Joy shared is multiplied and Pain shared is Divided

All I can really tell you is that as I work to better understand this crazy place we live and create in, I’m finding that some of us are seekers and some simply hop on the train and care less about how the engine works, or what fuel it uses, or who the hell is driving this thing and they seem like the happiest of folks, but I’m just not built that way. I’m curious about understanding the workings that happen behind the scenses…. the crazy goosebumps that I experience when I hear an incredible singer on stage or the tears that fall down my cheek when I listen to someone share the hardships that I immediately think they should never have been subjected to. I’m eager to learn, I’ve been reminded too many times that it can all change in a blink of an eye so why not learn and uncover the things that will make us better.

We will all go through periods in our lives where things are just flowing and feeling good and the pieces of life are all falling into place, but there are other times when nothing is seeming to go our way?? My feeling is that we will continue to feel the pain of something periodically until we learn the lesson that we are required to learn, it’s kind of like a video game in that we are so pumped and excited that we finished the level only to have a short celebration because we are now on level 2 where the challenges are tougher and the monsters are bigger, but we have more weapons and have increased our strength so we can handle it….. This is the amazing journey we are on, we need to celebrate our wins and share our disapointments so we can help each other get to the next level in life so that the next generation can start where we left off, it’s our duty!….. For so long I would keep things to myself and suffer in silence or avoid the conversations that would need to take place with friends or my wife or kids but what I’ve come to find out?? I end up getting stuck on the same level of life and it never goes away and then when the conversations we know in our hearts need to take place are delayed they end up just causing more damage than if we dealt with them when we knew we should. This is a place that we are not meant to be, I’ll have you consider that our purpose is to grow and expand and here is my logic….

At least for me when I’m stuck on the same level for too long, my frustration and my level of joy and happiness continues to decline? Why is that? I mean things are good and I’m not starving and bills are paid? I can recall times when I was absolutely broke!! but yet when I had visions of where I was going with solid clarity and I was creating, I felt great… and on the flip side there are times when from the outside it would appear things are great, no financial issues, family seems good, but yet without having a clear path to get to the next level and doing the same mundane things, I would feel miserable and completely unsatisfied.

So here is my takeaway here, every time I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and allowed myself to be vulnerable when I was in pain or stuck or hurting and shared this with others, I would receive a gift from that individual or group and the person or group that I shared with would also receive a gift by relating these challenges in their own lives. On the flip side when I wouldn’t celebrate or give myself credit on accomplishments because of the perceived notion that it is “bragging” or “cocky” or “you don’t want to come off arrogant” I would be stealing from myself by not giving myself the credit that I deserve and then getting the momentum this positive movement creates, but I’m also stealing from the people that I would have shared with by potentially opening up a new belief that they too could do something similar. Listening to others have success and growth before me provides me with an increase in belief that perhaps I could reach this mountain top as well…. So what if they didn’t share these successes?

Why is it that when someone that we love and care about is in PAIN we literally feel the pain as if we are going through it ourselves?? And when we see someone we love experience JOY we feel this joy as if we are the ones that passed the test or crossed the finish line of the marathon?? I have no idea but I can’t help but consider that we are all connected….

So share the JOY and share the PAIN as uncomfortable as it may feel it is the way to accelerate and amplify your JOY and it is a way to divide and reduce the power of your PAIN. It will also help you get to the next level and it will help those around you get to the next level…. :)