Accepting the Struggle Contemplation

The peaceful weekend has lead to this beautiful Monday morning. There is a quietness to the day, and I am hoping to hold onto that for awhile.

Over the weekend, I received a comment asking me about how to deal with trauma triggers. I am currently working on the answer for that (perhaps a tip for Tuesday?) and have contemplated it. That led me into thoughts of what to post for this week's contemplation.

In Jack Kornfield's book A Path with Heart, he mentions the idea of learning about the "war within." These would be things that you may struggle against. They could be big things, general worries, or even minor irritations. In fact, a lot of the time, we do not even know what it is that we struggle against. We feel the side effects - tension, stress, ill-health, or even a feeling of depression.

So this week, take a few minutes out of your day, begin to quiet the mind, and ask your inner self:

What is it that you struggle against?

The trick is not to dwell on this, not to think about it, but just let the thoughts enter your mind. In other words, do not force them, let your subconscious mind bring the ideas forward.

Once it does this, ask yourself if the answer rings true. If it does not, let the idea go. But if it does resonate within you, you can do a couple of things. You can chose to just accept that this as something you struggle against and the awareness may make it easier to bear. Or you can contemplate it more, you can ask what is you struggle against exactly and why. Can you rectify it or deal with it differently.

And no matter what it is, this is only for you to know, you do not have to share it. Even if it seem silly, do not discredit it. The more you can identify issues, the more you can deal with them.