Do you stuff down your feelings to make everyone else feel comfortable? Are you the one to take on the brunt of a statement, an insult? Take it and hide it away inside you so that others don’t feel the pain of it? You bear the pain to avoid conflict, tension. You absorb the stress.

You think you’re doing something noble, something spurred by love. You think “I can handle this hurt but so-and-so can’t right now. I’m strong, so I’ll carry this pain.” And off you go down the road on a nice, smooth and cushioned ride. Inside however, you’ve just lost a piece of yourself. You’re no longer hitting on all cylinders. You’ve given away your right to be taken into account, to be respected. You’ve become a shock-absorber, as suggested by Dr. Caroline Leaf.

In a vehicle the shock absorber takes the impact and converts the kinetic energy from the shock into another form of energy – usually heat – which then can dissipate or be stored for later use. I suggest that in the human soul, that heated energy burns the nerve endings of the absorber so that he or she no longer recognizes or feels it. Or, it stores it in hidden places, in unassuming cells and emotions that cannot be seen; yet they still are present.

That’s a rather heavy thought, I know. It’s something I pulled from my journal this week in searching to answer a question I am starting to write about: How did you lose yourself? Certainly the answer is not as simple as that, but it is a piece. And don’t worry, as I write about the topic, I’m also gathering information on how to not lose yourself . . . because the world needs you. You, just as you are.