Everyone has a unique message to deliver that is exciting and compelling. Every life has a theme that is based on a major lesson that is being learned through the human experience. Your unique message always comes from your struggles. Struggles build soul. What you are wrestling with in your life becomes the gift you have to give others. When you identify your message, you can use it in your presentations to inspire yourself and your listeners and to ease your stage fright.
Your unique message often comes from emotional wounds suffered in childhood. I believe each human being suffers a wound early in life. We were each hurt in some way that has deeply affected our lives and created an obstacle to overcome. Life, then, is a process of learning to heal that wound. The wound provides the experience, and the process of healing provides the wisdom for you to contribute to the lives of others. So the wound becomes a spiritual gift. I call it the “sacred wound,” and the best healers – perhaps the only true healers – are the wounded healers.
I once saw Sophia Loren discuss her sacred wound while being interviewed by Barbara Walters. Barbara asked Sophia what the secret of her stardom was, and Sophia shared that she and her mother had been abandoned by her father. As a young child, she struggled with the pain of his abandonment, which was always with her. As an adult actress, she became aware that her ever-present pain had become an emotional treasure that she used to bring authenticity to her performances. She was able to tap into the pain in her heart in every role she played, and she firmly believed it was the source of her talent and her stardom.
