Suffering is inevitable. We all “suffer” to some degree. We can try to deny it and say that others suffer, and they do, but we want to discount that we do. Why? Because how we suffer may not be as dramatic or as deeply as others. That is usually true. Someone is suffering more than me. However, I suffer also – in so many small and even larger ways. But, what should be my response? I have learned that I should acknowledge and lean into suffering.
Often we want to distract ourselves or run away from our own suffering and that of others. If we do, we will miss life’s greatest moments, experiences and opportunities. A good life is filled with so many ways to deal with our suffering and the suffering of others. However, we cannot effectively deal with it and help our selves and others if we run away from it or distract ourselves. A mystic tries not to run away from suffering but embraces it – ours’ and others’.