Healing 2 minutes at a time

Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

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“The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”  ~Mr. Dooley

This quote was originally published in the 1902 book, Observations by Mr. Dooley based on a fictional character introduced in the Chicago Evening Post.  It has since been used to describe the work of God and the church and how he/they do this very thing…comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

But I also think this is how we heal from grief.

It does not matter whether our grief was caused by the loss of a loved one, the loss of a relationship or friendship or managing life before an illness, we need to be comforted when we are afflicted but believe it or not, we need to be afflicted when we are comfortable.

Why you ask?  Why would we afflict ourselves when we aren’t feeling anything?  Because we let our hearts go to sleep; we begin to numb the pain to make it better, instead of actually healing the hurt.  We begin to shut off the parts of us that hurt because we no longer want to feel the pain of this loss.  But numbing and turning off and getting too comfortable is not healing.  This course of action won’t bring us closer to the real purpose for our pain.  If we have to grieve, we might as well do a thorough enough job so we figure out what it’s bringing us toward, right?

Because all of our pain has purpose.  Our grief makes us stronger, more resilient, more appreciative, more grateful, more alive….but not if we get comfortable.

So this week, I want you to spend your 2 minutes thinking about where you might have fallen asleep in your emotional life.  Where are you most comfortable where you might still need to heal?  If you find that through this exploration you are comfortable because you feel healed in this area…FANTASTIC!!  Perhaps you can then ask yourself, what am I supposed to do with this healing?  Is it there for me to support someone else?  To create something that never existed before? To honor my loved one in a certain way?

And if you are afflicted right now… honor this time!  If you explore, or maybe you don’t even need to explore because you know you are deeply afflicted right now, then allow yourself to close for repairs. Be gentle and kind and so generously loving toward yourself.  This is the time to give yourself the love you need.  Because you need to fill your heart first with the love, compassion and strength it needs to do the rest of your healing.

What are you afflicted with right now?  What have you healed from? How are you using that strength to help others?  Are you helping a friend?  Starting something new? Share with our community so we can support you wherever you are on your path.

Sending you big love!

Love and Blessings,
Erin
afflictthecomforted

 

 

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