“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.”
Well said by Haruki Murakami.
Dealing with chronic pains from last 22 years,my life's metaphor which was once a one word answer "celebrations" dwindled down to the metaphor that "Life is Pain".Despite all efforts I have unable to come out of my body for one reason or the other.Pain in life is inevitable but suffering is not.Pain is what the world does to you, something which is beyond your control.Suffering is what you do to yourself.The ultimate purpose of life is to to seek happiness and inner peace, for majority,if I can make that bold statement.To be happy, we must be free from suffering.Suffering is not getting what we want. We may also say,suffering is getting what we do not want.It took me 22 years to realize ,there is no suffering ,if you let it go.Suffering depends on a person's state of mind.Naturally, pain becomes immaterial in the absence of suffering.Till date, I have not been able to do anything about the physical pain despite the best medical doctors ,really caring,competent and sensitive,as of now that's unavoidable.Even sensory experiences of two persons in pain having same problem are not same.Suppose we define pain as the pure physical sensation of the body responding to some negative stimuli, and suffering as our response to pain. From a mindfulness perspective, it is important to differentiate pain and suffering because however unavoidable pain is, we certainly have some leeway when it comes to suffering.The biggest difficulty in working with pain is not the pain itself; it is how we react to it. With mindfulness, you can learn to see how your mental reactions to suffering function and how you can avoid being so caught in them.
Howsoever bad my story may sound to be, it does have a brighter side.Firstly,I would like to confess that I realized that there is difference between the two terms pain and suffering just 5 years back.Suffering is just like an extra topping on an already double cheese pizza(And mind you pizza is not good for health)Thus ,what we can say is suffering is the extra that our mind adds to an already painful situation.Suffering exists in the mind. The good piece of news is we can control our mind and thus eliminate suffering.You can be happy with pain but not with suffering.You can be at peace. The whole process of fighting with physical pain and mentally dealing the situation makes you emotionally stronger.It makes you compassionate creating a situation where you just don't sympathize with the needy but empathize with them.It makes you mentally and emotionally in command of your life. And at the same time ensure that you start treating your body like temples and leave no opportunity to do your best for physical fitness of your body.You feed yourself the right mental diet.Your work pace is high to make up for lost years.Your understanding of people increases for the better.Relationships suffer,Career suffer,Friends leave, relatives mock & make fun of you - you are alone in your journey.All this happens. It happened to me too. I am no exception.But its a blessing- a message by the Creator to work for cause of downtrodden.over the last two years that what has given me maximum satisfaction.And I care a damn about the society and who is with me and who is not...I am alone enough.I remember beautiful lines
"Jinme akele chalne ke hosle hote hain
Unke peeche ek din Kaafile hote hain"
Well said by Haruki Murakami.
Dealing with chronic pains from last 22 years,my life's metaphor which was once a one word answer "celebrations" dwindled down to the metaphor that "Life is Pain".Despite all efforts I have unable to come out of my body for one reason or the other.Pain in life is inevitable but suffering is not.Pain is what the world does to you, something which is beyond your control.Suffering is what you do to yourself.The ultimate purpose of life is to to seek happiness and inner peace, for majority,if I can make that bold statement.To be happy, we must be free from suffering.Suffering is not getting what we want. We may also say,suffering is getting what we do not want.It took me 22 years to realize ,there is no suffering ,if you let it go.Suffering depends on a person's state of mind.Naturally, pain becomes immaterial in the absence of suffering.Till date, I have not been able to do anything about the physical pain despite the best medical doctors ,really caring,competent and sensitive,as of now that's unavoidable.Even sensory experiences of two persons in pain having same problem are not same.Suppose we define pain as the pure physical sensation of the body responding to some negative stimuli, and suffering as our response to pain. From a mindfulness perspective, it is important to differentiate pain and suffering because however unavoidable pain is, we certainly have some leeway when it comes to suffering.The biggest difficulty in working with pain is not the pain itself; it is how we react to it. With mindfulness, you can learn to see how your mental reactions to suffering function and how you can avoid being so caught in them.
Howsoever bad my story may sound to be, it does have a brighter side.Firstly,I would like to confess that I realized that there is difference between the two terms pain and suffering just 5 years back.Suffering is just like an extra topping on an already double cheese pizza(And mind you pizza is not good for health)Thus ,what we can say is suffering is the extra that our mind adds to an already painful situation.Suffering exists in the mind. The good piece of news is we can control our mind and thus eliminate suffering.You can be happy with pain but not with suffering.You can be at peace. The whole process of fighting with physical pain and mentally dealing the situation makes you emotionally stronger.It makes you compassionate creating a situation where you just don't sympathize with the needy but empathize with them.It makes you mentally and emotionally in command of your life. And at the same time ensure that you start treating your body like temples and leave no opportunity to do your best for physical fitness of your body.You feed yourself the right mental diet.Your work pace is high to make up for lost years.Your understanding of people increases for the better.Relationships suffer,Career suffer,Friends leave, relatives mock & make fun of you - you are alone in your journey.All this happens. It happened to me too. I am no exception.But its a blessing- a message by the Creator to work for cause of downtrodden.over the last two years that what has given me maximum satisfaction.And I care a damn about the society and who is with me and who is not...I am alone enough.I remember beautiful lines
"Jinme akele chalne ke hosle hote hain
Unke peeche ek din Kaafile hote hain"
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