We are always one step away from ourselves. Thought carries us from our hearts to our heads and we feel this infernal separation from who we truly are. The pain and anxiety this causes is our false daily bread.

We must take ourselves seriously and admit how much we are suffering. The head is not the heart. Thought is not reality. Our lives feature confusion and heartache instead of strong pure truth.

I am a widow and a bereaved parent. Although I have been given years to heal from the sorrow, it remains with me as a core issue. It becomes worse when I think about it and when I compare myself to others whose families remain intact. The mind tortures me about this on a daily basis.

The only thing thought can do is make things worse. Thought rubs salt in the wound. Thought shreds me into infinite little pieces of nouns and verbs and adjectives that do me no good.

What is the solution to the pollution? First, I have to see that my thoughts are draining me of energy and causing me distress. Second, I have to admit that I am lost in my head. And third, remember that God does the rest. All I do is confess my sorry state of mind.

I remember working at the annual yard sale that Vernon Howard students held at his school. It was a daunting task to show up and work there in the hot Nevada sun. As I was folding men’s pants I stood next to a woman that lived there. She said this, “I come here to help every year.” And her reason? “We are the fallen people,” she said. I have never forgotten that. We have fallen from our essence and into our heads. The result is daily suffering and the solution is to simply know it.

Hell can be experienced consciously and Heaven regained when we stop and take a breath. When we admit we are lost in our heads and need help in getting back home. We are but one step away!

Vicki Woodyard