You have probably heard of negativity bias—a cognitive bias that overshadows positivity in our lives for no substantial reason. One negative thought or event can be enough to cast a shadow over the many blessings we hold.

Sadly, negative things seem to happen more often these days. They can range from morning traffic and road rage to job insecurity, relationship crises, or health concerns. The question is: how do we withstand the negativity—the pain, the suffering, the sorrow?

Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran offers an insightful perspective that may help us cope with such trials. In his masterpiece “The Prophet,” he reflects on pain with these poetic words:

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore, trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burns your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.” — Kahlil Gibran

Our burden may feel heavy, our pain unbearable and the negativity too much to handle. I encourage you to take heart in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah: trust His plan, endure the process, and embrace the hope ‘for He knows the plans He has for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

And you shall prevail.