Releasing our pain to love....

But a somewhat more liberal and sympathetic examination of mankind will convince us that the cross is even older than the gibbet, that voluntary suffering was before and independent of compulsory; and in short that in most important matters a man has always been free to ruin himself if he chose.

~G.K. Chesterton

 

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

~Helen Keller

 

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.

~Henri-Frédéric Amiel

 

Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves, after the first suffering, how we can turn it into good. So shall we take occasion, from one bitter root, to raise perhaps many flowers.

~Leigh Hunt

 

The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.

~Thomas Merton

 

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Hanging on....that is what I am really good at. Sometimes it is a good thing....and it is called persistence, endurance and perseverance. Then there is the side of it that is NOT a good thing.....and it is called nagging, pestering, wallowing, pity-party, resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. And it can all come from the same circumstances.....things that are painful and cause great suffering in my life and the lives of those I love.

 

I don't know why it is I can't let go. When it is one of those "good things" that people want from me....like the persistent belief I have in someone's dream, or the endurance I have to work through a problem to the solution or even the perseverance I have to see something through to the other side.....then I am applauded and thanked for this quality. But when it shows up as a negative...and I can't let go of the pain that I am feeling....and the baggage that inevitably comes it with....everyone disappears and leaves me alone with the pain and sense of loss.

 

I tried for years to just "suck it up" and be cheery in spite of it all.....looking for the good in all of it....so that others wouldn't abandon me in my pain and leave me all alone. But that didn't work....for some reason it just showed up in other ways that confused people and made me mad.....and then I was mad about EVERYTHING...big things, little things, whatever! I tried "letting it go" and that didn't work either.....it was like a boomerang that kept coming back at the most inopportune times....whacking me in the head and knocking me for a loop! I tried staying away from pain and that didn't work either.....it moved into my house and took over all of life. I tried talking about it.....and actually that did help! I found that there were other people who were going through things similar to mine and I found some solace in commiserating with others.....and we would have HUGE pity parties and we all suffered together and got mad together and at least I wasn't alone. But in the end, I knew that this was not the answer either.....it was just a way of not being alone in the suffering and pain.

 

I have learned over the past several years that the most beautiful place to take my pain and suffering is into the presence of God.....and lay it at His feet and allow Him to pour out on me the grace and mercy and love that allows me to leave the pain and the suffering with Him.....and allow Him to replace it and fill me with forgiveness, love and joy. Talking about it still helps....but it is a different kind of talking that comes from a place of surrender to God's grace and love.

 

I have watched and listened and encouraged a young artist over the past several weeks as he has walked through a painful part of his life.....the death of his sister. And as he heads out today to be with his family and say his good-byes and honor her life at the funeral...I am so clear that he has learned so many of the difficult lessons on pain and suffering and he has helped me to process my own in a new way as I have listened and watched him walk through this with such honesty and grace. He has shared with me a lot of what God has done in the life of his sister as she has been preparing for this day....the growth of her faith and her ever increasing surrender to love and the power of forgiveness, the pouring out of God's Word to those around her in love for them, her selfless focus on ministering to her friends and family. Her life and death has been a powerful witness to him and from him to me and so many others. God has used her walk with Him through this to work in the lives of people across the world...for the healing of many lives. She stands right now in His presence, surrounded by so many of her loved ones who have gone before her, rejoicing in the light of His deep and eternal love for her. There is no doubt that he and his family will miss her beyond comprehension....but he would never take away from her the beauty and joy that she is now experiencing. Her journey here has ended....a new one has begun, one more amazing that we can ever imagine. From all that I have heard about her....I wish that I had had the privilege of meeting and knowing her. And yet in a small way, I feel I do...and when I arrive at heaven's gate...she will be one of the first I look for to say "Thank you" to.....for her life has blessed mine so beautifully.

 

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

~Psalms 116:15

 

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
www.extremedreamsevents.com

kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Dreams coming true....

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."

~Frank Lloyd Wright

 

"In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true."

~John Lilly

 

"Remember that what you believe will depend very much on what you are."

~Noah Porter

 

"Unless you believe, you will not understand."

~St Augustine

 

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act."

~Anatole France

 

"Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates."

~Stella Terrill Mann

 

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."

~William Hazlitt

 

Step by step the dreams I have held in my heart for Extreme Dreams are coming into shape......one by one, each of them are forming and coming out of the foggy chaos of my dreams. When God placed on my heart the acorn of a dream 7 years ago, it would have blown me away to see all that is coming into being had I had the full picture of what God had in mind. Today, I have grown and walked in the training that was required to see the fruition of that first vision.

 

I have this wrinkled piece of paper that was taken from a "Million Dollar Banquet" when I was in Mary Kay....it was part of the program and we each had it on our plate to remind us of why we were there. It struck me so deeply then that I folded it up and put it in my evening bag......and stored it away. When Cindy and I were moving into the office last fall, I found it in the files.......it was a beautiful reminder to me....and it is now tacked to the bulletin board in the office to remind us every day of the truth.

 

If its in your mind, it is a Dream.

If it's on paper, it is a Goal

If you have a Plan and act on it massively ....it will become REAL.

 

I have no idea who wrote this.....but it is what I am experiencing today in the dream of Extreme Dreams.

 

There are tremendous obstacles in the way of this dream....have been all along. Last summer I almost gave up....but God reminded me that it was NOT my dream to give up......it was HIS Dream.....and if I gave up, He would find another. So I chose to trust that He was capable of accomplishing His Dream....even through me.

 

I am quite aware....and when I forget, there are plenty of people around me whose THRILL in life is to remind me.....that I am totally INCAPABLE of accomplishing this dream. There are far more of those people than the ones who hold me up and encourage me on the road. I have made a conscious decision to surround myself with those few who believe in this dream.....who hold me relentlessly accountable to the truth of my calling and to the plan and the goals of the vision. If I get too confident on my own abilities, God has an interesting way of tugging on my chains and reminding me that I can do nothing except IN HIM. Last week it was a fever that wiped me out for DAYS......and I am still taking antibiotics for!!!!!! And yet the clarity that came as a result of being sick all week has been uncanny! Not that I recommend it!! But the reality is that I have come back to the Dream with greater vigor and commitment!!!!!

 

I have been asked to speak at  "Vision to Succeed" Women's Empowerment Conference coming up this weekend, sponsored by Stand Magazine. It has been YEARS since I have been a speaker at such a conference and at first I was a bit fearful that I had nothing to say or at least, nothing worth sharing.....but I took it on faith that God was once again bringing into fruition part of the dream....and accepted the engagement. As I worked on my outlines to send in for the attendees notebooks, I read through the past journals I have written over this last year.....and there it was....the entire class. I smiled at God and realizing that He had been working on this for a year.....preparing what He wanted me to share with His precious daughters so that when he time came.....it was already done....I would have no excuse. I have this feeling there are some other classes He has been preparing in these journals!

 

So many other parts of this dream are coming into clear view.....things that a year ago I could not even have imagined. Each horizon that we cross has brought forth new possibilities....and I have learned once again to hold each part of the vision with an open hand as God shapes and molds it into the Dream that He has for me and Extreme Dreams.

 

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

~ Jehovah in Jeremiah 29:11

 

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
www.extremedreamsevents.com

kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/