Sometimes, the trials of life can seem too much to bear. There are nights when the pillow is soaked through with tears, nights where no solace can be found. But, is not suffering an essential human experience? Is not suffering indeed one of the most important human experiences? There are some who would question whether or not suffering even exists; and, there are, too, some who simply call it something else. However, these people are doing themselves a great disservice in not recognizing suffering as a human experience. To an extent, things exist in this world as opposites. There is love and there is hate. There is life and there is death. To your white, I have a black, and so on. And, just as with the others, to joy and prosperity, there is also suffering and loss. To deny suffering as a human experience is to acknowledge only that which is good in life… optimists often take this line of thinking. However, it has been my experience that when a life catastrophe finally does strike, the optimist is less able to deal with the terrible situation that has been forced upon them than is the person who embraces suffering as an essential human experience.
Suffering exists and it is a very real and raw human experience. The pessimist often realizes this. However, like the optimist, the pessimist also takes her/his view to the extreme so that very little of value is gleamed from having gone through the process of suffering. To the pessimist suffering is simply a state of being, a state of existing, if you will. Suffering simply is… it is the opposite to joy, the antithesis of happiness. A pessimist fails to see the value that can be found in embracing suffering. A pessimist seeks to distance him/herself from either extreme and instead numbs themselves to all emotions.
The point that I am trying to make is this: Suffering is essential in order to teach us things. Or, rather, suffering should never be viewed as a human experience that is meant solely to force tears down our cheeks or wrench our hearts from our chests. Human suffering should always be viewed as an opportunity to open the self and discover something real… something beautiful. If we allow it to, suffering can teach us lessons about ourselves, about those around us, and about how we interact with the world. Suffering can be a window through which we may glimpse the figure of the person that we wish to become. Underneath all of the pain and tears that come with suffering are the lessons that teach us to love and cherish this life. Yes, cry, weep even… embrace the pain; but, also allow yourself time to be with your suffering. It is in these snapshot moments of life where the weight of the entire world seems to be upon our shoulders that an opportunity is born, that in these instances we may find the recourse to make our lives fulfilling and meaningful.
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