• Fed Up with Suffering? Me, too!


    ©Sue Paulson

    What is the point of being battered, bloodied, and bruised by life if it doesn’t cause us to search for a better way? Why do we suffer and stay in misery when it’s not required, necessary, or desirable?

    Look, I’ve gone through plenty of tough times. It was hard every time. Like when I got cancer when I never believed it would happen to me. I suffered plenty – until I realized that my suffering was not the result of the trauma; it was the result of my thoughts and my feelings about what was happening to me.

    I felt

    • Fearful
    • Ashamed
    • Angry
    • Victimized
    • Persecuted
    • Abandoned
    • Hopeless
    • Helpless
    • Alone

    Name any trauma, tragedy, or adversity you’ve ever been through. I bet you felt all of the above. So, there’s the first line of suffering.

    I thought

    • I’ve done something wrong.
    • I brought this on myself.
    • I’m weak, pitiful, powerless.
    • I am disgusted with myself.
    • I’m a bad person for causing my loved ones to suffer, too.
    • I don’t deserve any better.
    • I deserve to suffer.

    OK, how many of those thoughts are yours, too? More suffering. The madness is – we and only we are the ones inviting the thoughts in and allowing the feelings to take up residence. Unwanted, they suck the life out of us. Sadly, we’re not even aware of it most of the time.

    It’s like sitting in a leaky boat in deep water. What will it take for you to jump overboard and swim to the shore of better thoughts, more positive emotions? Sure, this mess was drummed into us by elders who taught us what to think. As a result, we have suffered. But there’s an old saying I like from Mind Dynamics, “For what you are today, shame on your parents. If you’re the same way tomorrow, shame on you.”

    You’re in charge of rowing your own boat now; so am I. If we’re fed up with suffering, it’s high time we did something about it.

    Will it take effort, determination, and persistence to stop suffering? Yes! But here’s the prize – we get our best lives filled with joy, peace, gratitude, and happiness, regardless of life’s circumstances. We can do this – we’re that magnificent!