On Pain and Suffering

Tears by Mait Jüriado on Flickr

“There’s a difference between pain and suffering. See, pain is in the body. Suffering is in the mind and it feels infinite. So maybe the key is to feel your pain and learn from it, and someday your suffering might disappear.”

~ Charlie Harris, Saving Hope

Love this quote from last night’s episode of Saving Hope. It reminds me of the Buddhist proverb, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

No one gets through life without experiencing pain – physical, emotional, spiritual or otherwise. But to suffer is a choice. Paradoxically, the shortest path to releasing your suffering is the dark journey into and through your pain.

When pain enters your life, do not wear it like a hair shirt or flog yourself (or others) with it. Do not turn it into a prison. Do not become a victim to it.

At the same time, do not resist it, hide from it, anesthetize it, or bury it away to become a ticking time bomb within your psyche. Meet it head on, not as an adversary, but as a teacher.

Face your pain squarely. Acknowledge it, feel it, honor it, express it, learn from it, grow from it, create meaning from it, transform it, transcend it, recognize it as one more beautiful facet in the diamond that is your life. Depending on the depth of your pain, this journey may be swift or arduously long. Whatever the depth and duration of your pain, the journey will be smoother if you make friends with it.

The day will come when you will be ready and able to bless and release it. Suffer no more.

2 thoughts on “On Pain and Suffering

  • August 18, 2012 at 9:55 AM
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    Claire ~ I am moved to tears as I witness YOUR growth and grace ~ Blessings : ) KC

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    • August 18, 2012 at 1:14 PM
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      KC, thank you so much. You are an inspiration to me and the Transformational Life Coaching training at SWIHA was such an amazing, divinely timed and empowering gift for my own healing journey. Namaste, Claire

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