Respecting The Circular Journey

For my caregivers, parents, and kind souls, it can be really hard to see those you care about go through the same struggles time and time again. Therapists will experience that pain too! Consider Paulo Coelho’s words when you think of what you are witnessing: "In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike." When you see a painful path being taken, we can feel powerless, just knowing what is to come. What we miss out on when trying to predict the future are the differences each journey offers. Even when a person cycles through pain, they are not the same person each time. They carry with them lessons learned, experiences gained, and that all culminates to a different walk through it. It isn’t your life to live, and sometimes walking the hard path is meaningful and necessary, and that person has a right to choose the path they stride. We all go through cycles in our lives, so honor the differences in each cycle, even when you’re not the one in it.

"In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike."

~ Paulo Coelho