We have a tendency to hold on to our pain.We have had it so long we don't remember what it is like to not have it.It feels scary to let it go.And then there is the benefit of holding on to our pain.For when we hold on to our pain we have the perfect excuse.The perfect excuse not to do something.The perfect excuse not to show up.The perfect excuse not to try.We can use our pain in so many ways.We can use it as the reason why not to be vulnerable.Or we can use it as the reason to be vulnerable.We can use it as the reason to transform and change.Or we can use it as the reason to stay where we are.We use our pain all the time.Usually, we are not even aware of it.It is something that just sits there in the back of our consciousness.And we think we are showing up for others.Yet really we are just hiding in plain sight.We are present.Yet we are not really present.We are showing up.Yet we are not really showing up.We show up in our wound.We may even talk about our wound.We may wallow in our wound.Yet we are not moving past our wound.To move past our wound is scary.It has been our companion for so many years.It has comforted us when we fail.It keeps us safe so we don't have to be hurt again.Yet when we just live in our wound we are not being true to ourselves.We are not being who we really are.We are not living authentically.We are not showing up as our best selves.We are hiding from being who we can truly be.And who we truly are is a gift to the world.It is our presence that lights the way for others.For them to see that they can get past their wounds as well.And that they can stop hiding in plain sight too.

~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant