Let me put it this way,
The pain that we're running away from,
And we run away from it in so many creative ways,
We're running away from a monster that we haven't realized is only imaginary,
But we really think it's a monster.
And I'm sure there's many examples where you've been through this process in some way or another,
Where you've seen yourself running away from one of these monsters and then eventually you had to face it and you found out that it's not what you thought it was.
And in realizing that it's not what you thought,
You saw it more clearly and you realized you didn't need to be afraid of it.
And you see it's the fear of it that intensifies the pain.
And just like with any fear,
We could easily say that this talk is meeting your deepest fear rather than your pain,
Because in a way it's the same mechanism.
In meeting your deepest fear,
You realize that what you're afraid of isn't real,
So there's no need to fear it.
Same with the pain.
And what a potential to misinterpret what I'm saying,
Where it can be seen that I'm saying your pain is invalid.
And that's my caution in even saying anything at all because of the capacity for misunderstanding and to turn it into something that I'm not saying at all.
And so I'm not saying that at all.
If anything,
It's the opposite.
I'm saying that the truth of your pain is incredibly valid because it's inviting you to see something incredibly profound and beautiful.
And so I'm asking you to stop ignoring it.
Let it serve its function,
Which is to point you directly toward the misunderstanding that is creating so much pain and difficulty in your life.
And this is super gentle.
We've created a sort of social construct where maybe the assumption is that you shouldn't be hurting.
The assumption is you should be happy,
You should not be bothered,
And yet underneath all of those expectations there's the very real reality of your human experience.
And so often we don't even see it because it's covered up with so much noise or so many distractions.
And essentially what I'm saying is that within the fabric of reality or what I call the sacred design,
The truth of your experience,
Even in this pain serves a beautiful function that desires for you to experience a healing of this pain.
And maybe in a spiritual way that function is simply the truth of what you are,
The truth of life,
Which is so on point with the phrase the truth sets you free.
And so just like we can recognize these pains are tied to perceptions and stories that are not true,
The truth of your experience will set you free.
To see what it really is rather than what you turn it into.
The truth of what it really is is what sets you free.
Now in order to see the truth of it,
You have to look at it.
Which is you have to meet the pain.
And there's no demand here.
This is one of the things I love so much about life.
It's not saying that you should.
If anything life is saying I'm here and I'll hold your hand.
