Pebbles in Your Heart
Have you ever gotten a small pebble in your shoe? There is that annoying pressure every time you take a step. After a while, the annoyance turns to irritation as that little pressure turns to pain. Suddenly you have to stop what you are doing to take off your shoe and shake out that little pebble. Did you ever want to laugh when you see how really small that pebble is compared to the pain it was causing?
Relationships in our lives can often go through periods where it feels like there is a little pebble in our heart, just sitting there, rubbing us the wrong way, causing pain and sorrow. Unfortunately, we are unable to take our heart out and shake it. Care must be taken or that little pebble can turn into a large block or obstacle to new relationships or to the relationship you have with your inner self.
Those little pebbles can have many names. Anger, depression, frustration, worry, guilt, fear, jealousy, envy or rejection can all manifest as a pebble in your heart. Many times it is easier to ignore that little pressure rather than risk getting in a confrontation or damaging the relationship you have with the other person or persons involved. If those feelings are directly related to you, then maybe you believe that you deserve that pain. You can try to pretend that everything is ok and just go about your daily business. But, day by day the irritation will continue. If ignored long enough, an open sore will develop and if you’re not careful, a real “infection” can set in. Symptoms of depression, loneliness and sorrow may present in your life and if no attention is paid at that point, a physical disease may result.
So what do you do? Well you could just run to your primary care physician and get a little pill to bury that pebble even deeper. Wrap it up in a cushy pharmaceutical blanket where it can fester in peace until it eats a hole in your security blanket and you find yourself back in the doctor’s office or worse yet, in the Emergency Room. While you have ignored the pebble, a dis-ease has taken root within your body. There is another choice. You can figure out where that pebble is hiding in your body by exploring the issues that created it in the first place. Begin by reaching out and opening up the lines of communication. Talk to someone, preferably the person who was present or involved in the formation of the pebble, if they are around. If not, talk to a good friend or family member, a counselor, or a life coach. If talking face to face is too hurtful, write it out, put a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox.
Whichever method you choose, your next step is to detach yourself from the results. This is literally how you remove that pebble from your heart. Your responsibility ends with the delivery of the letter, the attempt to clear the air or bringing the issue into the open where it can be identified and released. If the other person chooses to abstain from meeting with you, it is ok. You have done your part – let go of the rest. Each time you let go of a negative experience from your past, you remove another pebble from your heart. Enjoy that lighter feeling. You deserve it. Use those pebbles to pave the road to a brighter future.
When was the last time you felt a pebble in your heart?
Feel free to answer any of the above questions, or pose new ones, in the comments section below or email me, at mary@marymernsberger.com, for a more personal response. Check out my website at http://www.marymernsberger.com. I look forward to continuing this conversation.
