The Four P's: Pain, Purpose, Passion, Pleasure

I have heard this remark in various arenas, especially in the marketing world, but today, as I hobbled on my painful left leg, I drifted off into thinking about a different set of P's - Pain, Purpose, Passion and Pleasure. Pain was most likely the immediate to reaction to the moment at hand, but how often does it take pain in one of the dimensions - physical, emotional and/or spiritual - to move us toward the second P, Purpose! I know for me, I've had rough ideas all along of my purpose, but it took having illness and continued financial distress, to finally wake me up to my true purpose here on this earth - to inspire and support others, while (get this, as it is vital!) not sacrificing myself in the process. I met with a shaman, or old fashioned healer in indian and other ancient traditions, who noted that I had sacrificed myself in the process of healing others, not taking my own wellness into account. She gave me some rituals and prayers that I use to this day and what I find so interesting, is that the very prayers that I say bridge many spiritual traditions - christian, buddhist, jewish etc. A year later, I met with a woman who channels messages from the angelic realm and again, she had the very same advice, without ever comparing notes. She is a christian woman, but also works in the energetic realm, which for me, speaks my truth. The passion piece is easy - I absolutely love what I do and there is no division between work and play - they are so intertwined that I do not need to separate them. What has come up these past few weeks, however, is being deceived by old tapes of who we once were and the roles played out. I can at times, confuse passion with "my role", but now that I see this blindspot, it is getting easier to catch. Ah, the pleasure piece - not an easy one in my book, because, I, like many of my age, had chores to do, more important things in life to accomplish, before play was allowed. I no longer blame my folks, our school system or confusing society, but am learning my pace, what brings me pleasure and how to practice this on a daily basis. Still a work in progress, but coming back to the first P, Pain, it has slowed me down to contemplate, observe in the quietness