And a women spoke, saying, Tell us of pain.
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses
your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break so that its heart
may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily
miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even
as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over
your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters
of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you
heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in
silence and tranquility:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the
tender hand of the unseen,
And the cup he brings, tho it burn your lips, has
been fashioned of the clay which the Potter
has moistened with His own sacred tears.

From The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran