To Heal, You Have to Acknowledge the Pain

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Healing from pain is something we all must go through. In life, pain is a constant. It can be physical, mental, or emotional. The first step is always the hardest.

You have to acknowledge and accept your pain.

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I get exhausted when people tell me it will be okay soon, to stay positive, like they want us to ignore how we truly feel and cover it up with a smile. I don’t want to pretend that nothing is wrong. I feel a lot of pain daily and trying to ignore it will do more harm than good.

Acknowledging your pain doesn’t mean you’re giving up and allowing it to win. Quite the opposite. It just means you’re giving yourself permission to heal.

I can’t stress enough how important this is for your mental well-being.

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Pain is just your body’s way of telling you something has hurt you, and you need to pay attention to handle it. Maybe to handle it, you need to make changes. How can you know this when you refuse to allow yourself to acknowledge that you’re in pain?

This will be uncomfortable. You’ll feel like screaming out into the world. You’ll feel like punching holes in the wall. You’ll break down and cry and scratch. This is frightening I know, but it is crucial. You’ll learn so much about yourself and your needs.

Healing is a process. Take it one step at a time and don’t forget to take care of yourself.

If having a good day is so hard and I know it can get hard, just have a day. You don’t have to prove anything to anybody. You are enough just the way you are.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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From The Good Men Project on Medium

What Does Being in Love and Loving Someone Really Mean?

My 9-Year-Old Accidentally Explained Why His Mom Divorced Me

The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex

The Internal Struggle Men Battle in Silence

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