This Quick Quote Will Teach You More Than Reading 100 Therapy Books

When you are stuck in a loop, apply this.

Photo by Ciocan Ciprian on Unsplash

What I resist persists until I acknowledge it. And apply the wisdom it’s mean’t to teach me. The pain, grief, disappointment, resentment, or heartbreak you feel is still not there to torture you. But to teach you. And until you pay attention, until you acknowledge why you still feel them, they’re not leaving. Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön notes, “Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Writer Frank Sonnenberg also notes, “Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.” The heartbreak is going nowhere until you’ve sat with the lesson and applied it properly.

You think you’re over it.

You tell yourself, “I’m done.” But then a song you both used to enjoy plays, or worse, you see them enjoy life on social media, and immediately the pain of regret and confusion tightens again. It’s happening because there are boundaries and patterns you’ve been ignoring.

And it’s not just the big feelings.

Even small, repetitive annoyances have a message. That coworker who always interrupts you. That habit of overcommitting and burning out. That constant feeling of dissatisfaction. They won’t go until you actually pay attention. Until you…