Healing old wounds: Why it's our most important work
ESSAY - What would you have accomplished by now if during all of the days of your life you understood your brilliance, beauty and worthiness to be self-evident?
So what is your story? Everyone has one so there are as many stories as there are human beings.   What wounds do you still carry? Which negative experience have you dwelt on for way too long? Maybe you were teased for having an accent or for being perceived as too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, too dark, too light, too smart or too slow? Perhaps your parents did not give you the affirmationsfor which you yearned? Maybe you experienced actual emotional, verbal, sexual or physical abuse?
In many cases the experience made you stronger, in some way. I certainly became louder, more outspoken, and more prone to defend myself as a result of some of my negative childhood experiences.  But in contrast, I’ve lost many hours of productivity to lingering self-doubt. Additionally, life is not black and white. Sure I have been teased and scarred, but I know that I teased and likely scarred others.
Ending the cycle of hurt by healing old wounds and cleansing negative experiences from our spirits is the most important work that each of us has to do in order move forward towards our best selves and most productive lives. How do we do that? Prayer, meditation and affirmation are among the tools that I have encountered. But of course, healing is always easier said than done.
Ama Yawson is a co-founder of Loveessence.com, a romantic networking site for black women who are ready for love and men of all races who are ready to love them in return. Ms. Yawson was inspired to create loveessence.com because of her own experiences in discovering romantic love. Ms. Yawson earned a BA from Harvard University, an MBA from the Wharton School and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
