We all live in a world full of challenges.  Everyone has a story.  It is true that some are more tragic than others, but we all are faced with something that requires tremendous effort on our parts, to move through. It is up to each of us to see the light in our pain and to recognize that those pains are simply flags, pointers, to help us identify, diagnose and cure the problem.  Psychic (mental) pain is no different than physical pain we just fail to see it with the same clarity.  If we cut our selves or bump our leg up against a table or stub our toe, we immediately address it by getting a band-aid or ice or some type if ointment to soothe the pain and then we quickly realize what we did wrong.  Either we weren’t paying attention or we tried a new method for doing something that did not work or something was out of place.  Whatever the reason may be, we generally identify the cause and make a decision right then and there what needs to be done next to move on and avoid meeting with that pain again. We don’t hold it. With psychic pain we seem to be more remiss about what’s going on. Most of us do not look at the emotional and mental pain the way that we would the physical.  We don’t eagerly assess and address it, most of us shut down or we try to ignore it.  What do you think would happen if we started to meet those emotional/mental ebbs with the same diligence that we do the physical ones? Give this some serious consideration.  How would your life change if you began to monitor your thoughts and feelings and responded with the same immediacy that you do to what is painful to your body?

Part of the reasoning many of us get stuck can be attributed to how we interpret our challenges (our life training). Life’s ebbs, for most people, are considered a bad thing.  We do not enjoy what is uncomfortable.  Our society has become accustomed to thinking in terms of integers, positive and negative.  The problem is that we have taken those terms out of their context and began to label them as good and bad, respectively.  This is a grave mistake.  Negative does not constitute bad, it is simply negative and negative serves it’s purpose, as does positive. Greater education and mastery of these energies will increase your personal power.  Let’s look at the gym as an example.  We see people going to the gym all the time and it is not uncommon to see someone lifting weights, is it?  No, but how many times have you seen someone lift the weight with one intensity/speed in one direction and not repeat that action while moving in the other direction? Those who are well trained do not make this type of mistake.  They understand that the eccentric contraction (negative) and the concentric contraction (positive) are equally as important; although, they serve two very different functions.  A newer comer to the gym or someone who was never properly trained naturally focuses on the positive, squeezing tightly and really putting their best foot forward, but they relax or quit on the exercise (so to speak) on the negative portion.  What is funny about this fact is that it is the negative that is building the most muscle, not necessarily in bulk, but in strength.

It is all a part of the beautiful design of our beingness.  Transcendence is the promise.  It is there awaiting you… waiting for you to push through your boundaries and take the ride, but we must desire to move from where we are to another point within the matrix that holds something greater for us.  We must desire to move forward and then choose to do what is necessary to go towards our vision.  So often we find ourselves trapped in situations, restricted by our own beliefs, beliefs that tell us that there is no way out, only to find that we have caged ourselves within the walls of a wet paper bag.  We hold ourselves prisoner. Our attachments keep us bound to the same self deprecating patterns that have laid its welcome mat on the porch of our comfort zone.  Like an addiction we are continuously called to the emotional ditches that are filled with waste and filth, yet we cannot climb out. We want to move forward yet we can’t seem to get out of our own way! You must divorce the lie, like a bad marriage it is not serving you, just let go of the pain and find the light within the challenge so that the light within you can rise and the lie can die!

Daniel Beaty a singer, writer, playwright, actor, and poet has a poem that puts the perspectives that I shared above into motion. In his heart touching poem “Knock Knock,” Daniel takes his audience through 3 stages, childhood with his father, childhood without his father, and adulthood without his father.  He expresses his grief, his anger and his challenges, but ultimately he invites you into his journey for healing.  He shares how he got out of his own way, by identifying his emotional flags and refusing to allow his pain or past to hold him back.  Daniel used the negatives to his advantage. He achieved liberation through his so-called limitations, envisioning his future as a stronger person, a stronger man, and a stronger contributor to his community.

What did you see when you viewed, Knock Knock? I saw Daniel tell his pain, “I will not be a statistic. I will not be someone who is unstable because my foundation suffered a few cracks. I will not be lost because my leader became distracted. I will be a student of observation and learn in every way possible. Against the odds I will rise. I am not my parent’s choices or my circumstances. I am my own person and I can create what I want. I have no limitations, only challenges that will make me stronger. I AM; therefore, I will be!!”

Prayerfully, you will find light in every challenge that you face. There are not limitations, only opportunities for liberation and a greater you!  Be Blessed!!