When you are in pain
Don’t fight it
Allow it
Let it wash through you

The pain is looking for a host
For someone strong enough
To carry it with dignity
To hold it
To feel it
To allow it
To transform it

The pain is part of humanity
It comes from a deep source of wisdom
The pain is about a dying world
It is about collective suffering
Which has reached rock bottom
Which has become unbearable

The pain needs help
It is like a bird looking for a nest
A child looking for a lap
It craves a special kind of strength
Not the strength of fighting
Not the strength of resistance
Or anger
But the strength of surrender
The strength of tenderness
The capacity to be in pain without breaking
Without being afraid
Without resentment
Without trying to get away from it

The pain asks to be loved
To be held
To be understood
To be felt

When you are in pain
Accept it
Be with it
Sit with it
Sleep with it
Eat with it
Work with it
Don’t try to change it
Don’t try to get rid of it
Don’t reject it
Don’t push it away

Instead, let it in
Fully feel it
Surrender to it
And feel how it mysteriously dissolves

Sanne Burger
sanneburger.com

Image: Susan Seddon Boulet