In life we receive surprises.

Many times, a surprise that we wouldn’t wish on another, let alone ourselves. Perhaps you have had a broken heart that has yet to heal.

Or you are struggling to regain your health after years of chronic challenges. You may be in the middle of bankruptcy.

Life is full of surprises. It’s called being human. No matter how well we control our lives, life is going to bring us to our knees and remind us what it is to be human.

When this does happen, and we survive, we are forever changed. It can’t be any other way. Perhaps you have lost a loved one.

Whether it numbs us out, keeps us in grief, or propels us into a deeper appreciation for the presence of life, again, we are changed.

I for one have been healing a broken heart for nearly 30 years. It’s only today that I can see how that broken heart, and the process of healing it, has fundamentally changed the way I walk through the world. It has too, because inherent in the experience are the seeds for evolution.

Inherent in becoming financially sound again, or able to live your life on your terms, because your health has improved, will change you.

Each of us are in many ways different. Wonderfully individual.

Yet, the pain, challenges, and experiences of what it means to be human can be narrowed down. In this we see our sameness. Our humanness. In this we see that we are together in this life. We do not walk towards the end alone.

I share all of this because at times we may forget a few things:

Life is going to show us how to hurt.

Life is going to show us a reminder of our humanness

Life can also show us how to love. Ourselves and one another

Life can show us how resilient, capable, and courageous we are

When we stop to see the truth in this, for ourselves and others, life becomes something special.

And when we walk the world with a deeper appreciation for each other’s finite time on this earth, we are able to be together.

From this, we rise together.

Be well,

Matt