My friend's post about Moving On -

I've known Jeremy for about 10 years. He's had quite the life, can tell quite the tales, and he's a beautiful listener. This bit of introspection is what I need right now. Perhaps you do too -

Moving On

Cancer forever changed my life. In many ways for the better. It forced me to simplify and prioritize. To think about death and what I want for the rest of my life. With this emphasis on what I want came a natural result of getting rid of things I don’t want. This included ditching external distractions on one hand such as social media, excessive email utilization, unhealthy eating, and interests that no longer suite my lifetime goals. And on the other hand eliminating internal distractions such as destructive beliefs about myself. I didn’t realize the impact this would have for me in regards to moving on from negative past experiences. This became evident with regular mediation for me.

During my early morning mediations lately, I have been connecting naturally with my inner child. I start with box breathing to settle myself down, getting into a deeper, more present state. With box breathing you imagine tracing a line around a box while you breath or hold your breath for a 4 seconds at a time. Essentially I breath in for four seconds while I trace the box up, hold for four seconds while I trace the box over, breath out for four seconds while I trace the box down, and hold it for four seconds while I trace the box to complete the square. I then repeat until I’m in a connected state. That’s when I connect with the inner me.

Lately I have been connecting with the inner me and am taken back to a particularly traumatic experience from my childhood. I usually hold my inner child while he cries or offer him encouraging words. Sometimes I just sit with him silently as he expresses his confusion, terror, and sadness over the event. Sometimes I become one with my inner child and feel what he is feeling. I don’t know why this has been happening. I just allow myself to go wherever my meditation takes me and this is where it has been as of late. Yesterday though, it was quite different in nature.

Yesterday after my box breathing I had a profound experience. When I saw the inner me, he was super excited and celebrating. We were in the area where my trauma took place, but it was different. There were streamers and all sorts of decorations. Fireworks were going off and my parents were cheering for me from inside a house. The strong impression I had was that I was somehow moving on or graduating. It was as if I had found the healing I was looking for and that it was time to move on. Move on from the experience. Also, move on from the limiting beliefs that came as a result from the experience that have affected me my whole life.

I see understand more now the possibility of moving on from bad things. Perhaps it was mainly the cancer that helped me with this. Or maybe the years of therapy, learning, self help, and grace of God also had something to do with it. Regardless, this mediation session was a culminating event for me. We may never forget the bad experiences and trials we face, but it doesn’t mean we can’t move on from them in time.