Dark Night of the Soul
Are you feeling lost and confused?
Take a number.
That’s what you signed up for. Really. That’s what we all signed up for.
We did not come here for easy. Our greatest growth and opportunity for expansion comes in our struggles and sorrow.
It is in those moments when we’ve lost all hope and will to go on that we are most open and willing to explore opportunities and possibilities that didn’t exist before.
The Dark Night of the Soul
Maybe you’ve heard this term before. It is when nothing goes right in your life and everything goes wrong. It may drag on for months or even years. It is the point of suicide for many, for some it is deep, dark depression or becoming lost in addiction because the pain is too difficult to bear.
If you are experiencing a dark night of the soul or you know someone who is here are some words of wisdom to help you bounce back.
1. This too shall pass.
2. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
3. Your “soul” purpose here on this earth is to LOVE.
Your soul purpose is not to get that job or marry that person or have that great house or pass that exam. The whole point of your existence is remembering how to connect with the kingdom of heaven that is within you and is not subject to someone else’s approval or opinion.
Maybe you’ve done everything right but still everything is going wrong. Or is it?
Right or wrong is simply a perception of your reality. What if you lived in a reality where moment by moment you asked God to guide your footsteps and use you as an instrument of love and healing for the world? What if it really didn’t matter, that it was part of the divine plan that you lost your job or your spouse left you or your house went into foreclosure.
What if the only thing that mattered, the only thing that was real was your ability to turn inward and connect with God’s goodness and grace and KNOW with your whole heart and soul that ALL IS WELL?
You have done nothing wrong.
You have done everything right.
You are not in this alone.
You are loved and supported with every breath that you take.
God loves you and the only thing that you need to do is love yourself and TRUST that everything really is going to be okay.
The dark night of the soul is a blessing.
It indicates that you are on the brink of a breakthrough. When you surrender and move into love the dark night moves through swiftly but when you struggle and whine and cry about how bad you’ve got it, the dark night of the soul hangs on and drags out for what seems like eternity.
Once you’re in it there’s no turning back. You can either make this easy or hard. It’s your choice.
Fear shuts down miracles and love activates them. What will you choose?
We’d love to hear about your dark night of the soul or how you stay positive when life throws you a curve ball in our comments section.
I am sooooo happy to see this article! How very timely for me :-). I just joined your FB page and while checking out your posts they, of course, led me to this link. I had just asked the Universe for help (about 30 minutes ago) so I know I was led to your post. Every positive, helpful guidance is a boost for me. I am grateful for you ‘being there’. Love & peace, claudia
You are so welcome – thank you for stopping by. ♥
I’m sure we have all been in a “dark” place at some point in our lives. And when we are in the midst of that it is so difficult to see the light. We just have to trust within ourselves that we will come out better on the other side.
Yes, I’ve had those times; I suppose we all have. Time and a different perspective can certainly heal wounds. I’ve also learned that bad things do happen, as terrifying as they can be: it’s how we respond that matters to our overall well-being and quality of life.
I’ve long felt those “dark nights of the soul” helped shaped my spiritual perspective and helped me see how blessed and surrounded with Divine support I am. I don’t diminish the hardness of the experiences, but when they’ve passed there is always something to celebrate.
Great reminders, Julie! When I was in the midst of my health crisis, on days when I was feeling particularly yucky, I went out of my to send other people butterflies – before I truly understood how spiritual and healing those butterflies were. What I knew at the time was that when I could help someone else feel better, I felt a little better myself. And I knew that was a good thing all around.
I’m grateful for the health crisis I went through – without it, I’m not sure I’d yet realize what a gift these butterflies are and how important it is for me to share them.
Hugs and butterflies, ~Teresa~
I love your whole idea with the butterflies – how ingenious!! When I was preparing to leave teaching I used to see butterflies everywhere!!
The dark night is terrifying to live through and takes so much strength but it truly does lead to better things. I like that there is no right or wrong, as co fusing as that can feel. Thank you for the reminder.
That blasted trust, rearing it’s head again. That seems to be what everything boils down to and sometimes, it’s really challenging to stay in that space. I do recognize that the anxiety I feel today at times is different, in a good way, than what it was a few years ago. I don’t have those moments where I feel such a state of panic now – a feeling that’s very physical, not just emotional – if that makes sense…that’s gone and that’s progress.
I actually do know what you mean. My anxiety is almost completely gone. The love exercise ( I imagine being bathed in love as I fall asleep at night) brought me a new level of healing and even though I move in and out of it sometimes through my day I don’t have that physical panic. It also seems that when I was able to feel the feeling and go back to when I first felt that way I cleared A LOT. It’s so much fun learning all these tools and techniques that help me BOUNCE BACK a helluva lot quicker than even just a few years ago. ♥
I’ve gone through many dark nights of the soul. What I’ve learned is bad shit happens but you get to choose how you handle it. I give myself space to feel my feelings and give myself whatever I need to feel better in the moment.
Then I start asking myself what would feel better? How do I want to move forward?
The trick is to not dwell in the bad stuff. Stop telling the story over and over again-it only keeps you struck in the negative/painful energy.
AMEN!!
I did experience the darkest night of my life when my parents broke up for the reasons I could not understand. It was hard but in the end, I learned that all things do happen for a reason and we are not given trials that we cannot surpass.
Yeah, sometimes it’s harder when we don’t see it coming. I was just comparing my mother-in-law passing, whom we knew 4 years in advance the disease would take her, and my husband failing an exam after the third time and I’d have to say the exam felt waaaay worse even though in the whole scheme of things it really wasn’t. Glad to hear that you found the gifts and were able to move on. ♥
Julie, my story is one of the dark night. For decades, my life was a battle with anorexia, depression, and suicide attempts. My story is one of the transformation that is possible with the power of Divine Love and Light! Today, I see the blessings and the lessons in all of the darkness and I am grateful! Interesting that you mentioned, “This too, shall pass”. I wrote a new poem and created a new video to be released next week titled, “This Too, Shall Pass Away”! It has helped me get through many life challenges.
That’s an amazing story Belinda. So glad you overcame and triumphed. My husband is in a DNOS. He just found out he failed his PTA boards for the third time no less. Trying to stay in that space of love and remember everything else is an illusion. ♥