One thing about having someone with mental illness in the home, is that you get a lot of time to perfect the art of staying calm and letting annoying words or habits pass through you.
Instead of reacting each and every time something comes up with your loved one, our self-control makes life in the home easier. It is easy to see very early on that yelling at them or making a snide remark will only add fuel to the fire. Being able to let him or her go through their moment of anger or anxiety is by far the best option; and in the times of calm, is what we know our higher self would like us to do.
However, it is so easy to get pulled into their drama! The comments or actions seem tailored right to our weakest parts. The anger or fear that boils up and spills out can be devastating. Later, reflecting on the encounter, we can see that we were drawn in with the very things that we said would not bother us again. Getting drawn in means that now we are part of their issue, we have become a piece of the pain that lives inside them. This ignites the issue, making it even bigger than it was!
But the joy of this situation is learning to stay calm and not get annoyed and pulled in. Back behind our feelings, emotions, and thoughts, is our true self, or higher self, where we are always at peace and always calm. The thoughts will try to rage around us and the emotions will tug at us to feel a certain way, but we can stay calm and at peace and let it all pass right through us if we do the spiritual work needed beforehand.
What is the needed Spiritual Work?
Daily Quiet Time
Prayer
Reading Devotional books and blogs
Centering ourselves with exercise and healthy eating
This spiritual work enables the whole family will be more at peace, knowing that we have the self-control needed to work with mental illness issues without getting pulled into them. And we will finally understand the peace that surpasses understanding.
