True pain

I think I was in Serbia when I started to develop a real appreciation for true pain, and how valuable it was.

You see.. I know true pain.

For about 5 years as a kid, from the middle of 7th grade, until almost the end of 12th, I had zero friends. It sucked.

My number one childhood trauma, developed out this void. I was devoid of human interaction, in “real life”.

The Serbs I was with, I could tell, also knew true pain. And their company, I like to say, taught me the value of “brotherhood”.

One of my favorite things to say about my boys out there is that, “it’s not a company, it’s a brotherhood”.

These traumas we all experience, it’s really funny, they really do turn into our biggest strengths.

One of my new close friends, Cyan Banister, said once in an interview:

“I can’t go to a conference without noticing the coffee creamers and sugars, because that was a complete meal when I was homeless.”

Cyan takes nothing for granted, and she’s one of the most wonderful human beings I’ve ever interacted with.

Last week we had a call that started with her letting me know she was in her “office” (a beautiful house in San Francisco) thats decorated top to bottom with wonderful, delightful surprises. I’ll leave it at that, you should go.

She went on to tell me she was in a La-Z-Boy chair. I chuckled deeply.

You see, these little things, aren’t so little to Cyan and I. Her and I have both experienced incredible pain in our lives, her as a homeless ward of the state, and through her many other experiences in life, and I largely through my childhood and a recent traumatic ~90 day period caused by a business deal falling apart.

Every bed is more comfortable, every cookie more interesting, every crumb more valuable.

It’s hard to describe.

The point of all this? The pleasure is within the pain.

Good luck.

Whatever you’re dealing with, get ready to appreciate all the lessons it brings you.

They’re wonderful.