For those of you who have been depressed, despondent, abused, neglected, suicidal, victimized or just oppressed; know this, the human spirit is subject to change at any moment…it is resilient. The absolutely amazing thing about going through any of those difficulties in life, is that it has the potential of either destroying a person, or strengthening them, like steel that has gone through the heat of a fire.
What causes a person to either become submerged under the weight of negative influences; or, to spring up and bounce back even stronger ?
I believe it is a combination of things. We are all products of our past; we have been taught many things throughout our childhoods and young adulthood that influences how we perceive things. Most of those things are unconscious and basically invisible, but, still they are there; determining how we interpet the challenges in life; and, therefore, how we handle those same challenges. We have to make a personal committment to ourselves to change the direction our lives are going if we wish to live a life that is full of the good things life has to offer.
If we have been lucky enough to have a strong healthy foundation during those formative years we have a huge headstart. If we were instead rooted in poor soil and unhealthy relationships during those years; we often have alot to overcome.
It is not impossible to overcome those things. It is by strength of will and determination that we learn how to channel our inner self to go in the direction of love, health, and personal well-being. It is a matter of retraining how we think about things and learning not to focus on the obstacles and the negativity that surrounds us on a daily basis.
I was reminded of these things today, when i read about Elizabeth Fritzl, the young Austrian woman held captive by her father in a basement for 24 years. She was forced to endure loneliness, sexual abuse, emotional damage and physical confinement. She was raped repeatedly by her father and gave birth to seven children during this time. They grew up without “normal” human interaction.
At this point they are receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility. The family is getting help learning how to bond together; how to communicate with others, how to function outside of their basement prison. Elizabeth, the mother of the children grew up at home, with her mother and father…until she was 18 years old. At that point, he forced her to live in the basement while explaining her “disappearance” to the rest of the world by saying that she had run off to join a cult.
Elizabeth and her children are bouncing back in amazing ways. One would think that they might never recover. After all, some of them didn’t speak as we know speaking; they communicated with grunts and noises. However, they survived against all odds. Their healing and renewal will happen with good guidance and therapy. It should be encouraging to us all that the human spirit is resilient; it is meant to sustain us in times of devastation.
At some point in life we have to “choose” to overcome the negative forces that have gone before and “decide” to grow, heal, strengthen; and, claim victory over the things in life that hold us back from who we were created to be. It is work, it isn’t easy and often professional help is necessary; but, it is so worth it to have the freedom to once again live life fearlessly, and fully, with joy!
Write where you are 