Continued...The Two Kinds of Pain
Go back to The two Kinds of Pain
The “at-the-time-great-mystery” is this, after you have left (and especially when you eventually enter into a healthy relationship) and you no longer dwell over the good times, (regardless of how many or few there may have been), you find yourself free of the control, disrespect, and all the mental manipulation of the past. This ‘new’ feeling is the knowing that you are not a bad person.
We all suffer weakness at some significant moments in our lives. Our daily decisions are far too important not give them the deep consideration they deserve. It may ‘seem’ difficult to make the necessary changes for a happy, healthy life but once we make up our minds to do so, we will find that the peace we possess will have made whatever changes 
Bad relationships are easy to identify with. In all honesty, you are on this website because you are considering recovery from unhealthy habits or behaviors. Everyone that has come down this road can relate to bad relationships because we have all been in at least one. Whether we were already ‘self-medicating’ going into or began because of circumstances in these relationships, this truth remains; without hope, we search for relief in areas that rational people wouldn’t ordinarily look. We are drawn into dangerous lifestyles by attempting to relate to deceptive or dangerous people. There is a truth in the Bible that sums all of this up so well, it can be found in the Book of Proverbs, in chapter fourteen and verse twelve (Proverbs 14:12). It states: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. These truths were written almost three thousand years ago and they are still relevant today.
This truth goes well beyond relationships with people and into the realm of relationships we create with things; dangerous substances that pose a threat to our lives and the lives of our children. Since it will negatively affect our kids, we are creating or continuing a pattern that someone else started. This is no time to blame someone else. It is time to look in a mirror and acquaint yourself with the person responsible for your success or your failure.
Both of these two pains will involve strength. The pain to endure will require the strength to endure our bad decisions. The pain of changing will require a life altering decision and the strength that will be necessary to close the door on our past. If we try to go forward while dragging garbage from our pasts then we will only prolong the dread and postpone the peace and comfort that is beyond the reasoning of a captive mind and body.
I will warn you now that your recovered future becomes so much better than your regretful past that you will want to kick yourself for not making healthy choices sooner! It is easy to see how these priciples apply to your own situation. Whether you are addicted to a substance, gambling or an eating disorder, (fill in the blank) there is a choice to make. Do you want to endure the constant pain of remaining the same or do you want to move forward and edure the temporary pain of a positive change? What are you waiting for?
Please feel free to continue to Why Christ-centered?