[blockquote source=”Mark Nepo”]“The further I wake into this life, the more I realize that God is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary.

Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe.

Yes, God is under the porch as well as on top of the mountain, and joy is in both the front row and the bleachers, if we are willing to be where we are.”[/blockquote]

“I’m embarrassed to be seen with you,” he hissed.

It was the first time anyone had every spoken to me in such a way—deliberate, and with the intention to wound.

We had been dating for almost a year, and I had become transfixed by the allure of a new ‘romance.’ Though, looking back I can see that I was merely filling the void.

He then reached over, disengaged the lock on the passenger side door, and forced me from a moving automobile.

It was 1:30 in the morning, and I had to walk home from there—the cobblestone streets unforgiving to a lady in heels.

Even after all these years, I can still feel the chill of that evening’s air.

In time, I learned that he had been seeing another woman—an old flame from many years ago. She actually walked into the apartment one afternoon while we were having dinner. And, when he chased after her – well, I just knew.

He was such a horrible human being, and yet…I couldn’t leave. When you don’t feel that you’re quite good enough, what does that leave?

What happened over the next year is too difficult to put into words. I cried every day for the person I once was…independent, free spirited and just brimming with love.

Sadly, I began to see the world through his jaded vision – and, in doing so, I had inadvertently assumed the burden of his deepest pain.

Eventually, and through the love of my dearest friend, I found the courage to say, “I’m not done living yet.” And, just like that – I walked away.

Still to this day, I’m not quite sure how it happened – but, through some fate of miracles I found this incredible source of inner strength.

And, my world was forever changed.

Beloved Buddhist nun, Pema Chödrön once said, that the “genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we’re arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference.”

It is only through this ‘continual ache’ that we may begin to know, and fully embrace, the hearts of others.

My experience, though tragic – was my greatest lesson, and subsequently my gift to you. Through it, I learned compassion in a manner that most will never know. I learned how fully the heart might ache, and how deeply these wounds may burrow.

But, more importantly I learned, that the “light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond.”

When we’re able to appreciate this fundamental truth in our being, only then can we begin to appreciate the ‘light’ in all things.

The light never leaves us, my loves—no matter how profound the darkness, it is always right there for us…and waiting for that one moment to finally pierce through.