The following comes from Tian Dayton’s daily meditation reader : The Soul’s Companion
Suffering purifies the soul. Working through problems is painful and confusing but allows me to use life circumstances as part of my path towards soul, grist for the mill of soul making. Running away from or not fully facing and re-integrating suffering is running away from my full self. Parts of me will be left behind, encased in an unfelt moment of my life, unattended to, frozen and hardened. This frozenness will block the soul until such time when I am willing to thaw out, to relax and let it be, to pass through the eye of the needle. There is a truth and an honesty to real suffering that also me to return to myself, to restore my insides. My willingness to suffer means that I can grow and expand because I am not leaving important aspects of myself untouched and unseen. When I am willing to feel pain, then I inherit the joy.
I need not be a stranger to suffering.
Call the world, if you please, the vale of soul making.
Emerging From The Dark Night 