Our spirituality is not about rising above pain… it’s a game-changing reframe of resilience. This isn’t about bypassing your struggles. It’s about transforming them into your greatest source of strength from the inside out.
Share Image Quote:
Table of Contents
Meaning
True spiritual strength isn’t an escape from hardship; it’s the process of being forged by it.
Explanation
Look, for years we’ve been sold this idea that being “enlightened” or “spiritual” means you’re somehow floating above the messy, painful parts of life. Your pain is a problem to be solved. A wall to be climbed over. But what if that’s wrong? What if that’s actually the thing holding us back? Brown flips the script entirely. She’s saying, “No, no, no. The goal isn’t to get *out* of the pain. The goal is to learn how to move *through* it.” To feel it fully, to learn its lessons, to let it actually change you in a fundamental way. The growth, the real spiritual muscle, is built *inside* the struggle, not after you’ve escaped it. It’s the difference between building a callus and just putting on a glove.
Quote Summary
Reading Level55
Aesthetic Score85
Origin & Factcheck
This powerful line comes straight from Brené Brown’s 2017 book, Rising Strong as a Spiritual Practice. It’s a core tenet of her research on vulnerability and wholehearted living. You might see it floating around the internet unattributed or paired with other spiritual figures, but its true home is in Brown’s work, grounded in years of qualitative data and storytelling.
Attribution Summary
Author Bio
Dr Brene Brown is the author of books such as Daring Greatly and The Power of Vulnerability. The TED talk and Netflix production based on her research reached out to millions of audience. She researches effects of courage and vulnerability in shaping people's work and relationships. She leads the Brené Brown Education and Research Group and provides evidence-based insights into practical tools to help people train themselves
Official Website |Facebook | X | Instagram | YouTube |
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | Our spirituality is not about rising above pain; it’s about learning to rise through it |
| Book Details | Publication Year: 2017; ISBN: Unknown (based on her talk and workbook materials); Length: ~60 pages (lecture adaptation, Sounds True audio transcript). |
| Where is it? | Section: Spiritual Growth, Approximate Page 41 |
Context
In the book, this isn’t just a nice idea. It’s the engine of the “Rising Strong” process—that reckoning, rumble, and revolution she talks about. She frames the entire struggle of getting back up after a fall not as a secular self-help tactic, but as a deeply spiritual, meaning-making endeavor. It’s about rewriting the stories we tell ourselves in the midst of pain.
Usage Examples
So when do you use this? Honestly, I pull this concept out all the time.
- For a friend grieving a loss: Instead of saying “You’ll get over it,” you might say, “I’m learning that this isn’t about getting over it. It’s about learning to carry it with you, to rise *through* it.” It validates their ongoing process.
- For a team facing a huge setback: In a leadership meeting, you could say, “Our goal right now isn’t to pretend this failure didn’t happen or to immediately jump to a solution that makes us look good. Our goal is to have the courage to rise *through* this discomfort and learn what it’s here to teach us.” It changes the entire energy from defensiveness to curiosity.
- For yourself on a hard day: This is your internal mantra. When you feel that urge to numb out, distract yourself, or pretend you’re fine… you pause and say, “I am not trying to rise above this feeling. I am learning to move through it.” It gives you permission to be human.
To whom it appeals?
Share This Quote Image & Motivate
Motivation Score85
Popularity Score80
Shareability Score90
FAQ
Question: Does “rising through pain” mean I just have to endure suffering?
Answer: Absolutely not. Endurance is passive. “Rising through” is active. It’s about engaging with the pain, getting curious about it, and allowing it to transform you. It’s the work.
Question: How is this different from toxic positivity?
Answer: It’s the complete opposite. Toxic positivity says, “Just be positive! Good vibes only!” This quote says, “Feel the full weight of this. The negativity, the anger, the sadness. That’s where the real work begins.” It embraces the whole spectrum of human emotion.
Question: Can you give me a simple first step to practice this?
Answer: Sure. Next time you’re upset, before you do anything to make it go away, just say to yourself, “I am feeling [emotion].” And just sit with that for 60 seconds. Don’t judge it. Don’t fix it. Just acknowledge it’s there. That’s the very first step of moving *through*.
Similar Quotes
The moment we stop running from our pain is the exact moment our healing begins. It’s a powerful shift from being a victim of your story to becoming the author…
Rising strong requires a spiritual awakening… it’s not about bouncing back, it’s about transforming your entire perspective on struggle. This is the core of Brene Brown’s powerful work on resilience.…
People learn through suffering, not because God wants it, but because we ourselves choose that path. It’s a tough but profound truth about how we often grow the most from…
Our spirituality is not about bypassing hard emotions—it’s a profound call to transform them. This idea, from Brené Brown, flips the script on what it means to be spiritual. It’s…
You can’t avoid pain, but you can choose to overcome it. It’s a simple yet profound truth about our relationship with suffering. This isn’t about dodging hardship, but about the…
