Learning Through The Wisdom of Others

This past weekend I attended the Hay House I CAN DO IT conference again. Just like last, year it was an inspirational and uplifting weekend. I could go through each speaker and rave about how enlightening they were but instead I think I am going to write about the most profound quotes I heard that have stuck with me and altered something in my consciousness. I will write a 3 part article.

The first quote that struck a cord with me was “I wrote this book to heal myself” spoken by Joan Borysenko, PhD, when talking about her most recent book “Fried! Why You Burn Out And How To Revive”. This particular quote leaped out at me because it so clearly outlined the path of the Wounded Healer Archetype and disposed of the myth that healers, now transcended, live in some permanent state of bliss. No, as long as we are alive, we are challenged and put under stresses. Each time we experience that pressure, we are pushed further along the path.

It has been my experience and the experience of many others I have observed that those that suffer in their suffering are given the greatest gift or opportunity to become great healers. In helping others through the same condition, not only do they give healing but so too do they receive it.

All of us struggle at some stage, whether it be health, relationships or work. The lesson is not in the what but in the how – the how we get out of the darkness.. Sometimes we may feel so lost and confused that, in trying hard to get out, we only lose ourselves even more. However, should we be called to the service of others, in helping them become found we too become found. The healer is healed through the process of healing others.

This relationship between people redefines the idea of hierarchy of healing as understood in the western mind (such as one would see in a doctor/ patient relationship) and opens the world of healing to everyone regardless of educational limitations. If you have experienced something, you therefore have obtained a glimmer of wisdom to pass on to others. I am in no way discounting the essential usefulness of medical professionals, Eastern or Western. I am simply suggesting perhaps we all can be empowered to heal not only ourselves but others. Or more specifically heal ourselves BY healing others.

Maybe you can look within and see that thing that holds you in its grip; that disease in your body, that emotion in your heart, that career that just seems stuck. Instead of trudging through, you might stop in your tracks and look outwards. Find someone else you can help, Maybe they have a similar problem and they just need someone like you who understands and validates them. Maybe you can advance their career somehow by a connection you’ve made. Maybe, you can show them compassion and love. There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities or simple acts of kindness that can elevate and empower people.

We learn that through giving – we receive.

Embrace the Wounded Healer in you and reach out and touch somebody.

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