Pain, Suffering
Daily Meditation 918–9/5/2024
In life, we have much pain.
When our cat we’ve owned 12 years finally must be brought out back to be put down.
When we get the call that our parent has passed during heart surgery.
When our spouse of 19 years confesses to infidelity all the decades together.
When we unexpectedly are laid off.
Pain is inevitable in life, period.
But here’s the good thing:
Suffering is merely optional.
While yes, we absolutely will mourn and have periods of general moping — and in the cases of loss of loved ones, we should mourn — we do not need to suffer. This is a choice we can make. It is made by avoiding the negative aspects of these events, avoiding the Narcissistic self-sabotage reactions, and by staying away from mind-and-reality-altering substances.
Here’s what I mean.
We can dwell on our poor feline companion we had to bring to the back field to put down and then bury lovingly in a fine box with their favorite blanket. Dwelling too long only makes us suffer. Staying in the dark, quiet home (or our bed) only makes us suffer. Staying in places where we stay in our MIND makes us suffer.
