When you get right down to it, we all have at least one major issue—and possibly several minor ones—to work on in our lives. Some of us are better at keeping them under wraps than others, but no matter how hard we may work at denying them, even to ourselves, they’re right there just waiting for us to deal with them.
In my experience, it’s much easier to establish a level of inner simplicity once we recognize what our big issue is, start to work on it, and eventually, eliminate it completely.
My big issue has been anger. I spent so much time as a child being angry at my brother that it became a comfortable habit.
As I grew older and my circumstances changed, I still continued often to react to situations with anger because I was familiar with it, and knew how to operate out of that stance. Several people had pointed it out to me over the years, but I hadn’t understood, mostly because, until I started to simplify my life, I’d never taken the time necessary to face the issue and deal with it.
Those who are metaphysically inclined say that the big issues in our lives are what we came here to work on and to experience, and that working on them makes it possible for us to move forward. That may be true. At the very least, learning to deal with what I see as my big issue has been tremendously liberating for me. Being able to move beyond it has created the space for a lot more joy. And it certainly has simplified my life.
If you don’t know what your big issue is yet, spend some time figuring it out. If you can’t do that on your own, ask those closest to you to help. (Often they’re only too glad to do this!) The responses you get may surprise you, and you may not want to believe what you hear. It’s possible they could be wrong; only you will know for sure.
You may have to do a lot of inner searching and possibly get some counseling before you can come to terms with it. But if you’ve got an unresolved major issue that has been running your life, such as being a victim, being in denial, being meek, aggressive, jealous, suspicious, vulnerable, or whatever, don’t wait any longer to start to work on it. Doing so will free your heart, your mind, your body, and most importantly, your soul.