Inspiration : Suffering

[MORTARDUDE]

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Inspiration:
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"There is an old woman in our town who is
simply incredible. She has lived a very
difficult life, full of suffering. Two of her
children died, one from a terrible lingering
disease and the other in an automobile
accident. Her husband had a very bad stroke
many years ago and then lingered on for
twenty years before dying. yet she is the most
generous and compassionate person I have
ever met.

"One day, I asked he how she could still
wake up every day with a smile and a kind
word for everyone around her. She looked
at me with this really surprised expression
on her face and said, "Oh, but my life has been
full of so many wonderful people. We all have
our troubles, but those are only doorways we
must walk through. Each of the terrible things
that happened to me also brought me some
unexpected surprises -- moments of connection
with others, opportunities to become a
better person. I guess I do wish it could have
been easier, but really I feel that my life has
been blessed nonetheless."

When times are tough, it's easy to shut out
the rest of the world. And sometimes it is
necessary to turn inward, feeling the depth
and breadth of our sorrow so that our wounds
can heal.

But, ultimately, we need to come back out
into the light, scars and all, and allow our
suffering to make us more compassionate
toward others. Precisely because we have
known pain of those around us; we can offer
the example of our own journey to healing
as encouragement for those still taking the
first steps. In so doing, we not only inspire
fellow sufferers, we make sense of our
own pain.

Rather than close off our hearts and sink
into despair, we can let hardship hone us into
a vessel overflowing with wisdom and
compassion. And there's no doubt that the
world could use more of that!