We have all had struggles in our lives, some little and some that may seem insurmountable like the loss of a loved one.  We will all know some form of pain in this lifetime.  However, it is what we make of our pain that greatly determines the outcome of our lives.  If we can take small steps each day, each moment in some cases, when we look back we will be amazed at how far we have come on the journey.  The key is to not allow the chaos of pain to stop you in your tracks, but to also be able to recognize that pain is how we know where we can grow.  In other words, we need to learn to live with it, as this is how we are able to achieve growth. Without adversity, we stay living in the gray.  This may seem a comfortable place to exist, but when we live in the gray we are not living an authentic life, we are denying our soul’s very birthright.  We will all know pain and suffering of some sort.  It is what we do with that pain and suffering that lends us are greatest potential.  As Teddy Roosevelt said, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”  Do your work with a noble heart, and put it forth because your voice matters in this world.  You have come here to share your gifts, and the world needs you.  Do not allow your pain and suffering to extinguish your bright light.  Take one small step, do it today and see where you can blossom.

Growth only come[s] from adversity and from challenge—from stepping away from what’s comfortable and familiar and stepping out into the unknown. ~ Ben Saunders