There are some wounds we carry around that are held in place by unfounded assumptions, strong beliefs and fear. These are usually do our misunderstanding of the situation, or simply not knowing how to handle it at the time. If we look at the issue honestly and rationally, we can admit to ourselves that we were mistaken, determine how to proceed in a more healthy manner, and then do so. So long as we don't then start beating ourselves us for being so stupid in the first place (sometimes hard to do), we can then move onward the way we want to, rather than the way we have to.

Other wounds though, don't simply go away. Your bad memories aren't simply going to vanish, short of some ingenious attempt to fooling yourself into adopting a fantasy in place of your past and believing it (psychosis)... But this isn't a bad thing. Your past experiences, your memories good and bad, and how you feel about them today are vital to who you are. This is how you've learned to live life and deal with your environment, your toolkit for navigating the universe. It's who you are and what you have to work with.

I know it's rough, and can even seem impossible at times... but the only way through it is to turn and face the parts of yourself that cause you pain (which, of course, is the most painful). Yes, it hurts and can even threaten to tear you apart, but it must be done in order to triumph over all this shit; to have courage, be honest with yourself, learn from your past mistakes and especially the mistakes of others that hurt you, and take every opportunity you can to move forward. It never hurts to have some sympathy for yourself and your mistakes, and those of others either.

On the overwhelming nature of the task before you: I know it all to well. There's not a day that goes by that I find myself doubting I can do it, that the job is too big and I don't have what it takes to handle this ridiculously complex and challenging task, that I'm insane for thinking I can do anything about it... but I remind myself that I've been working far too long and hard to give up now, that my only choice is to keep going with everything I've got... After all, my circumstances are my responsibility (even if not always my fault), and I'm the one who's got to do the lifting. I know it's not very reassuring... but sometimes we've just got to man up and do the damn thing, regardless of what it takes and how hard it is.

The yogas and sutras are so esoteric that it can take a lifetime to even understand the words, much less the morale; the communities are fraught with spiritual dick-measuring and arguments over the semantics; the mystics seldom simply give up the goods (even if for good reason); the seekers have their narcissistic agendas to wrap you up in, some just want to see you squirm and everyone's got something to sell... Even if there are treasures to be found among these perils, you're really not going to find what you seek in words, not mine or anyone else's. No amount of a healer's energy or magic will deliver you to a state where your troubles are gone... The real thing only comes in looking for yourself, thinking for yourself, and when you've seen what you've got to do, sticking your nose to the grindstone and doing it yourself. Take what help is offered when it's wise, but never forget that you're the guy behind the wheel, and where you end up is entirely up to you.

As Terrence McKenna said (egregiously out of context):
“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles... Dream the impossible dream and the world won't grind you under, it will lift you up.
This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. The shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.”