Everyone has a story that is darkened and useless when covered but illuminative and inspiring when exposed
In Bangkok, there is a golden statue of Buddha called Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon. In an attempt to move the 9-foot, 11,000 pounds statue in 1954, the ropes broke and the statue fell to the ground. It turns out that the golden statue had been covered with plaster by monks during the mid-17oos to prevent Burmese invaders from stealing it. The plan worked.
Not only did the invaders ignore the statue, the world didn’t pay much attention to it for the next 200 years. When the statue fell to the ground, the plaster cracked and the team saw a glimmering reflection from within the crack. They decided to chip away the plaster until the largest golden statue in the world was unveiled.
Like this statue, each one of us has incredible worth and beauty but we mask it away. The world is desperate to be inspired by your story. You must learn to celebrate the amazing miracle of your life. Everyone has ways they have been burned, storms they endure, and struggles they face. We have failed and suffered loss at one point in time or the other in our lives.
Our scars, when we learn from them, are symbols of strength to be celebrated, not signs of weaknesses to be covered up.
We make extra effort to separate our private lives from our public lives. But anyone who seeks to live a spiritual life will soon discover that what seems extremely personal to us is, in fact, the most universal. While we may have been brought up in different backgrounds, there is a common connection we share as humans. These connections happen at the moments we were broken and healed. When you are going through a difficult time, you should remember that you are not alone.
Find true connection.
“99 Let our light shine so it can illuminate the darkness others are feeling.”
John O’Leary
To do this, we need to cast away the fear of owning our stories, to celebrate the scars we have accumulated along the way, and be willing to live life honestly. It is not until then that we’ll be able to know the gift of our stories, the power of our experiences, and embrace the beauty of our scars. Stop faking it!