Rise As The Phoenix

If you are like me,
you have often wondered
why you have suffered so.
If you are like me,
you have often wondered
how you are going to make it
out of the impenetrable darkness.
And if you are like me,
you have often wondered
"why am I here?"
and "what is the meaning of my life?"

Our task is to give meaning
to our own suffering,
to let our hardships direct us
in ways to love one another.

Our task is to rise out of the ashes of our suffering
with the realization that we are the phoenix
who dies and is reborn in the same fire
and then to share that discovery with the rest of humanity.

But just like any newborn,
we have to be patient with ourselves
as we rediscover who we are
after surviving the all consuming flame.
We have to be patient with ourselves
as our wings grow in strength,
as our wings gradually replace
their downy fluff with feathers built for flight.

And in the meantime,
we must maintain our faith
that we will learn to fly again,
that though we feel small,
weak, and vulnerable after hardships,
those feelings won't stay with us forever
as long as we set that intention.