How often have you heard someone wish that they could take away the pain that we are suffering? How often have we said those very words to someone we know who is suffering? It’s a kind thought to share and it shows how much we care about others.

After all who better to relate to and support others than someone like us, who’s been there and felt those same emotions, right?!

During a recent conversation with a colleague, I was one of those Eeyore type of moods. Those times when everything just seems hopeless, there’s no way out, and nobody understands. Kinda feeling sorry for myself basically.

I’m certainly not minimizing those feelings, God knows I have them more often than I care to admit, but they just remind me of Eeyore. I guess it’s a way to make me smile a bit in the face of struggle.

Anyways, a friend recently told me how much she wished she could take my pain away when I was talking about a rough week I recently had.

This got my analytical brain moving and processing the idea of being able to take away someone’s pain and if that would really be a good idea.  Of course we can’t wave a magic wand and *poof* everything is all good, but even if we could how beneficial would that be?

It goes without saying that if we could change the past, we’d never want anyone to go through any type of abuse, much less ourselves.  After all it’s changed our lives in ways we could never imagine then, and ways we wish we could forget now.

While thinking about this topic, I came across an Instagram post from a person I follow, Fightingformei. She had posted a short video, which I encourage you to watch, it only takes less than a minute.

The little boy who came across the struggling butterfly and wanted to save it from its struggle, had the best of intentions and clearly a kind heart.  However, the struggle that each butterfly goes through while working its way free of its chrysalis is what ultimately gives it the strength to be able to take off and fly as soon as it breaks free.

I couldn’t have said the following any better:

The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” Keep going, my love. You are stronger than you could ever imagine. Fight for your life, for yourself. You deserve recovery. You are worthy, as am I, even when we don’t feel that way. One day we’ll look back and be so glad we didn’t give up, that we pushed through the challenges, that we crawled to the finish line through our exhaustion and sweat and tears. One day, we will fly.

I think I was meant to see this video today. Call it fate, luck, divine intervention, or whatever you want. Watching it, and then reading that short statement of encouragement and hope just reaffirmed to me that all of this struggle is worth it.

It’s easy to sit back and tell ourselves that our struggle is real, because it is real. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Sometimes those clichés can become so common place that they lose their luster but sometimes they hit us just when we need them the most.

There’s nothing wrong with needing to be reminded that we are on this journey for a reason and that we will prevail if we are determined.

The struggle we go through is making us who we are. It’s forming new neural pathways in our brains. It’s retraining our minds to look at situations differently, to react in a more constructive, affirming, positive manner to stress and anxiety.

We are learning to be kind to ourselves and at the same time strengthening our resolve to heal.

Taking away the pain would be nice, surely it would. If I had the chance to have it all taken away I probably would, but ya know what, I can’t.  So I might as well keep moving forward and doing what I can to better myself.

Not only will I reap the benefits of this work, but others will too.  I’ll fly one day, you’ll fly one day, and we’ll have a big ole’ survivor butterfly party in the brightest, greenest, meadow in the world.

-Matt

 

image courtesy of http://wonderwordz.com/