Physical Trauma
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
With regard to physical trauma, Jamie Sams, in Dancing The Dream (1999), explains that Physical Dark Nights can teach us how to show support for one another. We also learn the unequaled lessons of endurance by confronting our fears of loss or pain. We learn how to deal with personal sacrifice and how to care for others. We learn a multitude of lessons that can shape our characters in a positive way, or we can allow our experiences to become another excuse for being too weak to endure. Physical hardship can build character if we consciously use our physical weakness and pain for positive ends. Again, this might be difficult, especially when we must endure a great deal of pain or struggle with physical limitations that cause problems in other aspects of life. In the long haul we may actually become more capable on other levels as a result of injury. However, weakness can place us in a position of dependence on others, at least temporarily. When other people treat us badly because we are injured, trauma can be compounded and intensified. We must seek the company of sympathetic spirits who understand what it's like to be injured. Survivors of physical trauma can gain new powers to heal themselves and others through understanding, empathy, and love.