Jeff Brown speaks beautifully about how much easier it is to not stay present to those who are struggling especially if they highlight our own struggle. He writes ‘Those who have suffered the most will be our greatest teachers. It has been so artificial for so long, that we need the trauma-speakers to save us. Because they are the closest to the truth of all our lives. Because they are the most connected to the feelings that we are all burying – the individual cries for relief, the ancestral unresolved that thread through each generation.
It may seem counter-intuitive in this conditioned world, but those who have the courage to own their pain, are actually the ones we need the most.
So next time you feel tempted to turn away from someone who wants to share their horribly painful story, stop. Just stop. Ask yourself why you are so eager to go – are they reminding you of something you don’t want to feel within yourself?
Then listen close to them, and let them whisper your heart back to life.’