{"id":810,"date":"2011-09-12T03:00:14","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lettinggo\/?p=810"},"modified":"2011-09-04T00:39:57","modified_gmt":"2011-09-04T04:39:57","slug":"how-to-defuse-painful-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2011\/09\/how-to-defuse-painful-memories.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Defuse Painful Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/strong> I can make myself sick with just the simple thought of a certain painful memory crossing my mind. Is there a way to defuse the hurt instead of sinking into it?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> The next time some hostile state takes you over — either in thought (as in remembering something someone did to you in the past) or in an actual moment of conflict with someone standing before you — ask yourself the following question at the moment you can remember yourself to do so: Is this self that I am presently experiencing the me that I want to be? Or: Is this suffering self how I want to know myself? And then just come as awake as you can to the realization that you are not who you want to be at that moment, but that something foreign to your True Nature has imposed itself on you and taken over your life. Then, once having done this, do nothing else except realize that while you may be temporarily powerless to stop the lower state from possessing you, you are empowered to recognize the negative state as an intruder. This awareness — this conscious awareness of your true pained condition — is what it means to put the light on the problem. That is your job. The Light will do its part if you will do yours. Persist until you are free!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I can make myself sick with just the simple thought of a certain painful memory crossing my mind. Is there a way to defuse the hurt instead of sinking into it? Answer: The next time some hostile state takes you over — either in thought (as in remembering something someone did to you in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,7],"tags":[168,495,796,797,795,296],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pain-2","category-self-remembering-awareness","tag-168","tag-healing","tag-hostile-state","tag-negative-state","tag-painful-memory","tag-suffering"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Defuse Painful Memories - Letting Go with Guy Finley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2011\/09\/how-to-defuse-painful-memories.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Defuse Painful Memories - Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I can make myself sick with just the simple thought of a certain painful memory crossing my mind. Is there a way to defuse the hurt instead of sinking into it? 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His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues - relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom - and lead the way to a higher life. Finley is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery. He is the acclaimed author of \"The Secret of Letting Go\" and more than 45 other books and audio programs that have sold over two million copies in 26 languages worldwide. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations. Through Life of Learning Foundation, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 20 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. 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