John Assaraf uses a beach rocks story to argue that your traumas and wounds aren't anchors but fuel. He says reframe your past as the thing that shaped your strengths, then use that fear to build an extraordinary life.
Hey, good morning. Or good evening, depending on where you are in the world. I just did my little workout on the beach and a little meditation on the beach, and I stopped to look at some rocks, some little rocks, big rocks, round rocks, jagged edged rocks, rocks with gashes in them, some small, some big. And I couldn't help but think first and foremost how beautiful the entire landscape was together. But also how each rock, regardless of its shape or size, regardless of the gash in it, the hole in it, how beautiful it was. And I couldn't help but make the correlation between, you know, us humans and these beautiful rocks that have been shaped by the wind and the sand and the water pummeling it at times, here on the rugged coast in Southern California. And I couldn't help but think how many of us have felt in the past, or feel right now that because of our wounds, our gashes, our holes, that we may not be lovable, we may not be perfect, we may not be beautiful, we may not be wanted. And I couldn't help but think that it's exactly those wounds, those gashes, those traumas to the rocks, so to speak, that make it so beautiful. I just wanted to remind you that everything that's happened in your life from the time you were born and maybe even before you were born, you know, from a genetic perspective, but everything that's happened in your life from the time you were born has shaped who you are. The experiences you have emotionally, the traumas, the highs, the lows, you know, the good times, the challenging times, the stuff you're proud of, the stuff you're ashamed of, the stuff you're embarrassed of, it's all part of, you know, how beautiful you are. And I just wanted to remind you that at the higher order of life, at the spiritual, highly intelligent order of life that permeates all space and time, that is part of your DNA in every cell, that's part of what makes the elliptical orbits of the planets going around the sun as we're hurling through space at a million and a half miles per hour, you're never in the same place twice, as you probably are aware. But I just want to let you know, what makes unique, what makes you different, what makes you so beautiful, is all of the so called imperfections. But they're not imperfections. What's gotten you to where you are is exactly what you need to get you to the next level of your evolution, of your success. And you didn't get all this way just to get here. You have gone through all of your physical Emotional, mental, maybe even spiritual, spiritual challenges to give you the experience, the knowledge, the wisdom to take all of that now and forge forward to create the masterpiece that you are capable of creating, to create a magical life. Not an average or below average life, an above average life, an extraordinary life, an amazing life, which is your birthright. And no, we don't want to diminish any of the pain, the trauma, but use it to your advantage now. You don't have to be a victim of your past. You can be a student of it. You don't have to use your past as an anchor. Use your past as a guiding post for your future. You don't have to use your results as a measurement of what you can achieve. You can use your results as a measurement of what you've done only up until now. But you can take your 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years on this beautiful blue planet and use it to make your life better today, make your life better this week, make your life better this month, this quarter. You have so much mental fortitude and emotional resiliency within you that now it's time to dig a little bit deeper and take all of the experience that you have garnered, take all of the stuff that you're putting proud of, all the stuff that you're not, all the stuff that you do well, all the stuff that you don't, and then get to the starting line again, look back and just go, that's my past. And then look forward and say, that is my future. I am walking down towards my future. All right. Use your past to propel you forward. Use your fears to fuel your forward momentum. Use everything that you have become and learned and are learning right now to take you to the levels you want to achieve. I know you're capable of achieving more. I know if you're here in my community, then we are meant to work together and to guide each other along the way. Be inspired. Draw from within you and from the universal intelligence, everything that you need to take your life and make it the masterpiece it is meant to be and is already.
Millions of individuals around the world are grappling with various mental & emotional health issues
