I think it is offensive for me to tell you in what you're going through that it's sacred.
I think everyone who suffers has a wisdom the rest of us need.
And since we all suffer, we take turns.
So as a companion in compassion with you, if you're suffering, if you're feeling fear, pain or grief, it's not my place to tell you that's sacred.
It's my place to love you and keep you company until you tell me what's sacred about it.
Because you're the teacher when you're in that place.
So have you ever felt like you are almost free, falling through life with no safety net below, like a rug was ripped out from under you, leaving you disoriented and grasping for stability, wondering how to stop the fall, let alone find a way back up after it?
If so, you're not alone.
And we've all experienced those sometimes gut wrenching moments of helplessness as the ground crumbles beneath our feet.
But here's the truth.
Falling down isn't necessarily a bug in the human system, but rather a universal part of the human experience.
No matter how we all tend to hide it and lead with how shiny, happy, utterly manufactured our lives sometimes are, that beautiful delusional facade.
What matters most is how we become present in and find a sense of agency and strength to get back up again when we are brought to our knees.
That doesn't mean ignoring the hard reality or getting over what may well not be get overable.
It means being honest in it, being present to it, and working with what you have to make it what you need it to be.
So my guest today, poet and author Mark Nepo, is all too familiar with life's ups and downs, from battling cancer to grieving profound losses.
His own journey led him to see these vital questions as central.
Where do we find the resilience to face hardship?
How do we transform struggle into meaning?
Mark is one of own super soul 100.