There’s a passage in the Bible with which most people are familiar. The shepherd boy, David, kills the warrior giant, Goliath. The part most people miss is how David encouraged himself through his fear. He was reminded of how he had killed large, wild animals out in the pastures with his sling shot, and he told himself that this giant was no different. When I first reflected on this method, I felt sorry for myself because I didn’t have any past success to draw upon. I felt as though my entire life had been one successive string of failures. My past is full of depression and addiction, learned helplessness and avoidance. I didn’t know how I could use that shitshow as fertilizer for a fulfilling life now. I might not have evidence of success, but I do have proof of survival. I’m stronger than I give myself credit for. I have a deep sense of empathy and compassion. I hate these prosperity teachers who were born into privilege who’ve never been in the trenches, who don’t know what it’s like to low-crawl through the bloody battlefield of life; they just want to tell everyone else what to do, and they don’t understand what it’s like to have nothing, to be nothing, to be less than nothing. I do. I get it. I know, because I’ve been there, and I’ve come through to the other side. And yes, there is an other side. There were times when I wasn’t so sure. I used to think there was no “there” to get to, but I’m there now. It just doesn’t look like I was expecting it to. It’s not a place where everything is easy or grand. It’s a place of acceptance, of seeing the gems my past had to offer me, taking the trials, the tribulations, and, yes, even the traumas, and turning them around to see where grace, the goodness of other people, and the grit of sheer determination pulled me through. The journey of acceptance opened my heart to giving and receiving love again.