What Dr. King Can Tell Us About Self-Healing

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I’d like to quote the great hero:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….”

While he was talking about our culture, our community values, I believe his words apply to our inner work. When you look inside yourself and see your flaws, your failings, your same-old-problems, you might feel anger, hatred and despair. Many of us do–it’s pretty human to despise parts of ourselves.

Of course, hating parts of yourself does not make them go away. What we need to do is shine the light of attention and, yes, love, on those crouching, grumbling pieces of ourselves.

Often when you bring your attention to these mean inner places, you’ll find that you will learn so much about them, and yourself. These parts of yourself may be trying to protect you. They may be coping mechanisms that kept you from getting hurt in some way.

Rather than trying to cut off or distance from a part of yourself, consider whether spending some time loving and forgiving yourself might accomplish something much more beautiful: brotherhood within yourself.