Autobiography in five chapters

1. I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall...

I'm lost ... Hopeless.

It's not my fault.

It takes forever to find the way out.

2. I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

But I pretend not to see him.

I fall for him again.

I can't believe I'm in the same place.

But it's not my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

3. I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see that he is there.

I still fall ... It's a habit.

My eyes open.

I know where I am.

It's my fault.

I leave immediately.

4. I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I turn around.

5. I walk down another street.

[Extracted from the book "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" Sogyal Rinpoche - Editora Talento / Palas Athena]

In the emergence of the pain caused by our emotional wounds, we almost always have the secret hope of finding a technique, method or therapeutic approach that will resolve our anxieties quickly and definitively. Our wounded emotional child, like every child, is immediate. The text above shows the steps that, in my view, are part of the whole process of self development.

At first, we find ourselves vulnerable in a new situation. Being surprised, we don't have a strategy to deal with, we get lost and it takes time to find the way out.

When we least expect it, we find ourselves again in the same place of vulnerability as before. Again? Yes. We are moved unconsciously to that place. It has not yet been possible to detect a pattern of behavior, identify triggers, we pretend not to see the situation we are in. And again we suffer a lot to find the way out.

And again a while later there we are again. But something happens differently now, we already have the intuition that this is a place of vulnerability, we can see that. Bring to consciousness, even if in a diffuse way. We still fell. It is the power of habit. Being aware is already an important break, but it does not resolve immediately. On the other hand, we have already taken responsibility for our condition and managed to get out of the situation faster.

We continue to flirt with this place of vulnerability, but we have already managed not to fall into it. Until the moment comes that we simply learned to avoid it, and it happens almost naturally.

The self-knowledge tools of the therapeutic processes come on the scene to lead to awareness gain. And with this awareness of ourselves and the situations around us, we empower ourselves to change habits. The time it takes is up to each one. And as for our immediate inner child, we must welcome him kindly. It is not possible to make her stop crying forcibly, but in due course, the tears will be softened and the smile will appear naturally.