Sooner or later we must face the truth: we were born into a world that is at times unjust and imperfect.
If we are to face life with any real degree of emotional and mental stability, then we will need to accept this.
We may begin our journey with the highest ideals, believing we really can change the world--and, indeed, every one of us can change the world, though only some of us will--but we will never change the way that life is.
Life will continue to be life, despite our desires and remonstrations. It has no need to be just or fair, and it does not necessarily need to always make sense. All it has to do is all that it can do: It has to be itself. To quote the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, what we really have to do is to 'let reality be reality'.
This is true, also, as it applies to each of us: We must allow ourselves to be ourselves.
Discovering who this self is, or more correctly, who these selves are - because each person is a composite of many different aspects - is a large part of becoming authentic and real.
When we allow ourselves to accept this, when we end our ceaseless demand that life be other than it is, and that we be something other than we are, then we can cease our frantic struggle and our journey through life becomes much easier.
Sometimes our ship will take us to the shores of compromise. We may not like this, but then again there is no 'Great Law' that says we have to like everything in existence. The trick, of course, lies in knowing when to compromise and when not to.
When something cannot be changed, it is senseless to keep on banging our head against it.
The lucky ones amongst us may find 'the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change, the courage to change the things that we can, and the wisdom to know the difference', to quote from Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer, so wisely adopted by A A and other 12-Step groups.
As long as we do our very best, then we will have done all we can--even if, at times, the best we can do is to hold our head above the water and keep right on breathing. Provided we do not give up hope, our feet will always find dry land.
There is no telling just how many people we might one day help because of the difficult experiences we ourselves have passed through? Although we may not see it at the time, nothing need ever really be wasted. Everything has its value.
Like so many of our problems, our solutions lie within. In order to bring about real change, we need to work from the inside out, restoring an emotional balance that will last.
As a hypnotherapist, I believe that advanced hypnotherapy provides the most rapid and effective way to do this that there is.
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Peter Field is a UK hypnotherapist and counsellor with more than 30 years experience. His new book 'The Chi of Change - How hypnotherapy can help you heal and rapidly turn your life around - regardless of your past' is published by Psyche Books, and available at http://www.chiofchange.com Info on therapy sessions is at http://www.peterfieldhypnotherapy.co.uk
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