Pain and Peace co-exist. I’ve said it many times through the years and now I’ve been reminding myself this.whole.week.<\/p>\n
Pain and Peace can co-exist. In the midst of immense pain, I feel Peace. In the moments when the pain is so<\/em> overwhelming, I remind myself of the Peace above all understanding.<\/p>\n I am walking through one of the most difficult experiences of my journey now. I’m living with pain beyond my ability to describe it.<\/p>\n During this time, it’s been cutting to the core to see who my real and true<\/em> friends are versus those who are just here if X, Y, Z or<\/em> one, two, three happens. I was so sure I knew who my friends were, but then…sigh.<\/p>\n Just this week another person I thought I could trust led me to more tears. I realized half way through the conversation, yah, this was certainly not necessary. sigh. I am learning and growing and recognizing the safe spaces. All is not what it seems.<\/p>\n I’m reminding myself that all is well. Pain and Peace co-exist for me.<\/p>\n I am practicing the very things I’ve shared with others in person, on the phone, on this blog…it’s looking like this for me right now –<\/p>\n Cry. Sometimes that’s a thousand streams of water running down my face for a really<\/em><\/strong> long time. Sometimes it’s just a few silent tears. Sometimes tears fill my eyes.<\/p>\n Scream. Like a toddler…I’m talkin’ the shake your whole body, stomp, scream at the top of my lungs kind of screaming…when I have a moment alone in my car!<\/p>\n Take deep breaths. Sometimes I imagine a calming\/comforting scene. Sometimes I look at a photo. Sometimes I close my eyes. Sometimes I close one nostril (why does that word sound dirty?!). Sometimes I hold my breath for seven seconds before exhaling. Sometimes I just breathe!<\/p>\n Journal. I make notes of so many things, but I recently realized (yesterday!) that I’m not the greatest at taking a moment to ask myself what am I feeling right now? So, adding that!<\/p>\n Quote Scripture. The verses from childhood have been coming up a lot. The ones I didn’t know why I was being forced to memorize (thanks Dad!). They’re bringing comfort and courage and Peace in the midst of pain now.<\/p>\n Talk with friends. This one has been painful, peaceful, comforting and challenging. I’m finding the friends who don’t make it about them, don’t minimize my pain, don’t suddenly jump ship and are alright with just being<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sing! Music is cathartic. Somedays I listen to instrumental music. Somedays I listen to a wide genre. Somedays I sing along with the music. Somedays I just sing! I’m not the greatest singer, but I enjoy singing, so I sing!<\/p>\n Pray. I am being still. Sighing, listening to all that The Divine is saying and spilling my heart out too.<\/p>\n I AM choosing Peace in the pain and so can you, dear Warrior.<\/p>\n Common Day Hero:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em>You are kind. You analyze (too much!)<\/em> about all the people, places, things…I know, it’s because you are consistently working to be your best. I see and feel your sincere heart, unconditional love and loyalty to those in your circle. For and with you, always, Theja. I dedicate this post to you.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pain and Peace co-exist. I’ve said it many times through the years and now I’ve been reminding myself this.whole.week. Pain and Peace can co-exist. In the midst of immense pain, I feel Peace. In the moments when the pain is so overwhelming, I remind myself of the Peace above all understanding. I am walking through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lalijean.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/kelly-sikkema-E8H76nY1v6Q-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1391,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/1391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lalijean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}