eco Train Question Of The Week: What is the greatest gift you have given or could give?

When I was a young boy, my parents would take my sister and me camping. My parents were friends with another couple that my father had met through a radio club that he had joined. I remember that my father's friend Bill was always a great guy and always made me feel important. He would always ask me lots of questions and be interested in what I had to say.

One weekend my parents had a wedding to go to and Bill had asked my dad if it would be alright if he took me camping with him.I was very excited about this as I had really like spending time with the Bill. When my dad asked me if I wanted to go with Bill I said " Yes". Friday morning I woke up to go to school and my mother was surprised that I got out of bed right away. I took a shower, got dressed and went to school. School seemed to last forever that day but eventually, 3 o'clock came and I was on my way home.

Bill came to the house about 6 o'clock and we were on our way. I really can't remember any of the details about the ride to the campground, I can't remember setting up the tent, the only thing I remember was going to sleep that night. We sleep in sleeping bags on the tent floor and I remember it was cold that night and my teeth were chattering. Bill told me that he had an idea for a way that I would be warm. he told me to take off my pants and to climb into the sleeping bag with him. In order to get warm, I should put my legs in between his legs. I can't remember anything after that. In fact, I can't remember the whole year after that. It's like it's been erased from my mind.

I remember that I had had a lot of trouble in school. I had barely graduated high school and entered college with massive alcohol and drug addiction. I had failed out of college in the first year and was so miserable that I had attempted to commit suicide. I really didn't think there was any other way out of the way I was feeling. I tried to overdose on drugs and when I woke up in the morning alive I was hysterically crying. My parents came into my room and I confessed my drug problem to them.

I entered the rehab on my 20th birthday. I learned many things there but one of the most shocking discoveries was that I had been molested as a child. I had been blocking this fact out for many years and it was eating at me from the inside. I had no idea how much pain it had caused me then. I had no idea how much pain it was secret causing now. One of the most important things I learned at the rehab was the "power of vulnerability". I found that by getting honest and sharing my pain with others everyone could benifit.

Over the years I had shared my story about camping with bill 1000's of times. I met a young man named Frank who was having a hard time with drug addiction and had overdosed several times. He was a good looking funny guy and just couldn't seem to fix his problem. I was speaking in front of a group of about 20 -30 people and Frank was in the audience. Frank had walked up to me at the end and introduced himself. He thanked me for sharing my story and told me that he could relate.

I would see Frank on and off over the next two years. He was struggling really bad. One night Frank came to speak to me and told me that he had just overdosed the night before and he had almost died. I asked him what I could do to help him. He told me that there was nothing I could do. We made so small talk for awhile and then Frank asked me if it would be alright if we could talk in private. I said sure. Frank told me that I had really inspired him when he saw me speak two years ago. Then he broke down and started crying. when he had calmed down enough to speak he shared with me his own molestation story. When he finished he put his arms around me and hugged me. He told me that he couldn't believe he just told me what he did. He had never told anyone. Frank has now been completely off drugs for the last 2 years. Every time I see him I get a tear in my eye and I am grateful that I able to give him the courage to tell his story.

I think that bad things happen to good people. I believe that some of the pain we experience in life we are meant to have. This pain is our gift. We are supposed to share our pain with others as our gift to them. The greatest gift That I have given to anyone, or could ever give is the gift of my pain. When I have gotten vulnerable and shared my truths I have literally saved people lives. Today I have gratitude for what has happened to me, and the power it has given me contribute to others.