How Life Leaves a Mark

“A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.” — James Allen

We don’t get away unscathed.   As we make our way through life, life leaves its marks.  The marks we bear can make our lives deeper and more meaningful.  Or they can sour our view, and make us bitter and cold.  It’s all in how we respond.

The hurts, the scars, the wounds weave part of our story.

In the book, It’s Not About You, by Bob Burg and John David Mann, the authors share insight into how to use your pain to lead a richer life, and to avoid turning cold.

We are Not Unblemished

Life happens.  We get scraped along the way.  Life leaves a mark.  Burg and Mann write:

“‘It shows dear,’ she said gently.  ‘Life leaves a mark.  None of us passes through the experience of our days unblemished or pristine.  We all suffer tragedies and disappointments, struggles and failures.  Losses great and small, and every one of them hurts.  Life leaves a mark,’ she repeated.”

Embrace Who We Are

You can lead a richer life, or you can harden your heart and become jaded.  To lead a richer life, don’t deny your pain.  Instead, embrace it.  Burg and Mann write:

“‘We can try to cover it up, although if we do, we just tend to grow bitter on the inside.  Or we can embrace who we are — that is, who we are in the process of becoming.  Embrace the hurt and it deepens you, makes you a richer person.  Deny it, reject it, hold it at bay, fight it off, and it simply hardens you.  Either way, it engraves itself onto your soul.'”

Photo by MzPromise.