When we are in deep pain or we have these hardships in our life, we have to learn how to transmute them and turn them into something different – not just overcoming it.

As for KL Wells, she decided to transmute her pain into service by helping others whose loved ones are struggling with addiction.

Living Around Addiction From a Different Perspective 

Through the course of her life, KL has lived the generational story around addiction, not struggling with addiction herself, but being able to see addiction from a different perspective. 

Her mom was addicted to prescription medications, which was something popular back in those days. Then she had a brother who was addicted to cocaine. She married an alcoholic and divorced, and had her son out of that marriage. She subsequently remarried a recovering alcoholic of 28 years. 

A Mom’s Greatest Heartache

KL experienced deep trauma having seen her son being arrested at gunpoint and yelling at her to save him. In that moment, every dream she had for him shattered. Her heart simply broke into pieces. Yet, in that “cracking open,” she also knew it was meant to happen, fully aware that you have to give yourself permission to completely dissolve, and let the emotions work through you. 

We’re human beings, and we have a full component of emotions, and sadness and grief are all part of life. Culturally, we have been trained to suck it up and drive on. But we have to embrace the notion that our highs are predicated on our lows. And so when the lows would come and the traumas would come, we should lean in, embrace them and thank them. It’s a process of learning that your feelings aren’t going to destroy you. They’re not going to kill you. Once you begin to embrace them, you begin to get the depth and you get the vibrancy even through those painful emotions of life.

Transmuting Pain Into Voices InCourage

One of the top human needs is to be heard and we’re not trained to do this as a society, as a culture, as a world. 

Voices InCourage provides that space where you actually feel heard on a multitude of layers and levels, and that people get you because they’ve walked that path. It provides a community that will have your back, that you are emotionally safe in, and you can be raw and real, and transmute it for yourself so that it actually serves your journey.  It allows you to make meaning out of your suffering and being able to do that in community.

If you want to learn more about KL’s journey of resilience and transmuting pain into something beautiful, check out https://theaddictedmind.com/138.