It is in turning toward ourselves rather than away (which is compulsion) that we are healed. Whenever we are compulsive we usually do one of two things - fall into the compulsion or resist it by trying to control it. And neither of those brings us the healing we long for. Instead, we are exploring the willingness to turn toward our experience and – a moment here and a moment there – meet ourselves as we are. As Pema Chodron says,
“It’s seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat. It’s about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness.”
May you trust that your compulsions are exactly as they need to be. As Pema again says,
“The problem is that the desire to change is fundamentally a form of aggression toward yourself. The other problem is that our hang-ups, unfortunately or fortunately contain our wealth!”
