Pain is the great non-variable in human life. It does not matter what class we are born into, which nationality we are, or how nimble our feet, we all suffer. The only real variable in life is what we do with that suffering. How we deal with pain makes all the difference. Suffering which serves no purpose, serves no purpose.
“In the midst of winter.
I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus
Suffering is also an alarm bell sounding its warning that if it is not heeded can lead to greater suffering.
“But pain is a great teacher. Just as physical pain can mobilize our defenses and alert us to deeper problems, so can emotional pain. It has the function of awakening us to the realization that there is something wrong in our lives, something that needs attention. If we ignore inner pain, it will surely grow out of control.” Viktor Frankl
All suffering is not the same. What we feel is not necessarily what our fellow will experience. Even the pain that touches us changes as we grow. It is the first experience of pain that leaves us so devastated.
“After the first death, there is no other.” Yeats
“In the sense of survival today, everyone is a Jew.” Sartre
Sometimes pain thinks its remedy is to make others feel what we feel. At the same time, we are not always as charitable with others as we are with ourselves.
“When we demand justice, it is not always justice on our behalf against other people. Nobody, I imagine, would ever ask for justice to be done upon him for everything he ever did wrong.
“We do not want justice – we want revenge; and that s why when justice is done upon us, we cry out that God is vindictive.” Dorothy L. Sayers
And then, of course, there is the wisdom that comes with years. We learn to minimize by the way we respond to it. In this way, there is always a measure of control instead of being blown by the winds of time.
“How to catch a knuckleball: Use a big glove and a pair of rosary beads. Or else take Bob Uecker’s advice: ‘Wait ‘til it stops tolling, then pick it up’.” Joe Torre
“In the midst of winter.
I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus
Suffering is also an alarm bell sounding its warning that if it is not heeded can lead to greater suffering.
“But pain is a great teacher. Just as physical pain can mobilize our defenses and alert us to deeper problems, so can emotional pain. It has the function of awakening us to the realization that there is something wrong in our lives, something that needs attention. If we ignore inner pain, it will surely grow out of control.” Viktor Frankl
All suffering is not the same. What we feel is not necessarily what our fellow will experience. Even the pain that touches us changes as we grow. It is the first experience of pain that leaves us so devastated.
“After the first death, there is no other.” Yeats
“In the sense of survival today, everyone is a Jew.” Sartre
Sometimes pain thinks its remedy is to make others feel what we feel. At the same time, we are not always as charitable with others as we are with ourselves.
“When we demand justice, it is not always justice on our behalf against other people. Nobody, I imagine, would ever ask for justice to be done upon him for everything he ever did wrong.
“We do not want justice – we want revenge; and that s why when justice is done upon us, we cry out that God is vindictive.” Dorothy L. Sayers
And then, of course, there is the wisdom that comes with years. We learn to minimize by the way we respond to it. In this way, there is always a measure of control instead of being blown by the winds of time.
“How to catch a knuckleball: Use a big glove and a pair of rosary beads. Or else take Bob Uecker’s advice: ‘Wait ‘til it stops tolling, then pick it up’.” Joe Torre
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