Why People Choose To Suffer!

We have two choices in life – to live to protect or to live and learn. It is almost impossible to do both at the same time. The following words of wisdom come from Ms. A.J. Mahari, Soul’s Self-Help Center,

(The article has been edited by bobbieo tailoring it to “Native Unity”.)

Are you ducking, hiding, pushing away life out of fear? Are you determined to continue to hate and debase yourself and everyone around you? When will the pain be enough? Do you know that you can free yourself from pain, leave it and stop it from destroying your life.

Suffering perpetuates itself whenever you are not working towards understanding of what is hurting you and why it is affecting you so deeply. You have the power to heal yourself but in order to do it, you must be willing to rid yourself of your “need to always be right”, your “need to always win” and your ”need to always control”

You must surrender to the helplessness that drives you to rage. Surrender to the victimized helplessness of all of your past wounds – the past injustices that were done to your tribe and the other Indian Nations of our country.

Accept your losses in life, first with grief then move forward to accepting them as a mature adult with choices and the ability to live through what has hurt you. Surrender the thought that things will always be the same. You can make positive changes that will alter your life and the lives of those around you and the way you view reality.

The only value of prolonged suffering is keeping yourself mired down in the same old rut you are in, right now. Take control of your own destiny, no matter how you view your present life or how much you have been hurt in the past, you have the power to change your life.

Say to yourself, “I am going to change my attitude about the people I see around me and live with every day. I am going to rid myself of petty jealousies. I am going to change my attitude about my friends and neighbors who have left reservation life for the white man’s world and accept them for what they are and the changes they have made in their lives.

I’m going to change my attitude about the people of other tribes who may not share all of the culture traits of my people or my religious beliefs, but accept them for what they are and what they believe as members of our Native heritage as First Americans.

“When Suffering no longer has value, healing is instantaneous”

You are worthy of change. If you don’t believe this then - YOU DON’T WANT TO CHANGE!