Our Pain Is a Great Purifier

We all have hard seasons. Stages where the ground on which we stand seems to crumble, nothing seems to be in our favor and the winter seems endless. To know pain, to endure suffering and to feel as though the trial will never end is to be fully human. And to become most intimate with life itself. “A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”, though. From what I can tell—and who truly knows the way the world works—that which appears to unmake us is the very season that rebuilds us. Our ...

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  Hi, it's Robin Sharma and welcome to Daily Mastery. This is my short form podcast where I'll walk you through the insights, methodologies, and tactics that I've shared with many of the world's most successful people as their mentor, including celebrity billionaires, NBA superstars, world-class artists, and global humanitarians. I hope you find great value in today's episode.

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  I have faced a lot of pain in my life. I've been at the top of the mountain and I've been in the valleys of darkness. And I will share with you that I have grown the most through my difficult experiences. Sometimes people ask me in media interviews, "Do you have any regrets?" And I always say, "Absolutely not. Everything that's happened to me was grist for the mill and fodder for my growth." Everything that happened to me, the amazing experiences and the most tragic experiences were a necessary part of my evolution as a human being, and I would not trade them for anything. And so I wear my scars with

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  joy and respect, as badges of honor of a human being who is flawed, trying to do his best. And I think you should as well. And if you're going through a painful time right now, trust that everything is happening for the best, and this too shall pass. And here's a really counterintuitive idea: Stay in the difficult experience as much as possible. Pain is purification. Pain is purification. We burn off the dross that covers our gold in the difficult moments. It is in the difficult times of our life, or a difficult day, that you are being asked to learn empathy and understanding and forgiveness. It is the

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  trials that teach you how strong you are. It is the adversity and the troubles that make us great if we choose not to be a victim, but say, "Hmm, I'm going through a trouble. How can I use this to develop forgiveness or understanding about that person who hurt me?" Or, "I'm going through a difficult day, or a difficult month, or a difficult year. How can I, rather than complaining about it and becoming bitter, how can I use it to open my heart and to become stronger and to get to know my gifts and my talents?" I was once on an airplane flying to Paris, and I was next to an artist. And he told me, he said, "I pick relationship partners who break my heart." And I said, "Why?" And he said, "Because when my heart is broken, I do my best work." And it is when we are

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  suffering that we actually can become more creative. Suffering teaches you to become more real. When I have gone through the most difficult experiences of my life, I've always turned to a book by the great Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, and it's called "The Prophet." And there's a particular chapter on pain that I read in those dark times of my life. I want to read it to you. And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of pain." And he said, "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could

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  you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy, and you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields?" I want to go off script for a second. A great life is a series of seasons. You have your painful times, you have your happy times, you have your times where you are frustrated, you have your times where you're full of energy and inspiration. That's called human. There's nothing wrong with those emotions of pain and guilt and sorrow. That's a necessary part to living

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  a colorful, real, beautiful, majestic life. And then Khalil Gibran continues, "And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief." I just have to read that again because it's so beautiful. "And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility. For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender

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  hand of the unseen. And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the potter has moistened with his own sacred tears." Honor your pain. Trust that what you're going through is for your greatness. And stand strong in the winters of your sorrow, so that when you get to the season of sunlight, you bring your greatness and your brilliance to a world in need of your gifts and talents.

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  Hi, it's Robin Sharma. I hope you've received strong value from today's episode. I encourage you to read my latest book, "The Everyday Hero Manifesto," which is helping people from right across the world live soaring lives. If you'd like to go into further learning, you can head over to robinsharma.com, or you can download my free ebook, "The World Changers Manifesto." And when you do that, you'll also get full access to the Everyday Hero Training Formula, which is a complete system to help you upgrade your productivity, positivity, impact, and the quality of your life. Have an outstanding day.