The power of positive thinking is mighty indeed. Refusing to dwell on fears, stressful situations or terrifying misfortunes that might never materialize allows the mind and body to function and heal itself most efficiently.
This approach is based on the principle, a house divided against itself cannot stand, which is biblical in origin from Matthew 12:25: “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand’.
Being in the Maze
The path to emotional, physical and spiritual mastery is Truth. The Universe created you with a mind-body-spirit that works together as a unified whole. At any time these aspects of yourself are out of balance, you meet a complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost. You find yourself in the Maze. Thoughts become jumbled and confused, your body frequently grows ill, and you might find it exceedingly uncomfortable to be alone or to think things through. Sooner or later every activity comes to a disappointment or a dead end.
Ignoring or denying trauma or emotional suffering not only pushes it underground but forces it to manifest itself as illness, disease, lethargy, or inappropriate behavior in the outer. The quote by Russian poet and novelist, Boris Pasternak, holds great power, wisdom and truth and is, in fact, the new, philosophical elixir of the A Maze of Grace website.
“The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.” ~Boris Pasternak
Your emotions (tensions) need an outlet. It there is no outlet, there is a huge chance that your body will get sick or your behavior will become irrational.
If you say there is only love and only the love is real, but your hot-headed boss fired you in a knee-jerk, narcissistic rage, your feelings of anxiety will be alleviated only if you take a serious look at your current status and decide what you need to do next. If you say you must send love to your boss, but you are angry about how you’ve been treated, your body rebells. Denial keeps you in the Maze. Truth gets you out.
If you tell yourself that it doesn’t matter that you are alone for Christmas year after year, knowing full well that it hurts deeply that family members refuse to compromise or consider other situations, the laryngitis you wake up with might prevent you from speaking your anger, or the crippling pain in your back might prevent you from taking a stand to be treated fairly and compassionately.
Truth is Life Force Energy, and the latter can never be destroyed, only changed. If lies are told in the mind, the body will eventually reveal the secret. For example, If you are invisible in a situation but tell yourself or others it doesn’t matter, when in fact it cuts to the core of your self-worth, you might gain weight as if to say, “Can you see me now?”
If you fail an important exam and your subconscious tells you how stupid you are, you might revert to an addiction to push those painful thoughts down while showing the world a body that isn’t smart enough to take good care of itself.
There are many spiritual groups and hot selling items like “The Secret” DVD that imply you must denounce all negative thoughts and allow only positive thoughts to enter your mind. These teachings warn that if you don’t ward off negative emotions, you will draw negativity into your life. I’m all for positive thoughts, and on one hand, I believe you can manifest what it is you want in life by staying focused and upbeat, but to deny negative thoughts that are charged with emotion will only bring ruin. Change comes from truth. You must look at the truth, feel the feelings, or they will hold you hostage until you get brave enough to deal with them. I’ve seen too many teachers, teachings and products abuse this process by telling people to ignore all negative thoughts. That’s called denial, not truth.
Remember, there is only truth and you can choose to bring all thoughts into consciousness so that you might align with that wonderful Spirit otherwise known as the Great Life Force Energy.
Every day bless your mind-body-spirit because they are the truth-seekers in your life. Look to see that your mind and body are consistent with the same message. If not, then you must discipher which is telling the truth and then realign your body and mind to work together as a consistent whole. If you find yourself and your life immersed in confusion, consult your spirit, your intuition for truth.
You often hear the phrase, “the truth hurts.” It’s true. When you search for the truth, you find many truths that are painful and frightening. But staying focused on the truth also brings integrity, maturity and satisfaction. I’ve never heard anyone say that they felt worse living in integrity than they did living a lie. We need passionate love for the truth or it will disappear. Truth and integrity bring peace to the soul. One of my favorite and frequent prayers is…Let the truth be revealed. Amen.
The mind, body, spirit know truth and can only co-exist in truth. If you intellectually deny truth, suffering will follow. Your refusal to acknowledge or accept truth is what keeps you in the Maze.
The reason that truth is the only balm that heals is because there is no separation between mind-body-spirit. Step through the heart of truth now and set yourself free.
The ability to embrace sadness, hurt or sorrow for oneself signifies a letting go of the self-critical aspect of one’s personality and the development of self-compassion, which is a crucial ingredient for the successful reduction of psychosomatic symptoms.
~~Dr. John Sarno, The Divided Mind
