How do we keep perspective when we are going through hell? How do we traverse the road of difficult times?

 Those who know love know its facility in all matters;
others find it useful occasionally
while the broken-hearted bitterly laugh
and deny love altogether.

Can you hear in their laughter
the sound of heaven?

The Universe is not to blame for the separation.
It has never turned his back on you.

Blame is the disease
which blinds you to unity’s truth.

Wake up; the nightmare is over.
The light is in them
as well as in you.

The thinnest of veils
divides the two.

You are one Self.

You are not weak, but strong.
You are not limited, but unlimited.
You are not unloved, but much beloved.
You have suffered only for this: that you may bless those who suffer still.

~ A poem from the book, The Tao of Healing

Much like the statement, “everything happens for a reason,” this poem reminds me when I am going through a difficult time that I am merely transitioning over from the side of the unsullied and innocent to the side of the ones who have lived and experienced; the side which houses those who have been broken and have mended, whose wings have been clipped and then re-grown, the ones who have failed and recovered—the ones who have been made all-the-wiser for the experiences they have had.

This is the side where compassion lives. It is from this side, the side of the lived, that the view is the most spectacular.

We are able to see the crossing of the innocent. We know when they have fallen. We are able to reach out and gently guide them through the rocky trenches of hopelessness to our side of rebirth.

Sadly, some of them don’t make it. The river of bitterness between us consumes them.

We do not forget them, however. We hold them in our hearts because we recognize how close we once came to losing ourselves to that river. We remember the innocence we had before the pain and the let down and the knowing that it would all be OK—that all the tears and doubt will eventually wash away—that the first shine of sun after the rainstorm is absolutely inevitable.

We walk next to them, as they crawl through anger and disappointment, telling them stories of our hurt and our healing, so that they will be reassured that they are not alone and a renewed self is possible.

We reach out our hands, as someone else once did for us, and help them to stand. We support them as they limp through the threshold of the side of the wiser. It is then that we will understand that this expression of kindness is the final act in our own cycle of healing.

We experienced what we did, so that we can be closer, connected and compassionate enough to empathize with others when they need us most. Because in the end, we are here for each other, we are in this together and we are one in the same.

Catherine la O’ is a Certified Integral Life Coach, Blogger, Yogini, and Music Lover. As a Blogger, Catherine offers self-exposing personal insights gathered from her own journey of self-discovery. She hopes her writing will inspire and support other women on a similar path. As a coach, she believes the center point of positive personal growth comes from understanding one’s own inner shadow and works with her clients using tools from that philosophy. If you are interested in connecting with Catherine you may find her through her website or through Facebook.

 

 

Like elephant journal on Facebook.

Ed: Sara Crolick/Bryonie Wise