It’s that time of the year when families reconnect and travel home for the holidays. But what if home isn’t that warm and fuzzy place you look forward to traveling to? For many people, this is the case. Not everyone looks forward to going home for the holidays. Sometimes “home” is the place that breaks us, leaving lifelong wounds that can be difficult to heal. H.O.M.E. may be the place where Healing Opportunities Manifest Everywhere.
Most of us have an image in our head of what makes a healthy, happy home. However, there are only a few who might say they grew up in their ideal home environment.. Unhealed childhood pain and trauma can result in adverse effects in every area of life. Some continue to feel like victims for life. Others understand that being victimized does not make one a victim. Our traumas do not define us. We define ourselves and the role we assign trauma in our lives. H.O.M.E. then becomes the place where Healing Opportunities Manifest Everywhere. The task of facing one’s inner dragons is part of the Hero’s initiation and is necessary for the transformation that results in psychological and spiritual maturity.
Ernest Holmes says, “There is this question, however, which naturally arises: Why all the suffering, sorrow, and pain; why has tragedy accompanied the journey of man? Again our imagination may answer this question in a somewhat plausible manner. There is no other way through which true individuality can evolve. Man must be let alone to discover himself, else be compelled, arbitrarily, to follow one road, in which case he would be an automaton and not an individual.”
Unfortunately, tragedies are a part of our lives. Faith determines how we will allow tragedy to affect us. When we live life by faith, we know that everything we need to get through this journey of life, we already have. When we have strong faith, we begin to attract everything that is meant to come our way. Naturally, things won’t go the way we planned or hoped for but this faith will carry us through the hard times and trials to remind us that these things happen for a greater good.
Those who experience challenges in childhood begin the initiation phase of the Hero’s Journey before they physically leave home. The impact of childhood trauma is lifelong. Some never fully recover, continuing to live lives of suffering and victimhood. Others not only survive, but learn to thrive in the face of adversity. What makes the difference?
The greatest contributing factor is faith. Those who have been harmed in the past but still live a joyful life are those that have faith and truly believe they live in a friendly universe. While bad things still happen, they trust these bad things happen for a greater good and a better outcome.
In this journey, the hero comes out when the individual uses their power to overcome their great challenge and then uses that understanding to serve a cause greater than themselves.
While the circumstances leading to our wounds may be unique, the experience of pain is universal. No one escapes life’s challenges. Life will never be perfect and easy-going, hardships and trials will always arise. But it is how we choose to handle those challenges that will determine the trajectory for our lives. It is through our personal wounds that we gain access to the inner strength that empowers, heals and ultimately blesses.
