Possess the Process 2

Today, I’m here to discourage you.

Yes, you. And no, I’m not having a bad day. But, I had one last week. And the week before that. And sometimes, rather than allow a mood to just “be” until the moment passes, I bulldoze my way through. Assuming it’s just a normal bout with negativity, rather than an indicator I should explore further, I push past my feelings without checking in.

And so do many of you.

But these days, I’m writing a book about training your soul and what that looks like. And in order to write it, I had to revisit many of my most painful moments and the moments between those moments, which very few people know about. I had to translate the before, the after, and the process of getting over the emotional humps.

The temptation when we endure and eventually overcome a traumatic soul injury is to believe any new sign of emotional pain means we aren’t healed. I personally don’t believe God would waste the skills gained from your journey for you to never use them again. Or, maybe you’re supposed to teach them to someone else. I believe the path to emotional healing can be a repeatable process, despite our issues and experiences being vastly different.

Every soul has a language. It’s why we have certain friends with whom we can be our most vulnerable without saying a word. Over the years, communication can go beyond our external persona, and like David and Jonathan, our souls become knitted together.  Other times, two souls can connect at an initial meeting. When two souls connect in the soul realm, we generally call it having “kindred spirits.” That occurs because our souls have a language. Trouble is, our souls can also be fickle, tossed around with the wind!

So why do I “dis-courage” you today? Because if you’re not feeling yourself, I want you to live in that momentarily. Process through it. Don’t just put on a bandage. Like a bandaid on a slow healing wound, the cover-up prolongs healing. Let some air hit it so it can scab up and be removed permanently.

I remember how weary and frustrated I became each time I bulldozed past my own feelings to get back to happy, or portray strength for someone else. In solitude, I had no problem fully expressing my soul’s despair. But for people, I felt a need to be the “Lisa” they were used to. And the lie of being “okay” wore me out. I thought I had to be courageous and strong for them.  When I finally admitted that I wasn’t okay (“dissed” that fake courage) and opened up my soul, letting the air hit my wound, healing came.

Now, the next time you hit a bump in the road, I ask that you lay down your courage. Allow your soul to speak her needs and go through the process. Possess it.

Then, share your experience with someone who needs to know it’s possible.