Dear pain,

I see you. I feel you. Gripping my muscles, pulsating in my head, coursing through my body. Creating mood swings, panic attacks, heavy emotions. Creating tears, fears, sobbing, and insomnia. You are intense, relentless, uncontrollable, and unavoidable. You prevent me from walking, from sleeping, from living. From peace. You refuse to back down. After much effort to get rid of you, I must surrender.

Surrender to the fact that you want to be felt. That you refuse to be masked. That you need me to listen.

And that’s when I realize you are the messenger. That pain is healing. Pain is growth. Pain is learning. Pain is power.

Without pain, I would be stuck. Without pain I would be looping around the same cycles on autopilot. Without pain, I would be living for the future instead of living in the present. Without pain, I couldn’t appreciate the moments of ease and effortlessness.

So thank you pain, for the hard lessons. For the wisdom. For showing me what needs to be healed. For uprooting me in order to put me on the right path. For forcing me to do less and just be. For showing me that the wounds are not my choice, but it is my choice to heal.

Because it is only by experiencing the pain that we are able to better appreciate the light. And only by experiencing pain that we can shine this light for others.