The Only Way Out is Through - American Poet Robert Frost - Life Lessons Series
Life Lesson #3
This quote is one of the most profound messages that I have tried to live by over the years. I was originally introduced to it in high school by my grade 12 English teacher. I was 17-years old dealing with Depression and Anxiety and felt lost in myself, in a world I didn’t fully understand. I had entered a dark phase in my youth that would continue into my adulthood, a dark tunnel with twists and turns that seemed never ending. But these six simple words bought me comfort and gave me hope through it all. I had always considered myself a fighter, someone who faced challenges and adversity head-on even when I felt fear. It was Frost that reminded me that even in the darkest of times escape was not the answer, rather it was confrontation of what I feared the most.
Today, I received a call I had been waiting for for almost 10 years. I will be starting the in-take process for enrolment into one of the best trauma treatment programs in Ontario. There was a time not too long ago where I wouldn’t have taken that call, where I would have let it go to voicemail and not returned the message. A time where I tried to escape my past trauma with substance use and excuses to justify avoidance of dealing with issues that have plagued me all my life. My trauma might not be unique to those who also have experienced trauma but it has been an overbearing burden that has halted my progress for years. When I was experiencing it in childhood, at fourteen years old, at eighteen years old, at twenty-seven years old, when my trauma was effecting my ability to be in a healthy and stable relationship I found a way to bury it deep inside, to cope with it, to exist beside it rather than to find a way through it.
Today after scheduling my first counselling session I cried. I could feel all that I had lived through rising to the surface begging me to face my fears, to face my trauma, reminding me that truly the only way out of pain and a lifetime of suffering was moving through it. It's a new year, a time for change, a time to apply one of the most valuable lessons I have learned. Truly the only way to clear my mind, body and soul of the trauma that has followed me throughout my life, that has had a detrimental effect on my mental health and that has halted my personal development is to go through the healing process. I can finally see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel and I know there is sunshine after the rain. Thank you Mr. Frost for reminding me of my strength and sheer force of will. I will forever be grateful for your words, the only way out is through.
.png)
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment