by Victoria Tiegert

Created on: October 22, 2009

We all live and we all experience things as unique individuals in our lifetimes. Life is not one beautiful basket of flowers for anyone. There are weeds in the gardens of even the most charmed lives, and in some, there are snakes. Although we each go through personal ordeals that are ours alone, one of the most healing things that we can do is to share them with others that may be able to gain strength and hope through our stories. The healing will belong to both us and to the people that we are able to help.

There are several ways that a person who has endured a difficult ordeal can share his or her story in order that it might lend a helping hand to someone else. Here are some of the methods you might be able to participate in if you have dealt with something that others are currently going through.

*Support groups are excellent ways to become connected with others who share something in common with you. Find one in your area that you can become a part of and you will find a place that you are going to benefit from others, as well as be able to help others. There will be people in every phase of personal trauma and tragedy. Some will be further along the path to healing than you are and they will be a light to you. Others will be on the beginning on their journey and will be able to see how far you've come. This will give them hope that there is life after tragedy strikes.

*Writing your story is another way that you can share, and it can be more anonymous if that is your preference. This is how I have been able to share things that are somewhat personal in nature. Having been through some very terrible ordeals, I find that writing not only helps others to know that they aren't alone and that they can make it through, but it also helps me as my private ordeals come out of hiding and into the light. An exposed hurt will heal faster than one that is kept covered in secret.

*Some people are comfortable with public speaking and they are an enormous source of inspiration as they tell their stories to groups of people that need to hear them. There are many forums for this, including faith-based organizations, therapy groups, social workers education, or political groups. Your story, told to the right people, can bring about more than hope and healing, it can bring about change.

*You may meet someone, by chance or otherwise, that you find out is going through something that you've experienced and come out on the other side of. Sharing with them how you got through it can give help them. It can give them some ideas of how to cope and you may also be able to direct them to some organizations that can offer them more assistance. You can be an ear that listens and understands, a shoulder for them to lean on, and a beacon of true hope.

When we go through hard times, it might seem like we are all alone, but that is never the case. There is a world full of people that have walked the path we are on, as well as many that are right there with us. When we overcome our own difficult ordeals, one of the ways that we can bring good out of bad is to share what we've been through with others in order to help them.

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