Emotional healing has no finite end point

Know what it feels like to resolve an emotional issue and then have it resurface? “Hey wait, I dealt with that. How can this be happening again?”

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I’ve been through so many of these cycles in my personal healing. I can feel completely at peace with something that was previously troubling me and be sure it is ‘put to rest’, only to find it return.

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Intellectually, I know that healing moves in circles or waves. We feel and digest as much pain as we can and then the wave passes. When the wave is big and intense, I’m often quite sure that it is done and I’ve closed that chapter.

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Sometimes the issue is resolved but much more often, another wave of it returns. I used to get frustrated and discouraged. I thought I wasn’t ‘doing it right’. Well, that in itself says a lot about my wounds.

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After many years of emotional healing, I have come to accept that we can’t process all of our pain around a particular issue at one time. We can only handle it one layer at a time. When I look closely, I can see that what appears the same is slightly different each time. My awareness is different. My capacity to witness and be with the pain continues to grow over time.

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Because of these cycles, I believe emotional healing doesn’t have a distinct end point. The pain gradually fades and our inner work evolves.