Knowing yourself is some of your most important work

Knowing yourself is some of your most important work : 

Knowing yourself is some of your most important work. Otherwise how can you be accountable for the energy you're spreading? For the ways you're contributing to the world around you, and showing up for yourself, and all the people in your life? If you refuse to face down your dragons, they're going to run your show, and they're going to throw flames at anyone who gets close to you. You won't mean for that to happen, you'll probably feel terrible about it, and yourself. Which simply compounds your pain. Now you have the old stuff, and the new stuff that springs up around you in your current life. Won't it ever release its grip on you? You can keep playing it out, hoping for that happy ending, but you're not going to get it until you become the hero of your own story. No one is coming to save the day. That's your job.

The thing is, saving the day is not easy, but it's a lot better than being on the run. Or being in a haze. Or feeling desperate for someone or something to make it better. You get to do that. And you're totally capable, no matter what you've been through. I say that with the full understanding that you may have suffered through intense grief or neglect or abuse. Being the hero might simply mean you find your way out of bed today and make an appointment with a good therapist. That would be heroic. Just acting on your own behalf would be something huge. Because you may need someone to kindly hold up a mirror and say, "Of course you can." (You'll still have to do it yourself.) Or acknowledge that the old pain is real, and that it's natural you've been carrying it with you for so long. But that maybe you can put it down now. You can unpack it and lay it all out and hold it up to the light so that you really absorb, as you are now, the full spectrum of your feelings. So that this stuff isn't buried in your unconscious, outside of your awareness anymore. Causing you to do things or say things you wish you hadn't. Causing you to harm yourself, or hurt other people, or make choices that are inexplicable, even to you. Maybe you're very aware of your pain, but it's still overtaking your life. If you feel hopeless, that's another indication that you might want to reach out and get some back-up. You examine your pain so you can integrate it and recognize it when it shows up. So you can be kind to yourself, and take care of yourself, and empower yourself.

Om Namah Shivay.