Your Conflict Is Actually A "Gift Wrapped in Sandpaper"

Imagine receiving a beautiful gift in a large box, but the exterior of it is wrapped in a coarse sandpaper that is difficult to touch, difficult to handle, difficult to unwrap. Lying underneath that coarseness is something truly magical, something that can change your life for the better, but it is essential that when you open that box, you do so with the utmost care. When you are gentle with the sandpaper, the gift underneath only magnifies.

Do you dare to open the box?
Do you dare to be gentle with something so coarse?

Over the course of my 40 years, I have received many gifts wrapped in sandpaper.

Some of them I ran from.
Some of them I fought.
And some of them, I unwrapped gently and carefully, so that I was rewarded with the most amazing gift.

The largest gift wrapped in sandpaper that I ever received was my relationship with my former boss. It was a conflict that I was unwilling and afraid to unwrap. It sat there between us for almost 2 years, before I finally ran from it because it was too painful to touch.

Unfortunately, it followed me around even after I left because the gift wasn’t, in fact, sitting between us, it was sitting within me. Finally, when I found the courage and the right tools to do the unwrapping, what I found underneath was amazing and magical. It was the gift of growth. The gift of a deeper connection with myself, and a deeper connection with all the people I interact with on a daily basis. It was sunshine, and laughter, and ease, and tears, and more...

I still receive gifts wrapped in sandpaper all the time.

Sometimes, I want to run from them.
Sometimes, I want to fight them.
And most often, I unwrap them gently and carefully, so that I experience the connection and sunshine underneath.

Your conflict, is also a gift wrapped in sandpaper. There is beauty and sunshine lying underneath when you too find the courage and the right tools to unwrap it.

If I can be one of those tools, I would love to be there for you when you do your unwrapping.

Best,
Theresa

P.S. This idea of a “gift wrapped in sandpaper” comes from the esteemed Lisa Nichols.

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Compassion. Connection. Collaboration.