Learnings From 2019 — (1): Don’t waste that Pain

One night in February this year, after a stressful day at work, I received a call from an old friend as I descended the long flight of stairs from the office. The call was about 20 minutes and she reeled out several achievements she had achieved in a short space of time. My friend emphatically told me that I wasn’t doing enough with my skillset, intelligence, network and experience. I don’t know if she intended to motivate me with those words, but it surely did the opposite — I ended that call feeling pained.

For the next one week, I behaved like two days old eba, cold to my immediate environment, depressed, and furious. After some weeks, I had a Convo with some of my colleagues, and someone actually shared similar thoughts. He said he’s been taking stock and planning to take an action.

In summary, while my pains persisted and cost me several nights of sleep, relationships and bad health, my friend worked out his pain and in some months, his actions helped him turn the tables around and stopped his pain at least for the main time. He didn’t have to tell me, I saw and witnessed the change.

This taught me that the wound may not be your fault but the healing is your responsibility.

Someone said Pain is fuel. Pain is fury. Pain is drive. Pain is sheer instinct for Life. Pain is life.

One big lesson for 2020 is that I have to show fortitude in pain. I now understand that I can use pain as a catalyst and driver for growth instead of sobbing and crying or feeling depressed. I hope you won’t waste your pain in 2020☺️