Gregg Levoy writes that psychologist Jean Houston stresses that "In order to discover what is trying to be born in you from your wound, what gift or call might be pressing for delivery... you need to stop reciting the small story about it - the particulars, the details - and tell the larger story. Tell the tale anew this time with the wounding as the middle of the story."
I've been thinking about this idea for a while now that for some people (myself included), the embryo of their life's calling comes not from their greatest achievement, but from their greatest disappointment. Maybe these "bad things" aren't meant to punish us, but rather to prepare us. Maybe we haven't been singled out because God is angry with us, but because He has chosen us to do something that not everyone can (or is willing to) do.
What better person to help someone who's hurting, than someone who's survived the same pain? Who better to try to help others avoid costly and painful mistakes, than someone who's already made them?
There used to be a skit on Saturday Night Live about two guys who'd recount outrageously painful and unlikely accidents, like having an electric nail shot up their nostril, to see which one could come up with the most painful experience. Misery may love company, but when we hear other peoples' stories, it's not simply knowing that someone else has been in the same place that makes us feel better. What makes the difference is knowing that they survived, that they grew because of the experience, and are better human beings because of it.
I have lots of stories to tell, and now I understand why I haven't been able to tell them before now, because I wouldn't have been telling the right version... that's the one that puts the pain of my past in the middle of the story. I've officially crossed over into the good part, so let the stories begin.
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