You have been through hell. You overcame the most agonizing, difficult, stressful, and intense pain or struggle that you would never wish on anyone.
Perhaps it was a chronic, acute, serious, or debilitating health issue that lasted years, if not decades. Perhaps you experienced severe psychic, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse as a child, adolescent, or even an adult. Perhaps you grew up in a country or state where freedom was a luxury that was only a dream until it became a reality, or you were able to escape.
Perhaps you spent years building a business or career, shaped and forged your singular identity, and lost everything, including your marriage and possibly your children. Perhaps you lost a child, which is not something that should happen to anyone. Maybe you were imprisoned because of a few terrible and stupid decisions, and you only made things worse for yourself on the inside, lengthening your sentence.
Whatever it was, your baptism by fire, you survived and overcame it. You were tempered by extreme forces, but you are still standing, and you have developed such confidence and self-reliance that you are a true force of nature. Little, if anything, bothers you anymore. You are the gamemaster, and you innerstand your inherent strength and natural ability to create the life you want through thought, will, and conscious action.
You may be inspired to teach, to share your knowledge and hard-earned wisdom with others who are searching, seeking, and feeling hopeless or lost, especially those who have never faced the same trials and challenges as you. This does not make you special, but it does provide you with a unique perspective usually reserved for spiritual warriors and reluctant pilgrims. You would probably prefer to remain private, to live a quiet life away from the eyes of the public, but this is not how it works. You’ve endured and surmounted and benefited from a specialized kind of training, and you remember that you are here to serve.
At first, you are hesitant to respond to the call. There are too many people, too many of the same questions, and too many issues. And who wants to face untold scrutiny, attention, and negativity from all sides for simply speaking the truth, challenging people and their half-baked and untested ideas, and calling out the nonsense and delusions of the current zeitgeist or status quo? Yet, in comparison to what you’ve been through and battled with in your own private darkness over the years, the supposed and alleged “problems” of those seeking your counsel are rather playful, interesting, curious, frequently superficial, likely artificial, and, on occasion, dull and predictable. Why don’t they understand their true nature, or even try to wield their inborn creative power?
There is nothing new under the sun. This has always been the story of humanity.
Your perspective has been shaped differently than that of most people throughout their lives. While you cursed God and the Universe almost every day for the sheer amount of suffering you endured, after all this time, you have gained an innerstanding of the true nature of this realm and can appreciate the gifts of what was once an unending burden and exhausting, all-consuming force.
In contrast, those who haven’t had the experience of an opponent or opposing force in life may suffer in perpetual mediocrity, patterns of apathy and ennui, and adopt character weaknesses, never knowing their true capabilities.
I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent — no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.
― Seneca
Because you’ve survived your own personal war with yourself, compassion is now your default setting; however, you’re no pushover, incapable of pandering or feigning virtue, and far from complacent. The fundamental laws of Nature are at your beck and call, and you’re eager to share what you believe to be a better way, a more empowered and authentic way, with anyone willing to put in the effort.
You do not require any recognition or praise. You have no desire for power or control over anyone, to be self-serving, or to waste another moment of your life on false constructs and life-suppressing offers. Your pilgrimage has brought you to this crossroad, weathered, tempered, and stoically present. And this is why you will become a leader.
In History, stagnant waters, whether they be stagnant waters of custom or those of despotism, harbour no life; life is dependent on the ripples created by a few eccentric individuals. In homage to that life and vitality, the community has to brave certain perils and must countenance a measure of heresy. One must live dangerously if one wants to live at all.
― Herbert Read
Solvitur ambulando