“I will not be defeated by the things that hurt me!”
I had a friend post this in her blog a few weeks ago. I was so inspired by her. If you knew her life story, you would be, too. But it is her story to tell. However, I will tell you that what inspired her lovely quote was being stung by a jellyfish!
My friend is a missionary in Africa. On a little getaway, she was enjoying a day at the beach when a jellyfish wrapped itself around her and stung her! I have to say, if this were me, I would still be at that beach screaming my head off with people trying to smack me out of it! But not my friend…..she got BACK in the water!
Because of what she has been thru, she has learned to face her hurts and fears head on. She realizes the importance of not letting her fears get the best of her and not letting the possibility of getting hurt make her quit. She knows when she is afraid, she needs to keep going. She has chosen to feel the fear and do it anyway!
I wonder how many of us miss out on things in life because we are afraid of being hurt. I do realize you can’t throw caution to the wind and you have to use common sense. I do also believe we need to learn lessons from our pain. But I am talking about the things that we are not doing, that we need to do or that would be good for us, because we are afraid of being hurt.
When someone has an excellent business opportunity, how many people don’t seek it because they are afraid of being rejected? I have seen friends who don’t seek love because they were wounded years ago in a relationship they never worked thru. I see people all the time who are afraid to be close to people because they might get hurt. Oh what wonderful relationships they will miss out on!
We all need to work thru our hurts so we aren’t afraid to be hurt. Once you begin working thru the hurt, you realize how strong you are and how much you can actually make it thru.
I’m so proud of my friend- not only for getting back in the water, but for what she has worked on in her life and conquered.
What hurts do you have that are defeating you?
*Natalie Chandler, MA, LMHC is a therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Natalie enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, and couples counseling. We also specialize in family counseling, child, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, and Zionsville
Emotional rejection probably being the biggest for me as physical hurts seldom even slow me down, but fear of being rejected tends to have me not saying ‘hello’ in case it turns to ‘I don’t like you’ from that person.
But as the sage *Grin* Peter McWilliams puts it…
“Once you know something is not physically dangerous, go ahead and do the thing. It may feel uncomfortable (count on it), but keep moving one step after another in the direction of doing it. As you move–as you use it– the energy will transform from barrier to blessing. You’ll have energy, not limitation. ”
~ Peter McWilliam’s book Do It!
http://www.drugsense.org/mcwilliams/www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/doit/index9.htm (his books are free online)