Pain

Pain is how we really learn.

You can study something or work to remember things, but to truly transform, you must pass through pain. Pain is the portal.

There is the pain we choose, the sting we induce by selecting certain perceptions and behaviour. From this we sooner or later learn that we have the power to make of life what we want.

We have the freedom to experience and make of it what we will. We are creating in every moment and when the payoff of pain becomes too costly, we drop it. Pain helps us see.

There is the pain we do not choose, the agony that arises from being born, living and dying. This pain is an even bigger and more beautiful teacher.

It breaks down the constructs we cling to, shatters illusions and strips away our form. It is the labour of the mother and the arrival of the child, both of them ourselves. It is the deep joy of total living.

It is in pain that we surrender. It is from pain that we stop and reconsider. It is through pain that we sit with ourselves.

It is in acceptance that pain subsides. It is from growth that pain reveals its blessings. It is through transformation that pain releases us.

Look back and all the growth for which you are most humbly grateful has its roots in pain. It truly is the most gracious gift.

Pain is healing.