Working through shame.

Shame is an inevitable aspect of the human experience. Sadly, for one reason or another, very few of us know what to do with it when it surfaces in our lives. As a result, it often causes us to retreat to an internal world where we do all that we can to hide from the shame itself, and those people we imagine reinforcing and ultimately intensifying what already feels overwhelming and terrible. And besides being able to share with a safe person that accepts you as you are, there is no simple solution to working through shame. Herein lies the bind of shame - it tends to send us inward and to a place of disconnection and self-contempt, which obviously works in direct opposition to finding yourself in front of someone that will accept you in ways that you cannot accept yourself. With this in mind, I wanted to pass along this article I ran across. I found it to be helpful in terms of working with and through shame.

Disclaimer: This is a bit captain obvious but shame is a sticky substance. That said, no four step process can take into consideration the weightiness of what one goes through when in the middle of feeling shame. So, keep in mind that this is not the silver bullet solution to ridding yourself of shame altogether, but rather an invitation to dealing with the grind and reality of shame in a new way. Think of engaging this process as a daily choice versus a one and done solution and you will be in a more realistic posture to begin the journey.