Sometimes it is hard to see the gift in our pain.
It was so difficult for us, all we see if the hurt.
When we do, we miss a great opportunity.
And our eyes are cloudy by our memory.
We get so used to telling the same story, we cannot see things any other way.
So we recall what we experienced, yet we keep ourselves stuck in the pain.
As we repeat the story over and over again to ourselves, it become more ingrained.
We think we know the truth of the situation, yet we only know one truth.
The truth we created for ourselves when we went through that part of our life.
Perhaps it was a betrayal, or a great loss.
An abuse, or an accident.
It does not matter what the trauma was.
For if we only see it as the pain we suffered through we are denying ourselves the larger experience.
For within each great difficulty in our life is an equal or greater gift.
For every situation that drove us to find a way out or through, has permanently changed us for the better.
It has brought us to the place where we say No More!
The very part of our life that we have cursed and regretted is the very experience we needed to find ourselves.
To draw a line.
And move forward to the place we are now.
Yes, the pain was real.
And yes, it really did hurt.
It also caused us to push ourselves in a new direction.
To make ourselves important to ourselves.
And to value ourselves to the point that we said “no more pain!“
It was not easy to get there.
And it certainly was not easy getting out of that situation that caused us so much pain.
Yet now we can look at the whole thing with a new perspective.
We can see how it all served us, not just how it hurt us.
How it brought us to this new space in our lives.
A space of caring for ourselves.
A place of making ourselves important enough to no longer endure that kind of pain.
It served us by making how we feel important enough to do something about it.
And we did.
We found our way through.
Through to this new way of being in the world.
A way that says I matter.
Because we do.
Each and every one of us.
So now we know that we matter enough to never put ourselves in that type of situation again.
And if we should ever find ourselves there again, we will know exactly what do to get out of it.
Without hesitation or regret.
For it is our choice not ot be put into pain like that again.
Is that not a great gift indeed?
What pain are you holding onto that is actually your great gift?
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant