Depression Quote

"We were never taught to stop, to savor, and to hold our feelings of fear, anger, grief or loneliness. We were taught to get rid of our pain before we learned its lessons. Maybe that's why wisdom is hard to find in our culture." Richard Rohr

This seems so true in some cases. Of course there is depression so severe that immediate steps must be taken to avoid suicide and the loss of life. But is it possible that other forms of depression provide lessons from which we can learn? How to persevere when things aren't going well? How to cope when life throws us a curve ball? Do we develop strength in the face of adversity when we face our negative emotions rather than try to alleviate them through other means?

I can think of several clients on my caseload right now who are desperately trying to avoid pain in their lives; either from the break up of a marriage, the loss of parents, or the loss of health. Some of them insist on sitting in the pain and facing it down, and I watch them develop coping skills they never had, strength they didn't know they were capable of and yes, wisdom. Wisdom about how to deal with life's problems better by having survived this one. The clients who turn and face the demons and fight their way up out of the hole come out of the tragedy better people. The clients who try to avoid the fight end up living in the hole and spend all of otheir energy trying to make the hole tolerable.

Some wise person once said, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." But only if we face our fears and our pain. Climbing up out of the ashes we find ourselves reborn into a stronger, wiser version of our former selves.

Thoughts?