WOW I LOVE LOVE THIS THREAD...such wisdom and beauty. How fortunate I feel to be among such gifted friends. I can relate to all of them:

I have learned that God will hold you when no one else can and lift you up to walk one step at a time.

I have learned that in every joy there is a sorrow and that in every sorrow there is a joy.

I have learned that pain is a gift. All kinds of pain, it makes us reach. It allows us the gift of helping another.

I have learned that very deep pain will not kill but deepen our heart and Soul.

I have learned that there are times when I need to be loved instead of to love.

I have learned that within the darkness, light is waiting to break forth.

I have learned that even a very small act of kindness, in love, can save a life. We don't have to be heroes.

I have learned that no matter how sick or dark I get I can and will grow beyond it and be the better for it.

I have learned what it means to have true friendship, to give and to receive. I have learned that true friends never leave you in the bad times or the good.

I have learned how to share joy and pain.

I have learned how to forgive and the beauty of freedom it bestows on the heart and spirit.

I have learned that the rain nourished the Earth so the flowers can spring forth. There is a time for darkness. It allows us the beauty of recognizing the light.

I have learned that deep pain is part of LIVING and not to run from it but to share it. There is beauty and love in the sharing. And it will dissipate and leave joy and love in its wake.

I have learned how very much I love my friends here.

I have learned that even in the very darkest of nights, love is truly waiting to bloom.