. I think sometimes I’ve prolonged temporary setbacks and traumatic events by putting them in a holding cell in my mind, hiding the key or burying it in the ground so those doors remain shut. As a result pain, fear, and secrets become the companions that we think we can’t live without. Living in a prison of your own making is a difficult place to leave. We become comfortable in the familiar and as a result, we don’t allow ourselves to move forward. I guess maybe it’s time to unlock the doors, let the pain go free, and allow the wounds to heal. Maybe then our minds can slow down and stop hiding, so we can move into the life intended for us, the one we truly want and dream about far below the surface of the wounds. Maybe it’s time to be in the moment and stop thinking about a thousand other things (overthinking) that may or may not even exist.

Life isn’t as complicated as it might seem, regardless of circumstance. Open the prison you’ve locked yourself away in and live in the freedom you deserve and experience all that life has to offer. You deserve it, and so do I.

Published by Jeff

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