To Hell and Back (adapted from Martha Beck)

A lot of people say, “I need to find my passion.”  They rarely realize that the word “passion” is from the Latin pati, “to suffer,” or that passion originally meant “pain” (as in The Passion of Christ).  Knowing that, it becomes much easier to track your passions; even if you feel no interest in anything, odds are you have suffered.  Wayfinders of all cultures know that healing the self from any kind of torment is the groundwork for healing others, for creating a positive change in the world of Form and thereby establishing your career, your life’s work.  Let’s track your true nature along this path of passion.  It’s often the clearest trail.

Think of the worst thing you’ve ever survived.  Describe it.  Then think of the next-worse thing.  If you’ve had a long and eventful life, you may be able to make a list of several ways you’ve been to hell:  being jilted, being jilted at the altar, having a miscarriage, developing tennis elbow, getting robbed at gunpoint, accidentally pressing “Send to All” on a very private email involving photographs of your special body parts.  Pick your top five, in order of awfulness, and then write them down to consider.

Though these experiences were dreadful, because they were dreadful, they are also precious.  Pain gives our true nature an objective we can pursue with genuine passion.  Whatever ways you’ve been to hell, you can make the experiences meaningful by leading others out of the same grim spot.  The most motivating thought for a suffering wayfinder is “I can help other people who’ve been through this.”  This is a win-win-win-win idea.  It helps heal the healer, transforms the tragedy itself into a gift of grace, blesses and repairs other beings and radiates healing outward to the entire Great Self.