I love shortcuts, don't you?

Give me some hacks on how I can clean my apartment or become picture perfect in 10 minutes or less, and I'm all in. But there are some timesavers that turn out less than great results. It's important to get your car serviced when the little red light comes on rather than just adding some more oil. And pre-peeled, pre-chopped, pre-roasted garlic just doesn't taste the same as when you peel, chop, and roast it yourself.

I also won't take shortcuts with my inner work, and I don’t suggest that you do either. Have you heard the term spiritual bypassing? Simply put, it’s when you cover up issues with fluffy statements. Full stop. Instead of diving in and doing the work to heal trauma, you say it happened for a reason or because of something you did, and dismiss it. However, it’s not going to go away by smiling and ignoring it. It’s going to keep cropping up, and sometimes even cause physical symptoms, until you face it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big believer in the power of positivity, and attitude definitely has an impact on our well-being. But not everything happens to us because we were negative or did something wrong. As Buddha says, “life is suffering.”

You heal by speaking you truth about your experiences, cracking them open, and taking them apart. It's hard work and not pretty. It'll make you mad, cry, and maybe even scream. But it will be worth it.