Why do we hold on to pain... pain inflicted by others or self imposed?

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned"
Buddha


FORGIVNESS

Do we believe that we are punishing those that caused the hurt by holding on to the pain? Or do we believe there is redemption in suffering? Have we so blurred the borders of pain and pleasure that we can’t differentiate between the two? Do we so teeter on the brink of an emotional void that the presence of any feeling is a welcome reminder that we are still alive? Do we believe that pleasure must be born of pain, without out one the other can not exist? Or does one derive pleasure from pain?

Whatever the motivation, many of us not only hold on to the pain, we revisit the wounds, ensuring that they stay fresh and open…like picking at a scab, as the body works to heal us, we deliberately work to impede that healing.

Holding on to this pain and suffering is keeping us on a self imposed tether line, allowing us to venture only so far, only so far on our road to inner peace and personal evolvement. Again it comes back to LOVE, self LOVE.

When it is self LOVE that governs our thoughts and actions, that demands the highest and best quality of physical, spiritual and emotional life, then we have no option other than forgiveness.

It is in forgiveness, forgiveness of ourselves and others that we will find our inner peace.