Transformation of Pain

“If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.” – Richard Rohr

We all face setbacks in life.  Trials.  Pain.  Suffering.

It’s inevitable.

And while often it’s not fair, it’s up to us as to what we do with it.

It’s not just okay to feel it, to experience it.  We need to.  We need to acknowledge it, to give ourselves grace in how we feel.

And then we choose what to do with the pain.

Yes, we can numb it.  We can stuff it down.  And it will most assuredly come out in ways we don’t intend it to.  And in that, our pain may spill out and create pain for others.  

Or we can take our hardest moments, our hardest days, the things that should have never happened to us… and we can turn them into something good.  This doesn’t mean what happened was good or that you can even find good in what happened… but it does mean you can make good and you can choose not to be defined by your setbacks and pain.  You define who you are.