There will be many a time in your progression in which you fall from the height you have risen and the wound will shake you to the core.

The higher the rise, the further the fall and all the more painful the impact. It’s one of the things that many do not realize about developing spiritually and refining your character, that although you will experience more joy and peace, the trials that come with it can often be more painful than you would’ve imagined.

When you’re constantly making mistakes or consciously living in sin, adding one more the the list isn’t so painful, but when you’ve worked so hard and struggled uphill to eradicate that evil from your heart and then find it still there, or found that you left a back door unlocked, the pain and disappointment can be terribly demoralizing and it will make you feel as all of your effort was for nothing.

There is a visualization technique I use for times like this that I use to remind myself that those moments are opportunities for even more growth so that I don’t lose sight of the process when I find myself shadowed in doubt and disappointment.

I call it collecting grains of gold. I came upon this idea when reading From Poverty to Power by James Allen.

“He who strives to reach and to accomplish the divine will be tried to the very uttermost; and this is absolutely necessary, for how else could one acquire that sublime patience without which there is no real wisdom, no divinity?”

“Ever and anon, as he proceeds, all his work will seem to be futile, and his efforts appear to be thrown away. Now and then a hasty touch will mar his image, and perhaps when he imagines his work is almost completed he will find what he imagined to be the beautiful form of Divine Love utterly destroyed, and he must begin again with his past bitter experience to guide and help him.”

“But he who has resolutely set himself to realize the Highest recognizes no such thing as defeat. All failures are apparent, not real. Every slip, every fall, every return to selfishness is a lesson learned, an experience gained, from which a golden grain of wisdom is extracted, helping the striver toward the accomplishment of his lofty object. To recognize

“That of our vices we can frame
A ladder if we will but tread
Beneath our feet each deed of shame,”

is to enter the way that leads unmistakably toward the Divine, and the failings of one who thus recognizes are so many dead selves, upon which he rises, as upon stepping-stones, to higher things.”

– James Allen, From Poverty to Power

Every time you fall, remind yourself that you have an opportunity to take a grain of gold from the experience which you can use to forge a golden heart.

Literally imagine yourself doing that. If you can become aware of the situation, take a mental step back from it, and visualize yourself extracting that golden grain and using it as another experience you needed to forge your heart of gold, then you can turn a loss into a gain and the recovery is easier because you’re no longer viewing it as a disaster. You change your perspective and thus effect the degree to which that event effects you.

When a blacksmith is working metal, first he must find the proper metal for the job. Then he fires in the forge and the metal must be applied to the flames and extreme heat so that it can be melted and molded into the proper shape. Then the metal is pounded on by the blacksmith’s hammer, over and over again, cooled and then reheated and struck once again by the hammer until finally the weapon or tool is ready for use.

The metal you find for your heart of gold is the golden grains of wisdom and experience you receive from failure and falling down. The heat of the flames is the pain you experienced from the trails you have faced and the challenges you have overcome. The striking blows of the hammer are the work you put in to build your character and grow as a person.

You are the blacksmith. You have everything you need to forge your heart of gold. The failures and pain you experience are exactly what you need to keep growing. Put in the work and imagine yourself crafting that heart of gold and be grateful for what you learn and how much you have grown. Change your perspective with a little visualization and turn a loss into a gain. The choice is yours.