Editorial: Growing Pains by Wallito Samuel

Photo by Rachael Tailbart

Growing pains

When I think about my life, I tell myself that there is beauty in the violence of the waves in the ocean. While I love the serenity of still lakes, I personally cannot feel alive without strong currents or gushing waves to challenge me or provide momentum. I associate tides and swells of the ocean to the pain of growth with regard to the chaotic, unpredictable nature of the water for which I am comprised of. I derive that maybe pain is a karmic lubricant to a better understanding of life as opposed to being a slice of the devil's pie. Maybe we’re not appreciative of the outcome of our agonies because we cannot see past the work of living through it all. It is a victory within itself. Have you ever watched anything fight for its life? In every instance of this dance with death, there’s a prominent moment that propels either a spirit of freedom or an understanding of atonement.

The pain is the reminder that you are alive and that Darwinian rules apply to the essence of your spirit. Physics tells us that the inception of all things provides the most agony. So I salute the struggles, they have made me double down on my resolve. Every climb out of a spiritually dark hole or walk through the fire has inadvertently baptized my soul, saving me from the atrophy that comfort can provide. Don’t fear pain. Embrace the fight against the seeming ease of complacency. Pain is the giver of understanding; each scar is on the report card of your triumph. Pain is petrol to the vehicle that drives your soul. Embrace it; love the struggle. It’s the provision of great destiny.