Each Day A New Beginning

What we suffer, what we endure...is done by us, as individuals, in private. - Louise Bogan

Empathy we can give. Empathy we can find, and it comforts.
But our pain, the depth of it, can never be wholly shared,
fully understood, actually realized by anyone other than ourselves.
Alone, each of us comes to terms with our grief, our despair, even our guilt.

Knowing that we are not alone in what we suffer,
makes the difficulties each of us must face easier.
We haven't been singled out, of that we're certain.
Remembering that our challenges
as the real exciting opportunities for which we've been created.

Suffering prompts the changes necessary for spiritual growth.
It pushes us like no other experience to God-for understanding,
for relief, for unwavering security.
It's not easy to look upon suffering as a gift.
And we need not fuly understand it;
however, in time,
its value in our lives will become clear.

I will not be wary of the challenges today. I will celebrate their part of my growth.

Hazelden Meditation Series

DS.. 12/28/99