THE WORST HELL
No this is not going to be a theological treatise on hell. Dante in The Divine Comedy describes multiple levels of hell. I am not going to be talking about that either. This is taken from something that one of my clients shared with me and I found truth in it so with permission I am sharing this with you.
For many of us there are times when our life seems like hell on earth. Others turn on us and we find ourselves alone at the very time when we need others the most. Our bodies fail us and it seems like we spend every waking minute undergoing treatments. We lose jobs and we may be on the verge of losing our homes and everything else of value. I am not making light of any of those situations. Just the opposite. But as horrible as those are, they are not the worst hell.
According to my client, The Worst Hell is the hell that we bring upon ourselves through our own actions. We personally mess up so badly that everything collapses around us. We can’t blame the boss, spouse, economy or politicians. There is no one or nothing that we can blame but ourselves. That’s the worst because we then live with the “should haves” or “shouldn’t haves.”
These are times when the course of our future is in our hands. There are things that we can do. Admitting what we have done, facing our failing, and doing our best to minimize the harm to others are all important. Those who have been hurt need to have a chance to heal.
Then stand up. We are all human, and we will all fail. Run as fast as you can from anyone who claims they never have.
Find others who will stand there with you in your pain. There are people who will come alongside you in spite of what you have done.
Learn from those who have dug themselves out of their own self-created hells.
You need to learn to accept forgiveness. It’s surprising how often others will offer it and you owe it to them, and to yourself, to receive it.
Go forward with life. It’s a precious gift not to be wasted.