The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for. Bob Marley
I was walking to a Buddhist meeting one evening. A young woman came up to me and told me that we took the bus to school every morning – which would have been about 20 years ago. She then smiled and said that she knew me before that and I asked her name. She replied and I said, ‘Bradmore’, which was a play centre for children in Hammersmith, West London. She disappeared into the night before I could say anything further.
I was taken back to an incident that happened when we were children. She hit me on an old Routemaster on a trip organised by the play centre. I don’t remember the trip. But I remember the pain she caused me.
We have all heard the expression: time is a great healer. This means over time the issues of the past will eventually be resolved.
I know that time heals nothing especially if I am harbouring resentment, grudges and mulling over past events. It keeps me stuck in the past, which means that unless I learn the lesson of the painful event I am likely to repeat it.
What I do over the course of time is what heals.
On a practical level this means forgiving those who have hurt me and letting go of the pain I have experienced. By transforming the pain, I am able to manifest courage, compassion and wisdom which then effects myself and my environment. By doing this I am able to create joyful experiences.
joy dunbar 