Despite what you might believe, healing isn’t always an upward journey. You might imagine that healing is like climbing a ladder, but healing is rarely a linear experience. When we expect to climb this mountain, we find ourselves facing much heavier tasks that feel more like we’re struggling to move the mountain. Peaks, valleys, and plateaus meet strong winds and heavy rains. However, preparing to face whatever comes next for us will help us extend the endurance that we need in order to reach the peak of the mountain.
The Body’s Biology
The body’s biology works in a way that means that we need time for it to recalibrate safely. The body doesn’t work on a linear calendar. You need to take time to let go of unhelpful thoughts and behaviors so the mind can rewire itself to heal. In moments when you feel like your brain is “spiraling,” remember that your nervous system is working through deep-seated layers of wounds. Faltering is just part of the process. Smells, events, places, songs, and people can cause these temporary dips in mood and coping skills, but they don’t reverse your overall progress.
Redefining Progress
Some may feel that the absence of struggle or pain means that we’re healing, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. When we shift our definitions of “healing” from “feeling painless” or “never feeling down” to “Pain means that I’m doing the work,” we recover much more quickly. When you feel like you’re taking some steps backwards, remember that you’ve successfully faced this next step before. You’re more equipped than ever to handle it now.
Redefining “healing” has never been more important because when our minds don’t meet our expectations, we feel shame, which stunts us on our journeys. To push ourselves forward and make true progress, redefining what progress looks like is key. Once we have that key, we can open the door to healing.
Trust the process of healing over the pace. The setbacks that we often encounter on our healing journeys mark some of the most significant positive biological transformations. Healing may require going over the same steps a few times, but the more time you spend working through these knots, the better you’ll understand what you need to do if you face them again. Healing isn’t linear — and that’s a good thing.
Featured Photo by Emily Leake on Unsplash.
I totally relate to the painful aspects of healing—it can feel like a never-ending cycle! It’s important to remember that pain often leads to growth. Speaking of journeys, I recently played driving directions, and it made me think about how navigating challenges in games mirrors our real-life struggles. Embracing the pain can lead us to find joy again!
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