In an earlier post, I talked about how to understand the difference between your intuition guiding you and your trauma misleading you. While we didn’t choose the trauma that happened to us, we do have the ability to choose how we heal from it. Our wounds can become wisdom.
There is power in channeling our wounds into wisdom. Wisdom doesn’t happen by chance or by not having struggle. It is created by the experiences we go through and what we do with it. In a post with the quote, “Broken crayons still color”, I talked about how many successful people have impacted us and shaped the world. These are the people who others thought were crazy or incapable. They went through hell, learned to tell their story and that became a survival guide for the rest of us.
People who wear their battle wounds proudly have a credible platform that truly helps others. Think about it in the world of addiction counseling. The best addiction counselors are the ones who have gone through it themselves. They have an ability to relate to addicts and work with them that someone who is not an addict could do.
Do you remember Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew? I like Drew and he is a great guy. But do you know who really got through to addicts on the show? Shelly, one of the counselors and recovering addict, and Bob Forrest. Bob is a very interesting character and when I watched the show years ago, I never really knew this guy’s story. There is a documentary from 2011 about it called Bob and the Monster. I was fascinated by his story and looking at his history explains why he has been so successful working with other addicts.
Sharing your story and what you have learned along the way can change someone else’s life. What wounds have become wisdom for you?
