Sometimes it is hard to see the gift in our pain.

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It was so difficult for us, all we see if the hurt.

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When we do, we miss a great opportunity.

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And our eyes are cloudy by our memory.

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We get so used to telling the same story, we cannot see things any other way.

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So we recall what we experienced, yet we keep ourselves stuck in the pain.

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As we repeat the story over and over again to ourselves, it become more ingrained.

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We think we know the truth of the situation, yet we only know one truth.

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The truth we created for ourselves when we went through that part of our life.

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Perhaps it was a betrayal, or a great loss.

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An abuse, or an accident.

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It does not matter what the trauma was.

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For if we only see it as the pain we suffered through we are denying ourselves the larger experience.

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For within each great difficulty in our life is an equal or greater gift.

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For every situation that drove us to find a way out or through, has permanently changed us for the better.

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It has brought us to the place where we say No More!

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The very part of our life that we have cursed and regretted is the very experience we needed to find ourselves.

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To draw a line.

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And move forward to the place we are now.

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Yes, the pain was real.

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And yes, it really did hurt.

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It also caused us to push ourselves in a new direction.

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To make ourselves important to ourselves.

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And to value ourselves to the point that we said "no more pain!"

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It was not easy to get there.

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And it certainly was not easy getting out of that situation that caused us so much pain.

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Yet now we can look at the whole thing with a new perspective.

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We can see how it all served us, not just how it hurt us.

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How it brought us to this new space in our lives.

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A space of caring for ourselves.

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A place of making ourselves important enough to no longer endure that kind of pain.

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It served us by making how we feel important enough to do something about it.

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And we did.

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We found our way through.

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Through to this new way of being in the world.

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A way that says I matter.

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Because we do.

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Each and every one of us.

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So now we know that we matter enough to never put ourselves in that type of situation again.

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And if we should ever find ourselves there again, we will know exactly what do to get out of it.

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Without hesitation or regret.

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For it is our choice not ot be put into pain like that again.

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Is that not a great gift indeed?

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What pain are you holding onto that is actually your great gift?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant