I’ve always been attracted to a fairly diverse group of people. I like people who live and think differently than I do. I am at my core #nosyAF. So, learning about as many different kinds of people as possible is right up my alley. And in identifying my circle of friends, it is hard for me to connect them somehow. Like why am I pulled to A who is so different from B who is nothing like C?
The Fire.
My favorite people have been through The Fire.
“Life is not tried it is merely survived If you’re standing outside the fire”
Different fires make different people. Some have been burned by the loss of a child, parent, partner, friend, or sibling. Some have been burned by divorce, betrayal, or separation. Some have been burned by overwhelming life circumstances, poverty, or addiction.
Like a blacksmith molding and shaping iron hot from a fire, the scars left by these burns change and shape and mold you into a different kind of human. I think your empathy expands, your mindset shifts, and your well of grace deepens.
These people aren’t worried about petty things. They wait to worry when the big stuff happens. They know the value of time and move through life purposefully. They have often put in the work to extinguish their own fires and recognize the smoke signals of others. They step in and bring peace, love, and light because they know that those are things a burning soul needs.
And if you are in your fire, and struggling, know that something beautiful will come from the ashes… that phoenix is YOU.
