I was listening to Dr. Gabor Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian physician specializing in childhood trauma, on The Tim Ferriss Show. He shared a quote that was powerful. Dr. Gabor Maté said…
“It’s from one of my favourite teachers. And his name is AH Olness. And he says, ‘Your conflicts, all the difficult things, the problematic situations in your life are not chance or haphazard, they’re actually yours. They’re specifically yours designed specifically for you by a part of you that loves you more than anything else. That part of you that loves you more than anything else has created roadblocks to lead you to yourself. You’re not going to go in the right direction, unless there’s something pricking you in the side telling you look here, this way. That part of you loves you so much that it doesn’t want you to lose the chance. It will go to extreme measures to wake you up. It will make you suffer greatly if you don’t listen. What else can it do? That’s its purpose.’ And I found this to be true of physical illness and mental problems and everything. You’ve got to see what is the teaching here.”
Our struggles are ours and ours alone. To help us find ourselves again. To help us recover from all we are carrying. To help us discover that original, authentic kernel of ourselves that was lost when the world started whispering in our ear that we needed to do this or be that.
Struggles designed by a part of you that loves you more than anything else. Imagine.
Will we listen and uncover, recover, and discover who we really are?