“Pain pushes until vision pulls”

The wisdom of these inspiring words from spiritual leader Michael Beckwith is that the pain we experience in our everyday lives serves a purpose. We are not meant to stay in the pain, but open to the potential that awaits in the solution.

When something is out of alignment, pain is the messenger. It is an alarm bell asking for change. But so often our attention is focused on the pain as the problem. The intensity of the pain itself can make it difficult to think beyond it.

In my work, folks tend to show up when the pain becomes too big to ignore. They arrive with a clear sense of what they don’t what to be experiencing—whether its overwhelming stress, fatigue, lack of motivation, or a feeling of being trapped in their job.

No matter what the pain point, the first question I always ask is, What do you want to be experiencing?

The invitation is to step back from the overwhelming sense of “NOT THIS,” and be pulled by a deeper vision of what is possible. Because that is where the potential lives.

Today I invite you to notice where in your life you are feeling pain or discontentment.

What is the pain asking for you to pay attention to?  

What potential lies in the solution of this problem?

What if the pain were not there to make you suffer, but to propel you toward a healthier, more aligned, and more satisfying life?

And if the idea of pain as being for a purpose doesn’t resonate, notice that too. I can say in the depth of my journey with chronic migraine—when I was trying so hard to feel better and not finding answers—the idea was almost offensive. I lacked the tools and information to hear the messages my body was sending me. I felt helpless.

Today, I am deeply grateful for my health journey. Without the pain, I would have never done the deep dive that has led me to the aligned life I’m living today. But first, I had to learn to listen to the alarm bells and develop the skills to sense and respond. I needed a roadmap.

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If you are feeling stuck and could use support going from pain to vision, let’s chat.