I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t feel shame towards something in their own life.

Shame is a beast that easily consumes you, forcing you to either face it or run from it. The problem with facing it is it can cause a severe reaction, especially if a person doesn’t have the proper support in place.

The reaction and the running are both similar: denial, ignorance, rage, alcohol, drugs, anger, silence, self-harm, even physically running away. There are many other ways it can come to surface, but these are the most visible.

Unearthing shame to overcome it is a lengthy process. It starts with a lot of pain, but with the proper support in place, it can turn into an uplifting result. The speed at which that result happens will vary and it can take a lifetime, or several, but it prevents the side-effects of running.

Systematically, we have a lot of shame to overcome in our own societies and we’re only starting to face some of them now.

However, with the proper supports in place and willingness to overcome it over this lifetime, or many, we can build a stronger world.