Right now I am working in a kitchen in Costa Rica, and yesterday a new guy got hired to be the dish washer.  Today he had to work from 6 am to 10 pm, and the entire time he scrubbed dishes and washed floors.  By the end of the day he was drenched in sweat and looked completely exhausted.  When the chef was around I told the dish washer that he was doing an amazing job, trying get the chef to acknowledge his hard work as well. Sadly the chef didn’t take the bait, and instead launched into a story about how many dishes he has scrubbed and how this dish boy has it easy compared to what he had to do.

I call this the ‘been there, done that’ syndrome.  When we go through challenging or even devastating circumstances, there are two ways to incorporate that into our lives. The first is to look down on others and say, ‘well I got through it so suck it up.’  The second is to allow the pain or frustration that took place to shape us into more compassionate people.

I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for people who helped me through my dating drama in junior high, through math class in high school, and through the death of my best friend when I was 20.  If these people had ignored me in my time of need because they had ‘figured it out and therefore I should too,’ I would have struggled alone.

So ladies, let’s not look down on other peoples’ troubles or hardship with pride that we got through it ourselves.  It is my hope that our circumstances shape us into women of compassion, empathy, and action.

Love from the jungle,

Michelle