Suffering Leads to Growth

Turn your wounds into wisdom. Oprah Winfrey 

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors African Proverb

When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity. John F. Kennedy, address, 12 April 1959

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them. Bernard M. Baruch

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival. Winston Churchill

 

 

Just look at a butterfly to understand the mystery of suffering

If

you feel sorry for a

struggling butterfly

in empathy, cut the cocoon

helping him escape,

his wings will be deformed.

If 

you allow a butterfly

to struggle, emerging slowly agonizingly from his prison,

his wings will be perfectly formed.

My tendency and I think all mother’s tendency is to want to save our children from suffering, from making mistakes. So I try to intellectually explain everything to death. But really, it rook suffering to strip me , heal me and bring me to place of humility where I could finally perceive reality. Do I really think that I can extricate them from the cocoon they are struggling to emerge from. If I do, all that I will do is to stunt their wings, just like when a butterfly is cut from a cocoon too early

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