Thursday, February 10, 2022
People think that their own suffering makes them special and separates them from those who don’t understand their unique pain. Suffering doesn’t make you unique in the ways that your mind might perceive it. There are billions of people who have suffered the same kind of pain you’ve experienced, likely even worse. That doesn’t necessarily diminish its sting, however; but it does expose us to the truth of how the mind uses suffering to inflate the ego.
Human suffering is a universal phenomenon. Your particular pain doesn’t serve to make you a champion sufferer. It serves a greater purpose. It serves as a means to transform and to reform you. Suffering comes when you live like a robot, caught in routine and mindless activity. When you don’t pay attention, you do hurtful things to yourself and to others. Neglect your health, and you’ll gain weight and feel lethargic. Neglect your relationships, and they will fizzle. Neglect yourself, and you’ll do and think things that are painful. Self-neglect and mindlessness cultivate suffering and pain. Mindfulness, self-care, and paying attention to who you are and what you want – that cultivates joy. There are two ways to learn in life – the hard way and the easy way. The hard way is mindlessness, and the easy way is to pay attention. But why wait for suffering to wake you up, “the hard way,” from your mindlessness?
Challenge is inevitable, but it can serve you, not crush you or immobilize you. It can serve as a wake up call to reformation and transformation. But why wait for suffering to wake you up, “the hard way,” from your mindlessness? Get ahead of the learning curve, not by suffering anymore, but by paying attention to how it’s transforming you and helping you to become more aware of who you really are.