I was talking with a client yesterday about why she needed to work on her own healing, and not focus on rescuing others who are hurting, and I sat there having an internal conversation with myself about the same thing.
The facts are that I am a broken human being.
I need healing.
I need space to heal.
The way to give myself space to heal is to NOT try to fix the world, but to instead focus on working on my stuff.
This is all hard when I work in the mental health field.
Working as a counselor feels a LOT like rescuing people.
It is NOT.
Also, as a Believer, I do not want to set myself up as anyone's savior.
I am NOT.
Rather, my job as a counselor is to help people see their way through the maze in which they find themselves. This maze may or may not be of their own making...often it is comprised of both things foisted on them during a broken childhood, and their attempts to medicate away the pain in the only ways they could figure out...often drugs or alcohol.
As a Believer, my job is to point people to the only Savior who has stood the test of time.
Meanwhile, I am working on my own stuff, recognizing that I am helping others carry their pain, and in doing so, I am lightening their load, so they can concentrate on healing the pain that brought them to see me in the first place.
And I am thankful for those who have walked along-side me, lightening my load, while I am healing. I am forever grateful.
