Time, why you punish me?

Have you heard those words strung together before? Where have you heard them? Think real hard...it may help if you hold the word 'time' for three to five seconds in singsong and lower your voice as you hit three descending notes. If that doesn't work, look at this: HOOTIE! I was going to write 'Darius,' but I feel that most people may not have shared the same level of fanaticism towards the Blowfish crew. Anyway, I've always liked that song, but that's not the point of this post. I really would like to discuss time and, moreover, the passing of time. Does it really heal all emotional wounds? Are there things out there that can transcend time? Is it possible for one to be hurt so bad that they can never recover from or let go of the past no matter how much time may relentlessly attempt to cushion the blow?

First off, we must decide if time is really what is helping to ease our pain after suffering an emotionally catastrophic event. I sometimes ponder this: if one was to mentally relive some emotionally devastating event everyday for two years, would one ever recover? Would it matter that two years had passed? I think not. I believe that whoever was hurt would feel just as much pain as the day that the walls came crashing down on him/her; maybe even more pain because of the time spent harboring the virus. So time, itself, really doesn't help us to feel better unless we make the conscious decision to let go, to rid ourselves of what's bothering us, and move towards calmer waters. What time does, and this is extremely important, is help us to separate ourselves from the wound, to rise above it and look down on it with a certain degree of self assurance and say, "Look at you...you are an event. You hurt me for some time but now I'm free. I've crawled from your steamy black depths and have rose above. I can see you quite clearly now. I know how you happened, I know for how long, I know who was involved...I know everything because I've been there. But now I'm here. And do you know how I got here? How I separated from you? Time gave me some courage, but more importantly, I made the conscious decision to leave you. It's as simple as that."

Now, I've had some things happen to me before that made me say to myself, "I just need some time; that will make me get over this!" But it's not the time that's healing my wound...I can only heal the wound myself. Time gives us the courage to separate from the pain, but it is impossible for us to rise above and look down upon it unless we consciously decide to do so. I'm not talking about making the decision to bottle it up and hide it within the shadows of bad experiences or the well of self-pity and depression; I'm talking about acknowledging it, understanding that it was an event that took place over a certain fixed amount of time, reflecting on the life lessons you've learned, and most importantly realizing that you are now completely separated from this event and the only thing that may be connected to it is your ego. The ego wants attention, even from you. The ego wants your pity. The ego harbors vengeance. The ego is wrong and you are right. Let time help you generate the courage to rise above your own ego, once you make the decision to do so...you can overcome anything.