There is a powerful four-word saying from ancient wisdom that I find comforting and reassuring. Some say this was found in the writings of medieval Persian Sufi poets.
This is one of my “go to” phrases when life is tough. When it is hard to endure what is happening. This powerful timeless saying is: This too shall pass.
These four words encourage me when I am under chronic stress. When I am in struggling to let go of an unhealthy pattern. When I wake up from a recurring nightmare that has the same familiar, but dreaded outcome.
Trauma victims believe painful events from their past will impact them forever. For many, their past trauma keeps them trapped in a terrifying loop that seems to never end. They view many, if not all, of their life events through the lens of the trauma. In his book, The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk shares that:
as if the trauma were still going on — unchanged and immutable —
as if every new encounter or event is contaminated by the past.
Trauma doesn’t need to script our lives. When we are able to let go of the hold that past events have over us, we are able to move on.
The words “this too shall pass” are a welcome tonic. They are refreshing, like a cold drink in summer. But even more than that, they are powerful. There is power in the spoken word.
Psychologists tell us that we benefit from re-framing our language so it has a positive focus. Our words have impact, they literally shape our reality. What we say shapes our thought patterns and our beliefs.
Listen to my new ‘This Too Shall Pass’ guided meditation
I have just released a guided meditation on Insight Timer, called ‘This too shall pass’ (click here to listen). This meditation can be used as a reminder that, whatever challenges, difficulties and hardships we face in life, they will not control us.
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