Neal Tricarico

where that is amplified.

So empathy is important.

But for example, so you have post-traumatic stress disorder that we're most familiar with when soldiers come back from war and all that they've faced.

In my world, what post-traumatic stress disorder looks like is suffering.

So we could easily be in the corner suffering.

This is every bit of a parent's worst nightmare.

So initially we started to go to support groups and counseling, but mostly these support groups.

So parents of the loss of a child or parents of loss of a child by suicide.

And what was very interesting is

on the one hand while we felt a deep connection to the people in this group no one wants to be in this club yet only the people in the club can truly understand what we're all going through but what we found by and large was that people were staying in their pain and suffering so they were sharing the trauma reliving this trauma and then

dozens if not hundreds of people commenting on it online reinforcing that so we stay in suffering and it's understandable but what post-traumatic growth says is now wait a minute

All of that is true, but what are the possibilities and opportunities to grow from it?

So to take this pain and trauma and to transmute that pain, alchemize it into purpose.

And this is something that I learned from Yesenia that has really struck with me.

Again, if the purpose is greater than the pain, you will take action.

So post-traumatic growth is...

making a decision that there's some reason that this trauma had for me.

And if my heart is open and my eyes are open to discovering that purpose, if I can find that purpose, I will be compelled into action.

You don't even have to think or take action.

But if you don't find the purpose, you're going to stay in suffering.