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It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
Stumbling through the forest on a dark night, one hears rustling in the leaves, the wind blowing, and an owl howling. Should I go on? Should I move forward or turn around and run out?
In the hero's journey, the hero on his path to enlightenment always finds herself either in the belly of the whale, the inner cave, or the abyss. In this place, a person can feel alone, fearful, weak, and powerless. However, if the hero chooses to keep going, there is most definitely a treasure, award, or tool that will take one out of the abyss, forest, or belly of the whale.
Counselling can sometimes feel like this. One enters the cave to face the scary monsters that a person has spent most of their life running from.
The monsters within (the traumas of our past) seem insurmountable until we make a decision to keep going through the abyss or inner cave. Sometimes, counselling can feel like - it's too much, "I can't do it". The decision to commit to counselling, group, or any other way of life that will release that monster leads to your treasure.
The treasure can be a tool, an awareness that re-frames your understanding of yourself, or the view of the world. It can be a sense of freedom, or wholeness that perhaps you never had before you began your journey.
Remember when things seem like they are falling apart you are exactly where you are supposed to be in order to gain your treasure. If you don't believe me just watch 'Finding Joe' (a documentary that explains The Hero's Journey).
Remember that if you keep going, the way out of that cave will present itself.
Crystal Arber CC 2016
