Goldie Hawn once said, “The lotus is the most beautiful flower whose petals open one by one.” I strongly relate to the lotus and see myself in its story. As a child, I endured abuse, maintained my strength, and rose above difficulties.

In order to grow and blossom, the lotus seed must have the mud. Like the lotus flower, we all encounter difficulties from which to grow, no matter what our situation in life may be. Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: pain, sadness, fear, loss, illness, and death.

There is no need to think that one kind of pain is worse than another. It all hurts. Who gets to say if your pain is more important than mine? Or mine is more important than yours? At the end of the day, we all experience the same pain. We simply receive the pain in different ways. All of life must have some amount of suffering. What counts are not the obstacles themselves, but how we respond to them. 

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