About a year ago I wrote letters to a few people who had hurt me deeply. Those letters where terribly difficult to write, but so necessary for my continued journey.
I revisited those letters a few months ago and reading them made me realize just how healing getting those words out from my heart and onto paper was. Today while walking with a new friend the topic of writing a letter to someone you loved whom you may have lost by death or by divorce or by estrangement came up. How difficult it is to face those painful memories that darken your heart and prevent your movement through the healing continuum.
In speaking with this person, I encouraged her to write a letter she’d been wanting to write, but never got around to writing it. That is the issue – not getting around to it means the fear is keeping you from facing it. From facing what it is that is blocking your progress in your journey.
Once I wrote my letters I put them away and then reread them later on. Every time I reread them I know that I have come so much farther than I could have ever imagined when I originally wrote them. I never sent those letters to their intended target, but just writing them removed a huge weight from my shoulders. It created a means by which the pathway to healing opened up on a whole new level.
I would encourage anyone who is facing a fear no matter what type of fear – to write a letter addressed to that fear. Then lock it up and put it away. Later take it out and reread it – and know that you will see progress. Then destroy that letter if you don’t want it to be found. I know I wrestled with that myself, but elected to keep them stowed away in a locked place for future use. Like a campfire!
So my dear friends, face your fears head on – don’t let them stand in your way of becoming the person you are meant to be. The person God wants you to be. To live the life God intended for you, not the one fear keeps you imprisoned in.
Until next time
M
Unimaginable Grief Unexpected Blessings 