I paused after pressing send.
My whole morning, the many interactions I had, the many people I spoke to, all of them were connected for a brief moment and in that instant I knew I had said something important. So I set aside a note in my phone to write about it.
Our mistakes, our failures, our pains-- all of them are like the fires of a blacksmith's forge. The more real the mistake, the more powerful the fire that is put to us. Some events are like an open candle flame, others a burning forge, and few as hot as the inner belly of a star. It is a combination of how hot the flames our life puts us in and our skill as blacksmiths and artists of the self that determines whether this heat forges a katana, turns us into a diamond, immolates and illuminates our body and spirit, or simply destroys us.
So next time you have a bad day or make a bad call, ask yourself: what did I learn? How will this shape me? Will it slump me over like a melting statue? Will it fold my blade into a sharper form? Will it give me a great story that will spur a laugh with a friend? Will it light a candle so that I can find my way in the darkness?
Remember the words of Rumi:
Fear and hurt are lassoes pulling you through a door. Lord, lord, you say, weeping. And green herbs sprout from where those tears fall.
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