Thursday, May 29, 2014

Every Storm Runs Out of Rain

Every storm runs, runs out of rain,
just like every dark night turns into day.
Every heartache will fade away,
just like every storm runs, runs out of rain
(Garry Allan, Every Storm)

I remember a note I once posted in a spiritual community on addiction many years ago and someone got really upset with me and said that unless I have gone through what he did - apparently he must have battled a serious chemical dependence - I certainly don't know what I am talking about. Then I backed off in the discussion whereas today I wouldn't. Whether you are risk of losing your life by clinging to an addiction, or whether you have the priceless opportunity to let go off your ego, the movie of you being at war with your Self is exactly the same. It is a fierce struggle and it requires a good support system either way.

We all probably know someone or have heard of someone who has made this journey to hell and back. Some few manage to beat their addiction with extreme will-power, many get eventually saved from it with the help of determined helpers, while a few lose their lives or health under the influence. While it seems strange to compare a life-threatening chemical dependence with a pernicious habit like smoking or having a few drinks too much, let alone comparing it with a spiritual awakening process. Yet the movie is always the same: you are standing in the way of your Self.

A spiritual journey is the observation that there is an interference within you. A voice or a feeling that clings to something that either feels good when pursued or really hurts when confronted. So we light the cigarette, pour the drink or go for that snack or shopping trip to make this pain temporarily go away. Yet life tells us that something is off as we do. Our weight, our medical test results or our loved ones. The movie is always the same though the stakes seem to differ a lot: someone is fighting for her life, someone wants to get his health, job or relationship back, while someone else opens up to communicate with her Self.

Everyone instinctively knows when a fork in the road is reached. When it comes to your life, your health, your children or the love of your life there is simply no alternative! Along a spiritual path you do not have any choice either. On you must go to remove all interferences,
or experience that pain of separation that is really hard to bear. You perceive this restlessness and you remain still in the presence of it. You feel that emptiness inside and you just accept it. You just sit there, experience the cloud of darkness moving in and watch it pass by. You don't really have a choice - just get it done with. In Gary Allan's words:

So hold your head up and tell yourself that there's something more
And walk out that door.
Go find a new rose, don't be afraid of the thorns
'Cause we all have thorns.
Just put your feet up to the edge, put your face in the wind
And when you fall back down, keep on rememberin'

Every storm runs, runs out of rain,
just like every dark night turns into day.
Every heartache will fade away,
just like every storm runs, runs out of rain.

It's gonna run out of pain.
It's gonna run out of sting.
It's gonna leave you alone.
It's gonna set you free.
Set you free.

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