Why Do We Do What We Do?

By Susan Mitchell

We are people like you. 

We have been wounded by life events and people. Our hearts have shattered, and we have responded with all of the human emotions of helplessness, hopelessness, grief, fury, revenge, pride, bitterness, disgust, fear, and self-loathing. We have made vows to avoid this or that person, situation, place, or time. We have looked for ways to escape the pain, seeking comfort in entertainment, food, drink, and other mind-altering substances and processes. Over time, we have borne pain, trauma, negative expectations, crushing responsibilities, and overwhelming fatigue. We have replayed some of our worst experiences over and over obsessively. Our guilt and shame have weighed us down. We’ve made up stories and embraced lies in an effort to make our world make sense. 

But it didn’t come close to making sense until we met people —

• Who understood. 

• Who actively listened to us. 

• Who honored and respected our views. 

• Who help us lay down some of the heavy things we carried.

• Who helped us get additional perspective and release blockages and constraints.

• Who gave us tools that allowed us to feel love and gratitude, which led to peace and joy, which blossomed into patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and faithfulness. 

People now tell us, “I’m not sure how to tell you this, but you’re a lot nicer than you used to be. What happened?”

We will be sharing our personal stories to answer this in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! For now, suffice it to say that we have been actively working for 7 years to lean into this healing and absorb the strategies for sharing it safely and effectively with others. Are you ready to let go of the things that used to give you purpose and momentum, but now just seem to keep you stuck? Let us cooperate with you to get unstuck. Unstuck is what we do.