Personal Development
Your Struggles Made You Who You Are
Sometimes you have to break.
I have a pot that I once had to break. It wasn’t an accident, but part of the message I was about to make. I was a speaker at an event one February; it was a cold winter’s night. The evening came, more than a hundred people gathered in the room. And I started…it was a talk on healing. As sometimes is the case, it was a talk I needed to hear myself, even though I was the one giving it.
After a few minutes, I show them the pot. Nicely curved, brown, it could be for salad, fruit, decoration. It was rounded with perfect lines. Before they even had a chance to observe the pot, I had it in my hands, then with all the power in me, I smashed it against the floor. Silence. Shock. I even almost startled myself, though I knew what I was going to do. But the ‘breaking’ was loud. The pot lay scattered near me on the ground for the rest of the evening. It was a sign of our brokenness, our human condition that sometimes collapses into pieces. Then we spend the rest of our lives putting it back together or seeking ways to mend the hurts.
We all have areas that we struggle with. We deal with one, and another one opens up. Or an older one but in more depth. So for everyone who may need a reminder that it’s alright to feel like that at times, and that even in our vulnerability we still ‘shine’… this is for you:
Your struggles have made you a loving, caring human being that you are. Your compassion did not come out of nowhere, but out of your need to overcome circumstances that were almost unbearable to bear — and you bore them with dignity.
The love with which you approach others is borne out of your need to dig for love deep within you, when you felt the well of your heart was dry — and yet it wasn’t. Digging deeper into you, you found love.
Give yourself credit for all the scars you have on your soul. Some have healed and you don’t even think of them anymore… However, you say at times you collapse under the pressures of life and think you are weak because of that? You are only human, with limits, don’t forget that. Even flowers bend when too much rain washes over them… With a new day, they rise slowly again, always looking towards the Sun. Remember the last time you did that — you rose right after you thought you collapsed? Well, that was brave.
© Iva Beranek
