In the journey of recovery and the pursuit of wellness there are times when we reach for hope, and are able to walk in it, this time of year as we wait in hope for the anniversary of Christ’s birth we may be able to grasp onto hope because of that wonderful story of immense love and salvation. However we need to realise that even in the grasp of such a belief we may find ourselves, or others may be in the grip of hopelessness, as human beings we need to accept and balance our feelings rather than deny that such a fluctuation between ,as it were two sides of a coin , or a movement ,to a lesser degree from one to the other is possible, and should not be denied.
In recent times I have noticed the defence of denial is becoming more and more problematic. We have searched or wished for a safe place for so long that now we ride the storm and insidious nature of the pandemic and its side effects through an unhealthy use of denial. I have noticed with interest, that the more sanguine type of person is particularly lightly to fall for this, as distress from isolation , and the difficultly of returning , to normal life now abounds, the sanguine type of person wants to make everything all smiles and push aside the hideous monster that is CITS which stands for continuing insidious traumatic stress and its effects.
It would seem that the unconscious choice regarding COVID may be to allow it to drop into the subconscious dimension to our being., and accordingly it is knocking,as it were, at the door causing stress because our response to it is not resolved and can’t be total, as so much concerning it remains unknown.
Holding hope when attempting to walk in recovery is a key to continuing in our recovery journey but how silly it is to think that continuing on will become an easy and natural way of living, rather it is more lightly to be a way of living available to access when he live in a reflective and meditative way. It is also true that as there are other sides to matters and life is not just black and white, so we need to be aware that we may fall into hopelessness with all the pressures currently at work in the world.
Human beings do not easily adapt to change at the best of times but to adapt we need a balanced supportive environment and the ability to be self aware, so you can ask honestly,’what is going on here and use the information obtained to move forward.Last year I considered ‘hope as a rope’ which in various situations can allow us to hold on be comforted, and move on living in recovery, in a balanced and considered way.
Hopelessness may come about through physical or mental illnesses or pressures when individuals, families or other groups of people feel trapped and cannot find a way out they may be too stressed or have the feeling that they are just too tired to go on. The metaphor of hope as a rope does not quite fit, as ropes unravel and break in trying and pressurised circumstances, and indeed the ‘rope of hope’ is disintegrating in our society at the moment, or more correctly its cords which when together give strength are under stress and perhaps unravelling.
If you feel like this try to remember the quiet safe place we have spoken of before the safe place which is within you and which you can go to at any time, if all you can do is place your feet on the ground then do so and feel the power of the earth holding you.
In other times people who used ropes in their work would check them and mend them we can do this too as we centre ourselves and continue to walk in recovery. Consider, if the same cord is not around to fix the rope, what else could you use to make it safe? Return to your centre and continue on.
IT IS SOMETIMES WHEN THE HUMAN BEING IS UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE THAT HE/SHE BECOMES THE MO!ST CREATIVE!
Hopelessness may come about for many reasons
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aoibheann thoughtful reflections 