The Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa...
The Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa left us a powerful image of dealing with pain when he said that we must "embrace pain and burn it as a fuel for our journey."
Matthew Fox in Original Blessing compares this advice to an image of picking up our pain as we would a bundle of sticks for a fireplace. We embrace these sticks out of necessity as we move across the room to the fireplace. Then we thrust them into the fire, getting rid of them, letting go of them. Finally, we are warmed and delighted by their sacrificial gift to us in the form of fire, heat, warmth, and energy.
