“When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope”
-Henri Nouwen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Adele- this quote really resonates with me and my journey over the past several months, especially after realizing that I am a SEVEN on the enneagram (did I mention that before to you? I just read a book on it), which means that, unchecked, I naturally try to avoid pain at all costs. That has been hard this year, and continues to be hard, of course, living in the real world... but, I am glad that my strengths are optimism and being (sometimes too dreamily) hopeful . The way the enneagram book described it, we have to realize that we can be suffering "for something," and that suffering brings ensuing joy. So, I cling to those thoughts as I continue to struggle with nose issues and get sad about leaving Boston. There you have it- my life in a nutshell. :P
What a gift to be moving towards self-knowledge. I think that I, too, have a way of avoiding pain. I wonder what my enneagram is... did you take it online? Anyway, glad the quote spoke to you.
Actually, when I took the enneagram online test, it made me think I was a one, it wasn't untnil I read a complete book on it that I realized I'm a seven.
Post a Comment