Everyday Canvas

On Suffering

“Suffering is like anything else. Live with it long enough, you learn to like the taste.”~ Leigh Bardugo Agree or Disagree?

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I don’t think I agree with “liking the taste” of suffering. Why do we have to like suffering unless we are masochists?

Rotten things happen to people and as a result they suffer. We all suffer at one time or another because life is hard, mostly due its nature of sudden changeability.

On the other hand, in time, we learn to accept the rotten stuff and, in time, we find or devise ways to handle similar misfortunes. In that sense, such a suffering becomes a teacher.

Pessimists claim that life is filled with suffering all the time. Although in our worst moments, we tend to agree with that viewpoint, we find that due to our expectancy from life in general, or a specific dream, or the love of a person, we have set ourselves up to suffer if we look analytically into what really caused us to suffer.

To some extent, life can become a container of suffering in many ways and types. If we expect something from anything or anyone and a storm hits that thing or a person, we suffer, be it physical or mental or both. We may even suffer watching someone else suffer.

On the negative side, being human, then, we may lower ourselves by putting the blame on something or someone else, so we wouldn’t feel responsible for our own suffering. This is not, in my opinion, the right way to handle suffering as it leads to revenge cloaked under the term “justice,” through which we make our misplaced revenge justifiable.

Again, in my opinion, instead of giving in to suffering and the negativity that stems from it, wouldn’t it be better to learn from the experience and to try to redirect our attention to more positive things in life, such as enjoying nature, creating something, or soothing other people’s hurts?

This way, we may gain appreciation, sensitivity, and knowledge of life that fills us with gentleness, compassion, and a deep concern for other beings. This way our suffering will have some meaning.