Any of you who have done group with me have heard me ask, “What if I could guarantee that you are going through your suffering for a reason? Would it make a difference? Would you live your suffering differently?“
What if I could promise you that because of the obstacles you have faced or are facing in your life, that one day, when you are driving and see someone ready to jump off a bridge or a building, you will know EXACTLY what to say- and you will save a life. For all we know, that person then goes on transformed because of that experience and becomes the next Oprah or has children, one of whom becomes the person who cures cancer- we don’t know!
Or maybe it will be that you will be able to prevent
your child from going down the wrong road because of what you have learned through your hardships, or perhaps it will just be because when you hit your rock bottom, you learned that listening to anything other than strong and healthy you is no way to live, that you just being you and making small talk in line at the local coffee shop stops that other person fro going and shooting up the elementary school around the corner.
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE BIG PICTURE IS, SOMETIMES NOT UNTIL LATER, SOMETIMES NOT EVER, but I can tell you that personally and professionally, I see proof that THAT THERE IS A BIG PICTURE everyday, and whether we believe in it or not, like gravity, it still applies.
I stopped believing in coincidence years ago and everyday I have the privilege of seeing proof that we are all connected, and that we rarely appreciate the full extent of the impact we have on each other.
When we invest in the belief that we are going through things for a reason, whether it is so that us just being authentic and who we are (ie. being open and playful with others like the guy in the video) can change a life, or if it is so we can use our suffering to help others (the whole idea and framework of the Strong and Healthy Self comes from my own past – those of you who followed it may recall this from when I was featured by “Women Reshaping the World”), we RESIST/ FIGHT OUR SUFFERING LESS, we are more willing to LEAN INTO THE FEELINGS (even the unpleasant ones) and we are more CURIOUS ABOUT THE LESSONS– and this CHANGES OUR EXPERIENCE OF SUFFERING, it even makes it less painful and we tend to move through it more quickly.
This TEDx talk just highlights how we are all connected in ways we often don’t appreciate, that WE ARE ALL LEADERS and CATALYSTS for change.
If we have to suffer, we might as well do what we can to make the most of the process instead of resisting it and beating ourselves up for it.
Who are you going to be in the world today?
As always, we are happy to hear from you, drop us a line by email, on twitter or make a post. LIVE your life this week, go and be great- I mean that!
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