Turning the Page

Redeemed pain is more impressive than removed pain

We all have painful experiences in life, but redeemed pain is more impressive than removed pain. What good can be found within in our pain?
 
Sometimes I am given a gift voucher.
It has no value tangibly in itself. It is but a piece of plastic the size of a credit card.
The value lies within what has been loaded onto it. Some kind person has placed a dollar value into its electronic magnetic memory (don’t ask me how this works).
Then, if I remember that I have this card and the money on it, I can go to a store and ‘redeem’ the value of what has been placed on this card.
I can exchange the card and receive back something good. 
We don’t use the word ‘redeem’ very much but it comes from the two words re- ‘back’ + emere ‘buy’.
Redeem means to ‘buy back’. 
I present the card and the shop owner buys it back to the value placed on the card.
I would like to suggest you have a card in our purse or wallet and on it contains all the painful experiences you have had.
Ouch, for some this card would have a lot of weight to it. A lot of energy, grief, pain, loss, anger, resentment, bitterness, etc is locked up in that card.
That card is heavy and you carry it around with you everywhere you go.
It eats away at us. It changes us. The thinking patterns in our brain are trained by this burden.
What can be done with the energy of this pain?
 
Read more hereGive to Turning the Page 

I Simply Want the Pain to Stop

We all have pain and we want the pain to stop, but the pain is telling us something. What if we could identify the pain and stop the suicide slide? 
 
It’s pain and we want it to stop.
It could be physical pain from body ailments, but it could also be pain coming from traumas past and present. Grief, loss, anger, loneliness, the daily stress load of life that causes us to slump. It’s pain.
Recently I learned something about pain.
For the past year, I’ve had a sore back. I would take panadol at night to help me sleep. I also went to a physiotherapist and did exercises. All of which helped a little, but not completely.
I was living was in a rented cottage on a farm. I had been living and working there for quite a while. But then I got the news in April 2023 that it would be sold.
So many unknowns.
 
read more here 

The Five Best Practices to Restore the Soul

The practices of your week and day may drain your life, but what practices restore your soul?
‘Oh, that’s so good for the soul’
Sometimes I hear people say that. Sometimes I say it myself.
It’s that moment when you feel a restoring of something drained out of you. You feel like your energy tank has been topped up.
Often, this comes as a result of a practice or an activity that you do.
Practice – something you regularly do. An activity, habit, or custom.
What are some practices that restore the soul?
What do you do that helps restore your inner life?
Read the post here

A Place to Restore your Mental Health

Life and activity can drain our mental health, but there are places to restore. Take notice and soak in them.
There is a place I want to go to. The gardens are beautiful. Full of colour all year round. Fruit trees are full of ripe fruit ready to be eaten.
There are beaches sparkling with shells and sand. Fish swim in the sea and there are waves perfect for surfing. The sunrises and sunsets are magical. Soft tender hues changing every minute.
The food that is provided is tasty, nutritious, and good. Large tables for abundant parties but also little tables for intimate connections.
The beds provided are perfect to sink into and you fall into a deep, secure sleep.
Soft music and perfumes fill the air.
Your favourite people are there too. Friends, family, soulmates, all enjoying the dance.
A place to restore the soul.
 
Read more here

Six Qualities of People that Restore the Soul

Some people can help you restore. Some you need to put out of the room. What are six qualities of people that restore the soul?
Life can give you a battering at times, but there are some people that seem to be able to come alongside and help you restore.
I didn’t need advice or problem solving. I didn’t want someone to tell me ‘It will be alright.’
I simply needed someone to be there.
To be a strand of the community nest that I was in.
I have lots of people in my life. Most are helpful and supportive. Some I have some firm boundaries around because they can be quite hurtful.
But there are some people that, in my darkest moments, when my cup of life has drained out, are the ones that will come and empower me to restore.
In this series about restoring the soul, I suggest that there are three ‘P’s’ needed to restore the soul. The first of these is people.
 
Read more here

What Restores the Soul

The soul can get completely drained, but what restores the soul? What can bring it back to life? People, places, and practices. 
Life can be draining. Too much going or too much has gone on. Now it feels like the energy tank is on ‘E’. Empty, Exhausted and not Enough.
You have nothing in reserve and you know that tomorrow will probably be the same.
This has become a pattern.
You give and give. You know you can’t give out of an empty cup, but it feels like the smallest of droplets in the cup are being absorbed away by someone else’s tissue paper.
 
read more here

Are You Scared to Receive?

Are you scared to receive? To receive might just undo a carefully constructed sense of being in control, but little drops of love open the rustiest of doors. 
I know someone who is very generous to me. In fact, this website and my ability to get content out is only possible due to their technical wisdom and support.
He has a very generous lifestyle.
But what is it like to receive when you know you know that you can’t respond in like fashion?
We live in a very transactional world.
You do this for me and so I must do that for you
You work so many hours and so here is the financial compensation for the giving of that energy.
You do the crime; you do the time
You made your bed now you have to sleep on it
It’s justice and retribution, not mercy and grace
Black and White
In or out
We like it that way because we like straight lines. Fairness, balance, correctness, energy out, energy in.
And then someone says ‘I love you’ and you have no words to respond.
 
Read this further here Sign up for my weekly email full of help for your Mental Health, Faith and Spiritual Formation. FOLLOW ME!Email me: barry@turningthepage.co.nzWebsite: https://turningthepage.co.nz/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turningthepage1atatimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/barrypearmanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/barry_pearman/Podcast https://turningthepage.co.nz/podcast-listen-mental-health/Support Turning the Page with a Donation https://turningthepage.co.nz/give/

I’ve Had More than Enough of Being Held in Contempt

Ive had more than enough of being held in contempt, but when I know divine approval, I can rise again.  
 
It was like they were at the bottom of the pecking order and being held there.
People had contempt for them.
The word ‘contempt’ is one we don’t often use.
To be ‘held in contempt’, in a general sense, simply means that a person is despised or strongly disapproved of.
I was recently sent this image of what I believe is to be a young girl.
What do you see in the image?
What is her story?
Why is she there?
https://turningthepage.co.nz/ive-had-more-than-enough-of-being-held-in-contempt/

When the Stress is Too Much

The stress load was too much to handle, but they knew what to do, so they took action and calmed the stress load down.
 
It was just getting too much, and I could feel it in my body.
This was the experience from last weekend when I had a very busy social time.
Meeting new people, trying out new things, and so much change that my introvert self was longing for seclusion, or to simply have some quiet time with just one person.
I withdrew a little, had a break, and now my cup has been restored.
The important thing was that I recognised this, was able to communicate my needs, and give myself self care.
What stresses you?
What fills your cup and what drains it?
Do you know when the stress load is too much or it’s getting near its ‘camel straw’ breaking point?
I know you’re not a camel. Camels never read my blog posts, but as the saying goes ‘It’s the final straw that breaks the camel’s back’
So how is your back? What sized load are you carrying and what could be a final straw?
 
https://turningthepage.co.nz/when-the-stress-is-too-much/

There is No Rejection in God

The cold wind of rejection can bite deep, but we are not alone. God knows rejection and can give us perspective and a new home of acceptance. 
I don’t think there is such a cold wind as the wind of rejection.
I don’t want you in my life.You’re not welcome here.Go away.
I’ve seen someone, who I thought was a friend, turn their whole body to look another way to avoid any form of connection.
Rejection is a saying you’re not worthy of my connection. That you don’t matter.
Where have you felt the cutting wind of rejection?
I know you will have because it’s part of the fabric of our humanity.
But how do you handle it? What have you learned?
How much rejection have you faced into?
 
Read more here 
Sign up to newsletter here