“How many times already had I encountered the painful lesson that although we may wish for the barb to be pulled from our flesh, it leaves a welt that doesn't heal?”

“Healing takes time, and its duration cannot be controlled.Some people are angry with us, or we are angry with them.Some people leave us, or we leave them.All this hurts, and takes time to heal.We don't have power over the amount of time it takes to heal all these grievances.Yet, no matter how powerless we are over the time it takes to heal, we do have all the power that truly matters.And this is the power to say YES to Healing.This is the greatest power possible, for when we say YES to healing, time disappears. And then there is only the YES, which is the power of choice to heal.Time is always filled with grievances, because through time people come and go from our life, and we come and go from theirs.When time ends, Healing begins.And time can end now, if you say YES to Healing.And if you say YES to Healing, you are with everyone and everyone is with you, unconditionally, right now, and forever. Hence, I do say YES to Healing, and, if you wish,you can also join me,for I love to Heal with you.”

“how many times had I begged Mom to divorce him already?”

“Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain. Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us. When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious. Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint. This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door.Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done. The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind. Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.”

“Pain is a pesky part of being human, I've learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart, something I wish we could all do without, in our lives here. Pain is a sudden hurt that can't be escaped. But then I have also learned that because of pain, I can feel the beauty, tenderness, and freedom of healing. Pain feels like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against your face when you are spreading your wings and flying through the air! We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces.”

“He was glad some of the pain was fading, had already faded so much since the first year. But it seemed more to be a trade off: with the pain went details and memories. People had said, ‘Time heals,’ but he realized time didn’t heal, time just eroded and confused, and he didn’t think that was the same thing at all.”