The Beauty of Pain.

Pain is the great equalizer. Pain is the one language that is universally understood. Pain has a way of ringing too similar yet so different for each heart it crashes into. Pain is pain. It is real, authentic, and it can crawl into the smallest parts of your soul. The sting of rejection, heaviness of heartbreak, and the shattering of grief are just small branches of a very large tree that we know as pain. But the worst part..is that pain is inevitable.

So here we are. A bunch of vulnerable souls wandering around earth for an unknown amount of time, guaranteed to face pain. It’s a bit daunting, and it is definitely draining. What is the point? What is the point of loving, if it could turn to hating? What is the point of trying, if it could simply turn to loosing? What is the point of enjoying, if it turns into missing. What is the point of romanticizing your life, if at any moment, a tidal wave of pain could strip you of your joy?

I have a theory about pain.

I believe pain is beautiful. I believe pain is a second chance. I believe pain is the very embodiment of growth. When we are presented with pain, we are simultaneously given an opportunity. You see, when we experience pain, a part of our soul shatters, which leaves a hole. And while we can never fill that hole the way it once was, we can still fill it. We can fill it with a spring morning. Laughing with your best friend. A slow Sunday morning. That hole can be filled.

When a piece of us shatters, we have a chance to grow stronger, and become braver. Experiencing pain is ordinary, but embracing pain is true strength. Healing and happiness do not have to contradict each other. Rather, they feed off of one another.

I have not spent a significant amount of time on this earth, but I have experienced a significant amount of pain. Through those moments on the floor crumbling, standing in the shower numb, and perfecting the art of a forced smile, I have learned one great lesson:

Ultimately, you must choose to viciously pursue your own happiness.

You must choose to acknowledge the colors of a sunset. You must choose to love the small moments of your day. You must choose to find those instantaneous moments of joy. Trust me, they are there. They stroll past you more than you know. But, you must chase them, and embrace them.

Life is scary, but love is powerful. Perhaps it is naïve, maybe even foolish. But even so, I choose to spend my time on this earth embracing my pain instead of suffocating in it. Friend, I hope you find the moments of joy in your life.

-A